Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which external stakeholders she met with ahead of revoking the second commencement regulations made under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.

The department engages with a wide range of stakeholders on policy decisions, and the views of external stakeholders from across the higher education (HE) sector continue to inform decision making on the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.

As set out in the Secretary of State’s letter to colleagues and peers, the decision to pause implementation of the Act took account of the views of bodies representing university students and staff and also of Jewish groups, who feel that the Act is disproportionate, burdensome and damaging to the welfare of students and that it would expose HE providers to costly legal action, and that fear of sanction could push providers to overlook the safety and wellbeing of minority groups.

Ministers and officials in the department continue to meet with a full range of stakeholders representing not only HE providers, but also with academics with concerns about constraints on free speech. This engagement will feed into decision making on the future of the Act and the government’s longer-term policy on free speech in the HE sector.