Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the decision not to provide Higher Education Institutions with additional funding support from 2024 on the financial sustainability of (a) individual Institutions and( b) the sector; if he will make it his policy to fully fund the costs to such Institutions of the Superannuation Contributions Adjusted for Past Experience discount rate; and if he will make a statement.

In recognition of the cost pressure a potential increase to employer contribution rates would bring to existing departmental budgets, the Government announced on 30 March its commitment to providing funding for employers whose employment costs are centrally funded. Higher education (HE) providers are not covered by this commitment. To not provide financial support is consistent with the decision to not fund a similar Teachers' Pension Scheme cost increase in 2019.

Nevertheless, I do recognise that while the Office for Students’ (OfS) annual report on financial sustainability finds that university finances generally remain in good shape, there remains a wide spread of financial performance across the sector. The Department for Education and HMT recognise the importance of this issue and will continue discussions about the implications for HE providers. The Government will confirm its position on this issue in due course.