Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2026 [Draft]
As I mentioned in the members’ business debate a few days ago, the question of the future of our universities will be pertinent for all of us who have the privilege to serve in this Parliament for the next five years.
The cross-party work that was established before the election on the framework for the sustainability and success of our universities has three pillars of exploration and collaboration. That work is going on right now—with a variety of stakeholders—to come up with proposals for how to make the changes that are required for our sector to continue to be successful. We are thinking ahead about the decades to come and making sure that we are agile and changing in the way that is necessary.
Responsibility for the pressures on the funding of our universities does not sit entirely with our Government. There are many reserved aspects that have caused higher costs for our universities. In particular, issues of immigration law make it much more difficult for universities to recruit internationally. The national insurance increase was a surprise and a very high cost for our universities.