Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to protect freedom of speech in universities.

This government believes that freedom of speech and academic freedom are fundamental pillars of our higher education system and that protecting these principles should be a priority for universities.

That is why the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Bill has been introduced. The bill will strengthen existing freedom of speech duties and directly address gaps within the existing law, ensuring, for example, that higher education providers found to be in breach of their duties can be clearly and robustly held to account. The bill also applies the duties directly to students’ unions and constituent colleges, including those at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The bill introduces a role for the Office for Students board, with responsibility for overseeing its strengthened duties to promote freedom of speech and investigate where potential breaches of the duties occur.

The changes will introduce clear consequences for breaches of the new duties and ensure that these principles are upheld.

The bill is currently passing through the House of Lords.