Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the funding being received by British universities from Chinese companies, including Huawei.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to supporting academia to engage with international partners in a way that reflects the UK’s values and takes account of national security concerns and wider risks.
We have strengthened sector support considerably in recent years, launching the National Protective Security Authority’s ‘Trusted Research’ campaign, and supporting Universities UK to develop guidelines on tackling security risks. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology also provides the Research Collaboration Advice Team, which gives tailored advice to research institutions to help them manage the risks in international collaboration.
The Department continues to talk to universities to ensure advice and measures on tackling security risks when engaging internationally remain relevant and proportionate. This helps to promote safe, sustainable, and legally compliant international collaboration.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will give the Office for Students powers to monitor the overseas funding of registered higher education (HE) providers in England, their constituent institutions, members, and staff in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of the withdrawal of Chinese money from universities in England and the impact it would have on academia.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are recognised across the world for the quality and openness of our higher education (HE) system, and we encourage the sector to collaborate with international partners. To be open, we must also be secure. Universities must be security-minded in their approach and safeguard our values.
The government’s International Education Strategy and its recent update make clear that the internationalisation of the HE sector cannot come at any cost. Universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation, or a single nation.
That is why the department has introduced measures like the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will address concerns about the possible influence of overseas funding in England, to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions. This is in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE.
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level. The role of the OfS is not to direct how HE providers manage themselves or to limit their recruitment from a particular country of origin, but to ensure they understand where there is greater reliance and how any risks are being managed, and to take action to protect students from the consequences of unmanaged financial risk, if necessary.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Chinese funding to universities in England and its implications for academic freedoms.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are recognised across the world for the quality and openness of our higher education (HE) system, and we encourage the sector to collaborate with international partners. To be open, we must also be secure. Universities must be security-minded in their approach and safeguard our values.
The government’s International Education Strategy and its recent update make clear that the internationalisation of the HE sector cannot come at any cost. Universities must ensure they have appropriate processes in place to manage risks associated with dependence on a single source of funding, whether that is from a single organisation, or a single nation.
That is why the department has introduced measures like the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will address concerns about the possible influence of overseas funding in England, to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions. This is in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE.
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator, monitors the risk of over-reliance on overseas income at a sector level. The role of the OfS is not to direct how HE providers manage themselves or to limit their recruitment from a particular country of origin, but to ensure they understand where there is greater reliance and how any risks are being managed, and to take action to protect students from the consequences of unmanaged financial risk, if necessary.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to remove all government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK; and what estimate they have made of the number of such institutes that will be receiving government funding by the beginning of September 2023.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is taking action to review funding arrangements, but does not currently directly or indirectly fund Confucius Institutes, nor is the department planning to enter financial arrangements in the future with any Confucius Institute.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of Confucius Institutes in the UK that received government funding in the period between the beginning of January and the end of March.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not currently directly or indirectly fund Confucius Institutes, nor are we planning to enter financial arrangements in the future with any Confucius Institute.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, in reducing the number of Confucius Institutes that are in receipt of government funding.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not currently directly or indirectly fund Confucius Institutes, nor are we planning to enter financial arrangements in the future with any Confucius Institute.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy in relation to competing with the educational publishing sector in the provision of curriculum content; and whether they plan for the Oak National Academy to be sold or broken up in the near future.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government has allocated up to £43 million for the Oak National Academy over the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years. This figure relates specifically to direct funding to Oak as an Arm’s Length Body. This figure does not include grant funding in previous years to the Reach Foundation, which incubated Oak. A significant proportion of Oak’s funding will go to schools, publishers and other organisations for the creation of resources.
Value for money was an important factor in the appraisal of options in the creation of Oak as an Arm’s Length Body, and in the design of Oak’s lean operating model, as set out in the published full business case, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-business-case.
Oak will provide value for money, benefitting schools and pupils by tackling teacher workload, improving curriculum expertise and increasing standards of education.
The Department knows that teachers in the UK benefit from a diverse commercial market of educational resources. Oak aims to complement and stimulate this market, not to displace it. In a recent survey, none of Oak’s surveyed users said they were using Oak resources exclusively. Oak will provide teachers with access to high quality, evidence based resources that are free, optional and adaptable. This will give teachers more choice in deciding what’s right for their pupils, thereby stimulating teacher demand for high quality digital resources.
There is no plan for Oak to be sold or broken up.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much taxpayers’ money has been spent on Oak National Academy; and whether any assessments have been made of the value for money delivered to taxpayers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Government has allocated up to £43 million for the Oak National Academy over the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years. This figure relates specifically to direct funding to Oak as an Arm’s Length Body. This figure does not include grant funding in previous years to the Reach Foundation, which incubated Oak. A significant proportion of Oak’s funding will go to schools, publishers and other organisations for the creation of resources.
Value for money was an important factor in the appraisal of options in the creation of Oak as an Arm’s Length Body, and in the design of Oak’s lean operating model, as set out in the published full business case, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-business-case.
Oak will provide value for money, benefitting schools and pupils by tackling teacher workload, improving curriculum expertise and increasing standards of education.
The Department knows that teachers in the UK benefit from a diverse commercial market of educational resources. Oak aims to complement and stimulate this market, not to displace it. In a recent survey, none of Oak’s surveyed users said they were using Oak resources exclusively. Oak will provide teachers with access to high quality, evidence based resources that are free, optional and adaptable. This will give teachers more choice in deciding what’s right for their pupils, thereby stimulating teacher demand for high quality digital resources.
There is no plan for Oak to be sold or broken up.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the reliance by UK universities on tuition fees from students from China.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is proud that the UK is a world leading destination for international students.
As set out in the Government’s International Education Strategy, higher education (HE) providers must ensure they are not overly reliant on a single source of funding, whether this is from an organisation or nation, and that they must look to diversify their intake of international students to prevent over-reliance.
The most recent data published by the Higher Education Statistics Authority for the 2021/22 academic year, shows the proportion of Chinese students has fallen, whilst there has been an increase in a wide range of other international student markets, including a 50% increase in students from India, a 107% increase in students from Nigeria and a 78% increase in students from Pakistan, demonstrating the HE sector’s positive approach to diversifying their international student intake.
Asked by: Lord Leong (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the potential influence of Confucius Institutes on UK universities since their pledge in November 2022 to disband those operating in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, the department is unable to release information regarding threat assessments on the grounds of national security.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. The department has introduced a series of measures which will continue to tackle threats to higher education, including through the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill and National Security Bill, currently in Parliament.
The department’s Integrated Review Refresh is launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions, designed to protect our academic sector and to identify what more we could or should be doing.
With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.