Hold your tongue: implementation of free speech law halted

The government have decided to halt the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.

On Friday 26 July, the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, announced that the government has decided to halt the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. She is now considering options for the Act's future, including its potential repeal.

The Act would have brought about a significant change to the legal framework within which students unions' operate. It would have imposed new responsibilities to ensure lawful freedom of speech, potentially altering how events and discussions are managed on campus. We expected these changes to come into effect on 1 August 2024.

For more information about the anticipated impacts of the Act on students' unions, please see our series of articles covering the new changes here.

The primary reason given for stopping the Act's implementation is concerns over its potential negative impact on student welfare. Both the legislation and the draft regulatory guidance issued by the Office for Students were certainly problematic, and we welcome the chance to pause and reflect on whether this new legislation was necessary at all (see our previous article on this topic here).

In the meantime, the proposed changes forced many students’ unions to take a look at how they handle freedom of speech issues, and we anticipate this continuing. Even if the new law does not come into force, SUs will still be subject to many of the same duties, so may wish to use this opportunity to revise policies and procedures to ensure they comply with the law and best practice.

This decision has been welcomed by the National Union of Students (NUS), who have praised the Secretary of State for listening to students. The NUS statement can be found here.

A link to Bridget Phillipson's ministerial statement is available here.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this article further, please contact the students’ union team on 0113 244 6100 or by emailing laura.moss@wrigleys.co.uk

You can also keep up to date by following Wrigleys Solicitors on LinkedIn.

The information in this article is necessarily of a general nature.  The law stated is correct at the date (stated above) this article was first posted to our website.

Specific advice should be sought for specific situations. If you have any queries or need any legal advice please contact Wrigleys Solicitors.