Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what role the Office for Students will play in monitoring the performance of universities in reducing ethnic inequalities in university academic staffing; and what plans they have to require universities to address such inequalities.

The government and the Office for Students (OfS) are focused on addressing inequalities in higher education. Government consulted on the publication of data on senior staff remuneration, including in relation to gender and ethnicity. The OfS retains the power to require the disclosure of such information through its accounts direction.

Higher education institutions are independent and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Universities, like every employer, must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. On February 1, the government announced measures to tackle ethnic disparities in higher education including encouraging higher education providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work Charter and the Race Equality Charter to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.

The government has also consulted on ethnicity pay reporting in order to inform future government policy.