L

Lord Young of Acton (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 23 February 2026

Debate

Free Speech Complaints Scheme

Contribution

My Lords, I declare my interest as director of the Free Speech Union. The Minister has said in the past that the complaints scheme provided for in Section 8 of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 has not yet been introduced because the Secretary of State wants to amend the scheme to prevent students being able to submit complaints to the Office for Students about their speech being unlawfully interfered with, and that the only way to introduce the revised scheme, as the noble Lord said, would be via an amendment to a suitable legislative vehicle, and said vehicle has yet to hove into view. However, I have been told by a senior parliamentary official in response to a question that I submitted to the Library that the Government could, via secondary legislation, partially commence Section 8 in a way that meets the Secretary of State’s concerns. There is no constitutional reason why this has to be done by primary legislation. Why has it not been done yet?

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