Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comment by Lord Nash on 11 January (HL Deb, col 1953), when they will publish their response to the 2015 Department for Education consultation <i>Out of School Education Settings: Call for Evidence</i>.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government remains committed to regulating out-of-school education settings. We received over 18,000 responses to the call for evidence and are taking great care in analysing them in order to ensure that the regulation we introduce to this diverse sector meets our aim. We want to ensure that action can be taken against settings which put children at risk, whilst not placing disproportionate burdens on the large number of settings that are providing a valuable service to their communities. We will respond to the call for evidence and set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 17 November (HL2972), whether they will ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England, in its role as regulator, to engage with the University of Oxford to ensure that their policies and procedures were implemented appropriately following reports of anti-Semitic incidents involving students which led to the resignation of a student club chairman in February.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government condemns antisemitism wherever it occurs, including on university campuses. Universities and student societies need to be robust in tackling these kinds of issues. Universities are autonomous and have processes for dealing with concerns and complaints where they are raised, unless there are regulatory issues to be addressed.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) holds ongoing discussions (both formal and informal) with institutions, including the University of Oxford, on a regular basis. As the regulator, HEFCE has established procedures for following on up concerns raised about universities. No concerns have been raised with HEFCE about the implementation by the University of Oxford of its policies and procedures on this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the attempt by protesters to disrupt a talk by an Israeli speaker at University College London on 27 October, what steps they are taking to ensure freedom of speech.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Open and robust debate is how students should challenge those they disagree with. There is no place for students that use intimidation or violence to attempt to shut down the free and open exchange of ideas.
Universities have a legal duty to secure freedom of speech for their members, students, employees and visiting speakers, and must have clearly set out policies for how they will ensure that this can happen. Universities also have a clear responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment and no staff or student should ever feel threatened or intimidated. It is also essential that they have clear policies and procedures to ensure that all students and staff can live and work without discrimination, intimidation or harassment. We expect universities to demonstrate how they will act swiftly to investigate and address hate crime, including anti-Semitic related incidents, reported to them.
We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), in their role as regulator, to engage with University College London (UCL) to ensure that their policies and procedures for events with external speakers are fit for purpose and were implemented appropriately in this instance. UCL have issued a statement on 11 November 2016 regarding the incident, which sets out that they have launched an immediate investigation.
In September 2015 we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce. The Taskforce has recently published a report which sets out that universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime. The report has been attached to this answer. We must now ensure that the work of the Taskforce goes on to make a real difference to students across the country. The Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation has asked UUK to survey progress in six months and make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. We hope that the new guidelines for universities issued alongside the UUK Taskforce report will help universities in effectively tackling incidents such as these.