Clause 35 - Enforcement of plans: England
Higher Education Bill
10:45 am
Mr Tim Collins (Westmorland and Lonsdale, Conservative)
This is proving to be a morning of surprises. First, the Minister accepted an amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats, and now I am in the fairly unusual position of supporting an amendment tabled by the hon. Gentleman. I am not sure whether he will get back in the good books of the vice-chancellors after his preamble. If he had not said that preamble, he might have been the toast of the vice-chancellors this evening, but perhaps not now.
None the less, the hon. Gentleman made an important point. It is an unwelcome but unavoidable feature of today's society that we are more litigious. People are more likely than in previous decades to sue for all sorts of, sometimes apparently flippant, reasons. That can cause disruption, additional cost and worry for, in this case, vice-chancellors and others responsible for the governance of higher education institutions. It is worth reiterating that Conservative Members believe that there should be no procedure for enforcing access plans and we are not in favour of having a director. We are in favour of higher education institutions entering into voluntary access plans, but we are not in favour of an element of compulsion or direction. If there is to be an element of enforcement, it must be done, as the hon. Gentleman said, by the director or—although this goes against the grain—by the Secretary of State, but not by anybody else.
We heard from the hon. Member for Cambridge of a concern expressed by the Association of Colleges in a different context about the possibility of a law student going to court because of a concern about fee structures. If anybody will exploit a more litigious world, it will be a law student. The same could apply in this case. If an individual, whether a student, parent or potential employer, believed that an access plan had been violated or that by taking legal action they were more likely to achieve their objective of, say, admission to a particular university, it is possible that that gap might remain if the amendment is not accepted.
It would therefore be helpful if the Minister could make it clear that he is prepared to accept the amendment, which has much to commend it. He supported an Opposition amendment this morning, so it may be even easier for him to accept an amendment tabled by one of his hon. Friends, particularly one who is seeking to be so helpful today, as he is on all other days.