Secretary of State for Education (): 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either be repealed or amended via primary legislation as soon as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.
