Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of offering funding support for those universities affected by the costs of the Teachers Pension Scheme contributions, in line with support provided for further education colleges and schools.

The government recognises the financial challenges in the higher education (HE) sector both for providers and their staff.

HE providers are autonomous bodies, and the government does not fund the costs of changes to the scheme for them in the same way as for schools and colleges.

However, we remain committed to engaging with both employer and staff representatives to fully understand the impacts of pension provision in HE on both staff and providers.

Furthermore, we appreciate both the impact of the increased Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate on providers and that defined benefit pensions are highly valued by staff across the sector. As set out in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the government is seeking to better understand concerns within the post-1992 HE sector regarding pension provision.