My Lords, Amendment 105, in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, would widen the scope of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator so that it can include students at alternative providers. This would extend existing rights of redress and review to students who are publicly funded but are at non-university higher education colleges.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator, which reviews student complaints, was designated under the Higher Education Act 2004. Membership of the scheme is compulsory for qualifying institutions, which basically means universities and their constituent colleges. However, it does not include all higher education institutions receiving public funding, whether from HEFCE or via their students from the Student Loans Company. Because of recent changes to the higher education funding system, student loans are now available for far more students; it is a route for public subsidy of higher education on a much wider basis than was the case when the 2004 Act was passed.
Some non-university private providers of higher education therefore now get public money via students through the Student Loans Company. However, although these private higher education institutions can join the Office of the Independent Adjudicator voluntarily, they do not have to and many do not. Their students are therefore excluded from being able to take their complaints to the adjudicator. We probably all agree that effective complaint-handling is an important part of safeguarding the quality and reputation of the
student experience. Happily, the vast majority of students never need to bring a complaint, but the system needs to be accessible to those who feel that they have been let down by their institution.
Part of the success of the OIA is that it provides a single, consistent and independent point of last-resort adjudication for students in higher education. It has considered about 10,000 complaints and appeals since it was set up, with about one-quarter being found justified or partly justified or being in some way settled. This demonstrates the demand for an independent complaints scheme, because, despite the best endeavours of universities, things occasionally go wrong.
Without this amendment, many students would have nowhere to take their cases, such as the following, which the OIA had to find ineligible as their colleges did not happen to belong to the scheme: a student seeking a refund of fees after their course was cancelled; a student complaining that the institution had not followed the UK visa and immigration requirements properly so that he could not follow the course that he had paid for; and the student who complained about timetabling and support on an undergraduate course. These are examples of the sort of situations where, if the higher education institution is not a member, the OIA cannot hear a claim.
Universities UK supports Amendment 105. The Government’s 2011 White Paper, Students at the Heart of the System, included a commitment to bringing these private and alternative providers into the OIA scheme. That welcome commitment would, as they and we both want, create a level playing field between public and private institutions, in addition to extending this right of access to a redress scheme—it is a consumer right, after all—to all higher education students who are in some way in receipt of public money. The Government said that they intended to bring forward legislation to make that change, but they have failed to do so. The Bill therefore provides the opportunity for them to make good their promise. I beg to move.
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