Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the comments by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 16 January 2017 (HL Deb, cols 22–3), what guidance will be issued to the Office for Students; whether that guidance will be published in the form of an annual letter; and if not, what form it will take.

We will issue annual guidance to the Office for Students, including the allocation of government Grant in Aid and government priorities for higher education for the following academic year. It is likely that this guidance will take the form of a letter.

Where appropriate, the government may issue supplementary guidance during the course of the year.