Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 17725 on Academic Freedom, whether she has had recent discussions with the Office for Students on whether (a) higher education institutions and (b) students’ unions will have enough time to implement the guidance on securing free speech within the law before those obligations enter into force.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Member for East Sussex, and former Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing with responsibility for freedom of speech in the department, met with Professor Arif Ahmed in 2023 following his appointment, and discussed plans for implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act (the Act) over the next two years. I also met with Arif Ahmed on 16 January 2024. The intention has always been for the Office for Students (OfS) to publish any guidance within good time of the Act coming into force to allow the sector sufficient time to consider it. The expectation expressed was that any guidance pertaining to the provisions that come into force on 1 August 2024 would be published by summer 2024, giving the sector the summer period to implement it into their practices.
The department understands that the OfS continues to work towards these timelines as set out on their website here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/quality-and-standards/freedom-of-speech/changes-to-regulation/, although precise timings are a matter for the OfS.
A draft version of the guidance that the OfS intend to issue following consultation has already been published for the sector to consider here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/fsvjdljh/regulatory-advice-24-guidance-related-to-freedom-of-speech.pdf.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in reference to the Office for Students consultation on proposed regulatory advice and other matters relating to freedom of speech, announced on 26 March 2024, what discussions (a) she and (b) the Office for Students have had on this with (i) the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, (ii) other Ministers in the Department for Business and Trade, (iii) Officials in that Department, (iv) the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, (v) other Ministers in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and (vi) officials in that Department.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Officials regularly speak on matters of mutual importance across government, particularly on cross-cutting policy and new legislation. The department’s officials continue to engage with both the Office for Students (OfS) and other governmental departments (OGDs) surrounding the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 (the Act).
Officials will continue to engage with the OfS and OGDs ahead of the Act coming into force, currently planned for 1 August 2024 for the main provisions, including the complaints scheme. The content of the consultation published on 26 March 2026 is a matter for the OfS.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help promote freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in West Papua, in the context of recent reports of political imprisonment in that region.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to upholding and defending human rights, freedom of speech and equality at home and oversees. We are aware of increased tensions in the Papua region and we continue to monitor developments closely. We have raised the issue of Papua with the Indonesian Embassy in London. Officials from the British Embassy in Jakarta visited Papua in March 2022 and met with officials, police, local business, human rights defenders, environmentalists and religious leaders. They also visited the region in February and July 2023.
Asked by: Lord Skidelsky (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to bring into force all the provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act of 2023, including the statutory tort contained in section 4, that have not yet come into effect.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The remaining provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will come into force in two phases. The main provisions of the Act, including the statutory tort contained in section 4, free speech duties on higher education providers, constituent institutions and students' unions, and the new complaints scheme will come into force on 1 August 2024.
The second phase involves provisions relating to new conditions of registration on providers and monitoring of overseas funding. These will come into force on 1 September 2025. This information was published by the Office for Students on 13 September 2023, see: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/quality-and-standards/freedom-of-speech/changes-to-regulation/.
The department will lay the necessary secondary legislation to bring the Act’s provisions into force by those dates.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with the Office for Students on ensuring that the forthcoming guidance for higher education providers on (a) securing free speech within the law and (b) publishing and maintaining a freedom of speech code of practice is published before 1 August 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The remaining provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will come into force in two phases. The main provisions of the Act, introducing free speech duties on higher education providers, constituent institutions and students' unions, and the new complaints scheme, will come into force on 1 August 2024. The Office for Students (OfS) has already launched two consultations that will feed into new complaints scheme rules and guidance for students’ unions on the OfS’s approach to regulating them. These will be published before the 1 August 2024.
The second phase involves provisions relating to new conditions of registration on providers and monitoring of overseas funding. These will come into force on 1 September 2025.
The OfS expects to consult shortly on the proposed revisions to the regulatory framework, including on its approach to the recovery of costs, as well as on more detailed guidance on securing free speech within the law and on maintaining a free speech code of practice. The OfS consultations are not yet live, and the OfS will require time to run the consultation, analyse the results and publish a response before they can publish the guidance to which they relate. Precise timings on the publication of guidance are a matter for the OfS.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure that the (a) employment rights and (b) freedom of speech of people of faith are protected (i) in the workplace and (ii) during the recruitment process.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
People of faith are protected by the existing legal framework. They have the same employment rights and protections as anyone else, including during the recruitment process. Where they feel those rights have not been respected, they can contact Acas or EASS (Equality Advisory and Support Service) for advice, and ultimately, seek redress through an employment tribunal.
In addition, the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from religious discrimination to anyone with a religious belief as well as to those who lack a religion or belief. The definition of a religion or belief in these provisions is deliberately broad and includes those religions widely recognised in the UK, as well as denominations or sects within a religion such as Catholics or Protestants within Christianity.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and (b) representatives of higher education institutions on the potential impact of such institutions' collaboration with Chinese higher education bodies linked to the People's Liberation Army on national security.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government takes the risk of foreign interference in our higher education (HE) sector extremely seriously, regardless of its source. The department has made it clear that it will not accept collaborations that compromise national security. The department recognises concerns about interference in the HE sector and regularly assesses the risks facing academia, working with partners across government. The department will continue to take steps to significantly strengthen the UK’s protections from overseas interference in our HE sector, helping to safeguard intellectual property and sensitive research.
The ‘Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023’ will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom. The Act will enable the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions and student unions, and to take appropriate action.
The department expects Confucius Institutes at UK universities to operate transparently and within the law, and with a full commitment to the government's values of openness and freedom of expression. The department has taken action to remove any direct or indirect government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK.
The ‘Integrated Review Refresh’, published in 2023, committed to launching a review of legislative and other measures designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more the government could or should be doing. This is currently underway and is led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. This will include an assessment of the risks to research security as a result of collaboration with international bodies.
The department also works with the sector to improve HE providers’ overall resilience and economic security. The department has encouraged Universities UK to publish a number of guidelines and case studies to enable HE providers to assess risks associated with international collaboration.
Asked by: Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance, if any, they provide to ensure that the work of the National Security Online Information Team is compliant with protection of the rights to freedom of expression and privacy; and whether they will publish that guidance.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government firmly believes that people must be able to debate and discuss issues freely. Preserving individuals’ right to freedom of expression is therefore a key principle which underpin National Security and Online Information Team’s (NSOIT’s) work.
The NSOIT tackles online attempts to manipulate the information environment while respecting the right to free speech and privacy, by only monitoring themes and trends - not individuals. The team is focused on threats posed by foreign states as well as risks to election integrity.
NSOIT has policies and procedures in place, in accordance with all applicable legislation, to ensure that individuals are not monitored and their rights are respected. NSOIT has a privacy notice which sets out how data will be processed and this is regularly reviewed and updated. A copy will also be published on gov.uk shortly. However, the Government does not plan to publish its detailed compliance policy, as to do so would give malign actors, including hostile states, insights into NSOIT capabilities and specific areas of focus.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the tools available to verify election-related content.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We have a tradition of robust political debate and freedom of speech in our democracy. Policy or political arguments - both online and offline - which can be rebutted by rival campaigners or the press as part of the normal course of political debate should not be regulated. It is a matter for voters to decide whether they consider such arguments/claims to be accurate.
The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will increase the transparency of digital political advertising, by requiring those promoting eligible digital campaigning material targeted at the UK electorate to include an imprint with their name and address.
We are working to ensure we are ready to respond to the full range of threats to our democratic processes, including through the Defending Democracy Taskforce, and the Government regularly meets with social media companies to understand the policies and processes they have in place.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of universities accepting funding from entities linked to the Chinese People's Liberation Army on academic freedom.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Integrated Review Refresh, which this government published in March 2023, sets out in clear terms the UK’s policy towards engagement with China and Chinese entities.
Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions and are responsible for ensuring they have adequate governance, risk management procedures and policies in place, including on the acceptance of donations. HE providers will also have their own due diligence procedures which should consider reputational, ethical and security risks.
The department expects the HE sector to be alert to risks when collaborating with any international partners. Guidance published by Universities UK advises HE providers how to engage in international collaborations safely and securely. This guidance also includes a recommendation that due diligence should be conducted on all international partnerships and it is available here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that HE providers in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. The Act will enable the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions and student’s unions, and to take appropriate action. Provisions in the Act dealing with overseas funding are expected to come into force from 1 September 2025.