Government pushes ahead with legislation to protect free speech at universities
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told MPs that academic freedom was ‘much more important than the wishes of some students not to be offended’.
The Government is pushing ahead with key measures in legislation aimed at protecting free speech at universities, the Education Secretary has said.
But a “statutory tort” – which could have allowed individuals to bring legal proceedings against higher education institutions that failed to comply with freedom of speech duties – will be removed from the legislation.
Bridget Phillipson told MPs that the tort “risks diverting resources away from students at a time when university finances are already strained”.
The Education Secretary also announced that she was seeking to repeal plans for the duties on students’ unions.
Setting out the Labour Government’s plans for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, Ms Phillipson told MPs that academic freedom was “much more important than the wishes of some students not to be offended”.
The implementation of legislation was halted in July shortly after the general election due to concerns it could be potentially damaging to student welfare and “burdensome” for universities.
The law, passed under the previous Tory government in 2023, was paused to allow Labour to consider its options.
In a statement to the Commons – nearly six months since the legislation was put on hold – Ms Phillipson said the Act would impose a duty on universities to secure and “promote” freedom of speech.
The Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator for England, will have powers to impose fines on universities over breaches of free speech.
Under existing legislation, universities still have a legal duty to uphold freedom of speech.
A complaints scheme for academics, external speakers and university members with concerns about restrictions on their lawful free speech will go ahead as part of the legislation.
Students will be able to make similar complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA).
Addressing MPs in the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Phillipson said: “The ability of our academics to explore and express new ideas through teaching and research is precious and we must protect it.
“And these fundamental freedoms are more important, much more important, than the wishes of some students not to be offended.
“University is a place for ideas to be exposed and debated, to be tried and tested.”
On the proposed statutory tort, she added: “It would create costly litigation that risks diverting resources away from students at a time when university finances are already strained.
“Members can be assured that the remaining routes of redress have plenty of teeth.”
But shadow education secretary Laura Trott accused the Government of being “more interested in virtue signalling than what is right for the country”.
She told MPs: “Despite the Secretary of State’s statement, we have confusion about what is actually happening. It seems this Government can’t even do a much-needed U-turn properly.
“Without the tort, what are the consequences that universities will face if they don’t protect free speech?”
Universities UK (UUK), which represents 140 higher education providers, has repeatedly called on the Education Secretary to remove the statutory tort in the Act set out by the former Tory government.
In a letter to Ms Phillipson earlier this week, Professor Dame Sally Mapstone, president of UUK, said: “We believe that the tort is likely to be used for vexatious claims which will ultimately lead to considerable sums of money being spent on legal advice and action, which will divert extremely scarce resources away from supporting students and into the pockets of lawyers.”
In a statement in July, Ms Phillipson said she was aware of concerns about the Act and that she would confirm her plans “as soon as possible”.
On Wednesday, the Education Secretary said: “Academic freedom and free speech are fundamental to our world-leading universities and this government is committed to protecting them.
“These changes protect free speech but avoid implementing excessive and burdensome provisions which could have exposed struggling universities to disproportionate costs, diverting money away from students to pay lawyers.
“The decisions we are making about the Act demonstrate that we were right to pause commencement and to review its impact before making decisions on its future.”
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “In stripping out its statutory tort element, Labour is making clear they understand that the Bill is fundamentally rotten.
“They should therefore go further and dispense with this Tory culture-war legislation altogether.
“Protection of academic freedom is critical, but the principal threats to it are from university employers and state interference in campus life, not supposedly oversensitive students.
“Safeguarding the future of higher education in the face of looming anti-democratic threats requires a more serious approach.”
Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said: “With the threat of complex legal responsibilities and new regulation no longer hanging over them, our member students’ unions can get back to doing what we all do best: supporting students to thrive, debate ideas and take part in campus life.”
