Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of provisions in the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill on the protection by higher education providers of academics' freedom of speech.

This Bill includes a range of measures aimed at strengthening existing legislation on freedom of speech and academic freedom for academic staff in higher education in England.

The Bill is also clear that the job security of university staff should not be undermined by the expression of lawful speech, including where they may question and test received wisdom, and put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions.

The Bill does not amend existing employment law. However, it does provide a route to redress where an individual may not have clear contractual protections in place in respect of freedom of speech and academic freedom. Rather than having to rely on contractual protections in an employment tribunal, an academic member of staff will now have access to the Office for Students (OfS) complaints scheme, as well as the right to bring a claim in the courts via the new statutory tort.

The new complaints scheme will be overseen by a Director of Free Speech and Academic Freedom, who will also be responsible for overseeing the performance of all the OfS’s new functions. This includes promoting the importance of freedom of speech within the law and academic freedom for academic staff, as well as the monitoring and enforcement of freedom of speech registration conditions and the new duties on students’ unions of Approved (fee cap) providers.

The OfS will also issue guidance for providers and students’ unions to as they develop the new regulatory framework and complaints scheme, thereby helping them to comply with their duties.