Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what plans there are to use WhatsApp to alert members of the House about votes taking place using the remote voting system.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The Remote Voting system currently alerts Members of the House of Lords to a Division via text message (if they have opted in and provided a mobile number) and email to their Parliamentary account using Notify, which is a secure government service. Members have the option of adding an alternative email address. Notify complies with the National Cyber Security Centre's Cloud Security Principles, and is protected with encryption and secure tokens.
There are no plans to accredit any further tools or apps and develop the remote voting system to use them as notification tools. A greater number of elements within the notification system would introduce an undesirable level of complexity and increase the risk of faults.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to announce details of the apprenticeship guarantee announced by the Prime Minister on 2 June; and what arrangements have been made with employers to ensure every young person in Britain will be guaranteed an apprenticeship.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and in supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce that they need to recover and grow, following the COVID-19 outbreak.
We are looking to support employers of all sizes, and particularly smaller businesses to take on new apprentices this year. We will set out further details in due course. We will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses that want to take on an apprentice this year.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Charity Commission about any investigation of the governance of Christ Church College, University of Oxford.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
There have been no discussions. Registered higher education (HE) providers’ governance arrangements are matters for the Office for Students (OfS) – the independent regulator of higher education in England. The OfS requires all registered providers to meet the public interest governance principles, and if providers fall short the OfS has powers to intervene.
All HE providers, whether registered or not, are autonomous and self-regulating, and the government can only intervene where statute allows.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of first class degrees awarded by the (1) University of Surrey, and (2) University of Bradford; whether they have had any discussions with those universities about the number of such degrees awarded; and if so, what were the outcomes of any such discussions.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 established a new independent regulator in England, the Office for Students (OfS). The act gives the OfS powers to assess the quality and standards applied to higher education by English providers.
The government has made it clear in guidance to the OfS that grade inflation must be tackled. In their strategy, attached, the OfS includes ensuring “qualifications hold their value over time” as a key objective. In December 2018, the OfS published analysis of changes in degree classifications between 2010-11 and 2016-17, which is attached. This includes data on the University of Surrey and the University of Bradford.
On 24 March, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education called for universities to end the steep rise of “unjustifiable” first class degrees which is a threat to the world class reputation of the university sector, and risks undermining the efforts of hard working students. The government expects the OfS, when it has its full range of powers, to challenge those institutions that record an unjustifiable rise in the proportion of top degrees being awarded.
The OfS’ statutory powers are on course to be strengthened through new regulations due to be laid in Parliament later this year, which will allow the OfS to levy fines of up to £500,000 or 2% of a university’s income (whichever is higher). The UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment is developing sector-recognised standards to ensure that all degree awards are consistent and fair - due to be completed this academic year. Together, these measures will strengthen the regulator’s ability to challenge universities with unwarranted grade inflation and hold them to account.
Any university found to be damaging students’ interests could be subject to sanctions such as placing additional conditions on their registration, fines, or in the worst case scenario removing a university’s powers to award degrees.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action, if any, they propose to take to improve the funding of the Universities Staff Superannuation Fund; and whether they intend to consider taking steps to allow universities to increase income, including through commercial activities, to increase employer contributions to pension schemes.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Higher education providers are autonomous institutions and they are responsible for making appropriate pension provision for their staff. The government believes that it is for universities to resolve the current dispute regarding reforms to the Universities Superannuation Scheme through dialogue between Universities UK and the University and College Union.
As autonomous providers, universities are already able to undertake commercial activities.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Office for Students has the power to compel or direct universities to increase contributions to employee pension schemes to reduce funding deficits.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Higher education providers are autonomous institutions and are responsible for their own pension provision. The Office for Students does not have the power to direct universities regarding contributions to their pension schemes.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to take action to limit university course fees which do not represent value for money for students; and if so, on what basis they intend to determine which courses provide value for money.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Government has introduced the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment, to tackle concerns about value for money in Higher Education. Only providers who successfully achieve a high quality rating under the TEF will be permitted to maintain their fees in line with inflation.
The results of the TEF assessment gives students clear information about where teaching quality is best and where students have achieved the best outcomes. This will promote student choice and encourage a stronger focus on the quality of teaching, as higher education providers will need to ensure they are giving students, their parents and the taxpayer value for money.
Furthermore, the Office for Students, once established, has a general duty under section 2 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 to have regard to the need to promote value for money in the provision of Higher Education by English Higher Education providers.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to place a cap on student loans, in order to prevent any increase in the total debt arising as a result of the interest paid being less than the interest accrued in any one year.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The student funding system removes financial barriers for anyone hoping to study and is backed by the taxpayer. A key feature of the scheme is that outstanding debt – including any interest accrued that has not been repaid by the end of the loan term – is written off after 30 years. This means that borrowers are protected if their repayments are less than the interest accruing on their accounts.
Monthly student loan repayments are linked to income, not to interest rates or the amount borrowed. Borrowers earning less than the repayment threshold (£21,000) repay nothing at all.
Once borrowers leave study, those earning less than £21,000 are charged an interest rate of RPI only. Post-study interest rates are variable based on income, tapering up from RPI for those earning less than £21,000 to RPI+3% for borrowers earning £41,000 and above. The system of variable interest rates based on income makes the system more progressive, as higher earners contribute more to the sustainability of the higher education system.
We have a world class student finance system that is working well, and that has led to record numbers of disadvantaged students benefiting from higher education. As ever, we will keep the detailed features of the system under review to ensure it remains fair and effective.