Higher Education and Research Bill

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 4—Committee on Degree ...

New clause 1 relates to the Office for Students, which is central to the Bill and has quality, st...

I understand the need for monitoring the financial sustainability of organisations, but the new c...

The duty of the Office for Students will be to ensure that it is monitoring effectively the overa...

Will the regulator have the power to ensure that there are good industrial relations within our u...

Higher education institutions are private and autonomous bodies that are self-organising. It is o...

The Minister clearly does not believe that the Bill is the right vehicle for the issues under con...

The Home Secretary has said that in the coming weeks we will consult on a non-European economic a...

The Minister referred to “an element”. The post-study work visa is not just the subject of “an el...

Indeed. The Government fully agree with the hon. Gentleman that international students bring a lo...

The Minister mentioned the TEF and the REF. Does he agree that the REF took several years to bed ...

The TEF is not being rushed; it is being piloted for the first two years. Awards will not be diff...

I applaud the Minister’s view that we should focus on quality in the sector, rather than just vol...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his helpful intervention. We have studied regulatory systems aro...

I rise to speak on new clause 7 and amendments 49 to 51, which are in my name. New clause 7 and a...

Should the demonstrable link involve a recognition of the experience and qualifications of lectur...

Measuring teaching quality is difficult, but if we are going to do it, and if we are going to lin...

Does the hon. Gentleman therefore agree with Professor Jack Dowie’s view that the teaching excell...

The hon. Gentleman has expressed my concern exactly. This is the reason behind my amendment. Ther...

I am loth to interrupt my hon. Friend because he is in full flow and making a powerful point, but...

I look forward to joining my hon. Friend in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, because she makes a va...

On that point, many mainland European universities now offer courses in English. Our leaving the ...

My hon. Friend highlights a new dimension to the challenge facing our universities as a result of...

Coventry has two universities. A big concern following Brexit is that international students, in ...

Order. The hon. Gentleman is certainly testing my patience. It is one thing to come in and then a...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I appreciate the intervention of my hon. Friend, because he is a st...

The hon. Gentleman will know that I entirely accept his last point about a number of these postgr...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He and I have worked closely on a number o...

The hon. Gentleman should remind himself that international student applications have gone up 14%...

Well, I would be interested for the Minister to intervene again and say over what period, because...

The answer is since 2010.

We will probably disagree on those figures. I think I have heard the Minister say previously—if i...

I strongly agree with everything that my hon. Friend is saying. Can he imagine a scenario where h...

My hon. Friend makes the point that I was about to make. If we were looking at a teaching excelle...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there may be not just reputational damage at home, but consequ...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is not just the recruitment of students but the b...

I rise to speak to new clause 14 on post-study work visa evaluation, and I reserve the right to p...

The hon. Lady has made a strong case for why she feels post-study work visas should be reintroduc...

Certain rogue institutions—particularly private FE colleges—have in the past not complied with vi...

In last week’s Westminster Hall debate, I specifically challenged the Home Office Minister to nam...

The 19 higher education institutes in Scotland have a strong record in attracting international s...

The Scottish Affairs Committee has been looking at some of the issues that the hon. Lady has ment...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. It is well documented that in Scotland our issue...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No—I have given way enough for the moment.

Last month, Professor Timothy O’Shea, the princi...

I want to speak to new clause 16, which draws on some of the points that my hon. Friend the Membe...

I concur with my hon. Friend on the contribution of international students and the very good expe...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The Government should take on board his point about that...

Given that the Government are supposed to believe in markets, it is bizarre that, when Times Educ...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. International students are central to the business model...

A university is an establishment where higher-level study, education and research are done. It is...

The hon. Lady was on the Committee, and I am sure that she will recall that the things in the ame...

I concur, up to a point. I am hugely proud of universities, and I am hugely proud of what they de...

I, too, think that BT has a number of strengths as a company, but it is yet to be determined whet...

The hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill) picked out the issue of five-a-side football, ...

I concur exactly with my hon. Friend. In Committee, the Minister said that he was setting

“...

I am grateful to colleagues for raising so many points that came up in Committee which particular...

Will the hon. Gentleman define what he considers a typical student to be, so that I can gauge his...

I certainly do not think that we will be able to find a typical student to sit on the board of th...

Although I agree with everything that my hon. Friend is saying, I think that the hon. Member for ...

I absolutely agree with that point, which brings me back to the skills and expertise that student...

I apologise to members of the Public Bill Committee: I did not make the cut, so they have the adv...

I rise to speak to our amendments, but also to comment on others, including the Minister’s new cl...

This has been a good debate and I am glad to have the chance to respond to some of the points mad...

I entirely accept the Minister’s bona fides and commitments on this issue, but is it true that Ho...

The visit to India, which I was honoured to be part of, was a big success in that it gave us nume...

I assure the Minister that we are very calm about this issue, but he could calm us further by exp...

High-quality institutions are compliant institutions. We want compliance to be a strong feature o...

The Minister talks about compliance. Why did the Home Secretary not talk about compliance? She ta...

If the hon. Gentleman reads the Home Secretary’s speech carefully, he will see that she did menti...

High-quality institutions could offer poor-quality courses, just as institutions with a bronze ra...

I urge the hon. Lady to wait for the consultation document. She will be able to assess the Govern...

The Minister might wish to comment specifically on new clause 4, but will he tell us why the Gove...

In relation to new clause 4, we intend to keep the processes relating to the scrutiny of applicat...

Will the Minister give the House some idea of when that guidance might be available?

We plan to put out guidance in the coming months. The hon. Lady will be the first to receive it w...

I think the Minister is coming to his peroration, so I just wondered whether he will be able to m...

I touched on that at the start of my remarks. The Opposition proposed a commission for lifelong l...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 3—Student loans: regul...

I am grateful for the opportunity to move new clause 2 and to speak to the other new clauses conc...

My hon. Friend is making an extremely powerful case. Does he not think that, had this happened in...

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend, which is why the student loans system should be brought wit...

When we reformed student finance in 2011, we put in place a system designed to make higher educat...

The Minister is talking about the affordability and sustainability of systems. Does he acknowledg...

Short interventions, please.

The estimation of the RAB charge is still broadly in that ballpark, with the current estimate bei...

I anticipated that the Minister would point out how permissive the terms and conditions were, whi...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Financial Conduct Authority. I remind him that it was under the ...

It would be perfectly possible for the FCA to regulate within the scope of the student finance sy...

The key terms and conditions are set out in legislation—it is the law that binds us—and are subje...

Is that £5 billion a capital estimate of the value of the loan book or is it the annual running c...

That represents a decrease in the capital value of the loan book.

The cost of uprating by t...

The Minister briefly addressed new clause 8, although in anticipating it, he understated and, to ...

I have a constituent in just that position. They went through school, they did well, they were re...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Not only is this a waste for the individual, but we as a soci...

I rise to add a brief footnote to new clause 10, which is in my name, and to say things that othe...

I rise to speak to Labour’s new clause 5, which would revoke the Education (Student Support) (Ame...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Briefly.

Will the hon. Gentleman allude to how Labour intends to pay for all these benefits, because I thi...

The hon. Lady must be a mind reader because I am just coming to on that issue.

Bringing bac...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not—the hon. Lady has had one go. Let me proceed because we do not have a lot of time....

Will the hon. Gentleman give way for two seconds?

For two seconds, yes.

How does the hon. Gentleman explain the fact that covering the figure of £12 billion would mean a...

That was a hell of a lot more than two seconds, but I forgive the hon. Lady. We need to look at t...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the situation he describes particularly hits students in plac...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, as he is to make that point about the situation for stude...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 57, in clause 40, page ...

It might be helpful if I refreshed hon. Members’ memories about what new clause 11 contains, so t...

I will speak to amendments 55 and 56. I will start with amendment 56, which is in my name and tha...

I back the hon. Lady’s points, and note that Welsh universities have particular priorities when i...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point. Scotland does very well out of the research councils, ...

I thank honourable colleagues for their enthusiastic support for our world-class research and inn...

I am sure that the record will show whether the Minister said earlier, in respect of Government a...

It will be at least one person with experience of one or more of the devolved Administrations. To...

The Minister has articulated exactly the sentiments shared by Opposition Members—for us, too, thi...

There is no higher authority in the Government than the Prime Minister, and we have heard from he...

Does the Minister appreciate that such statements are cold comfort to people in that position and...

We as a Government can only reiterate that we fully appreciate and value their presence in our in...

Our amendments 43 to 45 are on collaboration between the OFS and UKRI. I will come to those and t...

On the subject of Northern Ireland, the Minister will know that Queen’s University, Belfast has a...

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. It would, of course, be invidious for me to ...

My hon. Friend will appreciate that a number of institutions are concerned—I suspect he was about...

I was going to say that my hon. Friend, as the MP for Cambridge, is at the cutting-edge, or certa...

I wish to speak about amendments 57 and 59, and amendment (a) to Government amendment 17.

I...

UKRI and the OFS are under an obligation to act efficiently and effectively, and to deliver value...

That seems a bit convoluted.

A number of universities are still raising issues. We have jus...

I hope not to detain the House for terribly long, but I would like to make several points. The Mi...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Queen’s University Belfast—I must declare an interest; I graduat...

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. I was not aware of that, but she raises a situation ...

As my hon. Friend has mentioned, many people working in higher education in Scotland are very wor...

I do not propose to press my new clause to a vote.

Clause, by leave, withdrawn.

Our consideration having been completed, I will now suspend the House for no more than five minut...

I can now inform the House of my decision about certification. For the purposes of Standing Order...

indicated assent.

The House forthwith resolved itself into the Legislative Grand Committee ...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

Let me first convey my thanks to t...

I associate myself with the Minister’s thanks to all who have contributed to the Bill, most espec...

Let me begin by associating myself with what was said by the Minister and the hon. Member for Bla...

My hon. Friend is making very clear why so much of the Bill is important to our constituents in S...

I am not sure who those procedures served, but I cannot imagine that they served the people of En...

I rise to echo some of the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Gordon Mars...