Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help resolve industrial disputes between universities and the University and Colleges Union.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions and, as such, the government does not intervene in industrial disputes or negotiations between employers and trade unions. However, we remain committed to constructive engagement with both the unions and the employer representative body to help address the broader challenges facing the sector.

The government has taken steps to secure the future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. We made the difficult decision to increase tuition fees in line with inflation for the 2025/26 academic year, and appointed Professor Edward Peck as Chair of the Office for Students (OfS). We will set out our plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Skills White Paper, and will work with the sector and the OfS to deliver the change that the country needs.