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641826

registered interest
date	22/11/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	University of Oxford: Antisemitism
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 17 November (HL2972), whether they will ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England, in its role as regulator, to engage with the University of Oxford to ensure that their policies and procedures were implemented appropriately following reports of anti-Semitic incidents involving students which led to the resignation of a student club chairman in February.
tabling member printed	Baroness Deech
uin	HL3397
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2016 answer text <p>The Government condemns antisemitism wherever it occurs, including on university campuses. Universities and student societies need to be robust in tackling these kinds of issues. Universities are autonomous and have processes for dealing with concerns and complaints where they are raised, unless there are regulatory issues to be addressed.</p><p>The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) holds ongoing discussions (both formal and informal) with institutions, including the University of Oxford, on a regular basis. As the regulator, HEFCE has established procedures for following on up concerns raised about universities. No concerns have been raised with HEFCE about the implementation by the University of Oxford of its policies and procedures on this issue.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 02/12/2016 11:46:50 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

628237

registered interest
date	03/11/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academic Freedom
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the attempt by protesters to disrupt a talk by an Israeli speaker at University College London on 27 October, what steps they are taking to ensure freedom of speech.
tabling member printed	Baroness Deech
uin	HL2972
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2016 answer text <p>Open and robust debate is how students should challenge those they disagree with. There is no place for students that use intimidation or violence to attempt to shut down the free and open exchange of ideas.</p><p>Universities have a legal duty to secure freedom of speech for their members, students, employees and visiting speakers, and must have clearly set out policies for how they will ensure that this can happen. Universities also have a clear responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment and no staff or student should ever feel threatened or intimidated. It is also essential that they have clear policies and procedures to ensure that all students and staff can live and work without discrimination, intimidation or harassment. We expect universities to demonstrate how they will act swiftly to investigate and address hate crime, including anti-Semitic related incidents, reported to them.</p><p>We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), in their role as regulator, to engage with University College London (UCL) to ensure that their policies and procedures for events with external speakers are fit for purpose and were implemented appropriately in this instance. UCL have issued a statement on 11 November 2016 regarding the incident, which sets out that they have launched an immediate investigation.</p><p>In September 2015 we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce. The Taskforce has recently published a report which sets out that universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime. The report has been attached to this answer. We must now ensure that the work of the Taskforce goes on to make a real difference to students across the country. The Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation has asked UUK to survey progress in six months and make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. We hope that the new guidelines for universities issued alongside the UUK Taskforce report will help universities in effectively tackling incidents such as these.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 17/11/2016 17:15:39 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name Changing-the-Culture.pdf title UUK_Changing_The_Culture
tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech