Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 9 November (HL9589), what legislative options they are considering to ensure that all higher education institutions sign up to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

As set out in my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s letter to higher education providers on 9 October 2020, the government sees adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition as a demonstration that providers are taking the matter of antisemitism seriously.

The letter also sets out that officials are exploring how best to ensure that providers are tackling antisemitism, with robust measures in place to address issues when they arise. Options identified by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education in the letter include directing the Office for Students to impose a new regulatory condition of registration, and suspending funding streams for universities at which antisemitic incidents occur and which have not signed up to the definition.