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1,563 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDHelping Young People into Work: Covid-19I am hearing from colleges that fewer level 1 and level 2 students are going to college as they are going straight into work and that is to be commended, but we know that having a…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Welcome. I have a few different questions. Picking up on your point about the Equality Act and how they interplay, would you recommend greater clarification of that in the Bill?…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q The concern that I have read in the evidence is that it could be left to individual universities to try to manage what is freedom of speech versus somebody’s rights under the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q To press further on that, at the moment the universities have this question of fulfilling freedom of speech “within the law”, but they of course have to adhere to non-statutory…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Okay. Finally, I dare not provoke the wrath of Sir John by using the words “unconscious bias training”, but you seem to suggest in your role that people unconsciously choose…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Do you think the Bill as it stands addresses the unconscious bias that people have? We will not mention training, Sir John. Thomas Simpson: Whereas 30 years ago you might have…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q So there is nothing explicitly within the Bill other than your hoping that in 10 years we might see an impact. Thomas Simpson: No, it provides for the means by which that would…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q So you see the bonus as being the advice that is given. Is it not possible for the OfS to give advice on something without having to legislate? Thomas Simpson: I think the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Yes—sorry. Smita Jamdar: I may have misunderstood; I do apologise. Yes, that is a concern. Built into certain types of court proceedings—judicial review, for example—is the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Interestingly enough, those were the points that I was going to cover. That is interesting indeed, with your comments about the competing obligations under the Bill and the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q I am interested in the Bill, rather than having a Second Reading debate on whether we should or should not have this. As the Bill stands, it does not contain anything about…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q As we said, it is not just the Equality Act but all the other pieces of legislation. Would you wish to amend them all through the Bill? Dr Harris: No. Because I do not think…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Finally, the online safety Bill will be going through Parliament. What thought have you given to that Bill, how it will potentially limit freedom of expression and how it…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q But for institutions and those working in institutions, surely we should be promoting academic freedom? Professor Stock: I took it as implicit. I did think it was slightly…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q On that direct point—thank you for letting me come in—the Secretary of State said on Second Reading that this “legal route”, the “new statutory tort”, is “an important…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q That is really interesting. So you would want to see amendments to the Bill that gave students the right to continue to protest, and not therefore fall under the guidance of the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q I would like to return the focus to what is written in the Bill, rather than to re-argue the Second Reading arguments on the merits of whether we should have a Bill or not.…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (Second sitting)Q Professor Whittle, I want to turn again to the evidence submitted by the University of Cambridge, which highlights the tension that the Bill presents in balancing free speech…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q Yes. Just to quote from the submission, “it is arguable that freedom of speech would take primacy over academic freedom when the duty is balanced in practice (i.e. you can read…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill (First sitting)Q Further to that—I highlight this for Government Members, because they seem to be a little confused about who is covered by the Bill, so I refer to the Taylor Vinters submission…07 Sept 2021