Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the letter signed by over 600 academics and seven British Nobel laureates to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.

I, as Minister for Skills, can confirm that I have considered the letter and the concerns raised in it. Officials and I have met with over 40 individuals to discuss the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, including academics with concerns about constraints on freedom of speech and academic freedom. A number of these academics were signatories to the open letter sent to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education on 15 August 2024. This includes representatives from Academics for Academic Freedom, Committee for Academic Freedom and the London Universities Council for Academic Freedom. Officials have also met with representatives of nine sector mission groups, unions and representatives of minority groups.

This stakeholder engagement 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 higher education sector.