Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect free speech for students in higher education.

This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. Higher education (HE) must be a space for robust discussion and intellectual rigour. This is outlined in the existing legislation, whereby universities have a legal obligation to protect lawful freedom of speech, and protections for free speech are also set out in the Office for Students’ registration conditions.

The government took the decision to pause the implementation of further parts of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act to ensure that it is workable in practice and that it protects freedom of speech for students.

The department is continuing to meet with a full range of stakeholders, including academics with concerns about constraints on freedom of speech and mission groups representing the voice of students in HE. This will feed into decision making on the future of the Act and this government’s longer-term policy on protecting freedom of speech across the HE sector.