Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the impact on students of industrial action in universities.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, while the Government play no role in such disputes, we
continue to monitor the impact of strikes with employers and
their representatives. This Government set up the Office for
Students in 2018, which has wide-ranging powers to ensure that
students’ interests are protected and expects providers to do all
they can to avoid disruption to students. I urge all sides to
work together so that students do not suffer further learning
loss.
(LD)
I am very grateful for the Minister’s reply. As she is aware,
students—and not only students—have had a very difficult time
over the past few years, particularly with Covid and the cost of
living crisis. The Sutton Trust has found that 49% of university
students are doing a second job to be financially supported. With
10 to 15 days of strike action meaning that in some universities
students have not been able to have their lectures or tutorials,
there is real stress and anxiety for final-year students about
whether they will get certificates at the end of their course. I
know that universities are autonomous, but could the Office for
Students give more direct advice about how we can support
students in these difficult times? Given that students have big
loans, will they get some of that loan back?
(Con)
On the noble Lord’s question relating to the role of the Office
for Students, obviously it is the regulator of higher education
in this country; it does not get involved in industrial disputes.
It has a part to play in making sure that universities continue
to meet their conditions of registration, which allow them to be
eligible for public funding, and their obligations under consumer
protection law.
(CB)
My Lords, can I push the Minister on the last part of the noble
Lord’s question? I should declare an interest: I have two sons
who are at university at the moment, both of whom have lost a lot
of days due to strike action. Normally when an organisation
provides a service for a fee, it has to refund part of that fee
if does not provide the service. Why is that not the case with
universities?
(Con)
Universities have obligations under their conditions of
registration and under consumer law. Students can make complaints
to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. There were 2,763
new complaints in 2021, and we will shortly get the figures for
2022—that figure covers all issues but may well cover this one
also. It is our expectation and hope that universities will
respond and support students to receive the education to which
they are entitled.
(Lab)
My Lords, I became a university teacher in 1958 and I have never
been on strike for a single day in that period, nor would I.
However, throughout that long period, university teachers have
been underpaid. There are difficulties now about their contracts,
which was not the case earlier, in particular the use of younger,
untrained teachers in a way that imperils jobs. Could one not
give more professional power to university teachers so that they
are properly treated?
(Con)
I am sympathetic to the points that the noble Lord makes, but, as
the House is aware, universities are autonomous. As autonomous
institutions, they are responsible for pay and pension provision
for their staff.
(Con)
My Lords, as one who has three granddaughters who have been
through university in the past three or four years—the last one
is still going through—I know that they are being very
short-changed. One granddaughter had not a single lecture last
year at a very important and prestigious university; others are
given “trigger warnings” before they can read Tennyson or Jane
Austen. They really are getting a rough time.
(Con)
I am not sure how to respond to the trigger warnings. I have
tried to resist raising this, but, since everyone else has
mentioned their family, I have a husband who is doing a part-time
degree at the moment. His evening of teaching falls every single
time on a strike day, so I am familiar with the issues to which
the noble Lords refer. Universities are expected to take steps to
avoid or limit disruption to learning. We would encourage all of
them to do that.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, in her initial Answer, the Minister said that the
Government play no role. Surely the Government set the whole
legislative framework in which universities work and all the
financial arrangements under which they operate. Is it not about
time that the Government accepted their responsibility for all
the industrial disputes that are taking place?
(Con)
The Government absolutely accept responsibility for those areas
where they are responsible, but I think there would be a lot of
resistance in your Lordships’ House if they moved to reduce the
autonomy of universities.
(Con)
My Lords, I presume that the universities are not paying the
lecturers on the days when they are on strike. Could those monies
be used by way of restitution to the students? Might the Office
for Students recommend that course, so that students could start
issuing proceedings in the small claims court on a pro rata
basis?
(Con)
I am very happy to take back my noble friend’s recommendation to
the Office for Students.
Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that, as long as an employer
does not face a financial penalty—for example, in reimbursing
students, or indeed with the railways, where the Government
initially said they had no responsibility for settling the
dispute—there is less incentive on the employer to get around the
table to negotiate a fair settlement?
(Con)
Obviously, the noble Baroness brings many years of expertise to
this matter, but I think that employers in universities and other
sectors of the economy are suffering great penalties—financial,
reputational and in terms of their relationships with their
customers—which have a considerable impact on them.
(LD)
My Lords, I entirely accept that the Office for Students has
overall responsibility for this issue, but, as we have heard,
Ministers have a responsibility too. Is she saying that there is
nothing at all that Ministers can do to try to mediate or to help
in this dispute?
(Con)
What I am saying is that we established the Office for Students
to ensure that students’ interests are respected and upheld. The
Government have no direct role in relation to the Universities
Superannuation Scheme beyond the legislation that applies to all
workplace pension schemes as regulated by the Pensions
Regulator.
(Lab)
My Lords, there is a real complication between the pension scheme
operated by universities and the pension scheme operated by the
health service. Could the Minister talk to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer about the contradiction between giving away £1 billion
of public funding for consultants operating under the health
service pension scheme and the situation faced by consultants in
teaching hospitals, who have opted, or been encouraged, to take
on a previous university pension scheme, which is now being
completely changed? We might get some sense out of the issue of
getting tutors back to work, if we could put a little of that £1
billion into resolving the pension problem for universities.
(Con)
I am more than happy to pass on the noble Lord’s comments to
colleagues in the Treasury.
