To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the introduction of a faster route to degree-awarding powers set out in the HM Treasury report, Fixing the foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, published in July 2015, will improve UK productivity.

Opening up the higher education sector to new high quality providers will encourage diversity and competition to help drive up the quality of teaching and, in turn, the contribution of graduates to the economy. Further details on these proposals are set out in my Department’s Green Paper “Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice” published on 6 November.