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Higher Education Regulation Information

My Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities (Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson) has made the following statement:

One of our country’s proudest achievements is our world-leading higher education sector, that expands horizons, fosters research breakthroughs and promotes rigorous academic enquiry. Our universities and higher education providers must be supported to continue in their transformative work.

In January, I set out for the House my commitment to protecting the rights of academic staff, external speakers and students to explore and express new ideas, and my intention to implement, amend and repeal elements of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 to make it workable. In that announcement, I also stated my intention to publish a policy paper that would set out my proposals in more detail.

I am therefore pleased to inform you that the technical policy paper ‘The future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023’ has been published today. The paper details the future of each provision in the Act, with additional detail and information on the rationale for my decisions.

The policy paper will ensure the sector has full clarity on the provisions I commenced on 28 April, which will come into force from 1 August 2025, and on the remaining provisions that will either be repealed or amended via primary legislation as soon as government has identified a suitable legislative vehicle. The paper also provides further reasoning on my decision to keep the overseas funding measures under review until later this year.