Monday 16-03-2020 - 14:30

WHAT IS THE CONSULTATION?

In January 2020, the Office for Students (OfS) launched a consultation on harassment and sexual misconduct in higher education. The consultation sets out proposals for the OfS to regulate harassment and sexual misconduct which affects students in Higher Education (HE) providers.

The consultation is open to anybody with an interest in preventing and addressing harassment and sexual misconduct affecting students in HE in England. Durham Students’ Union (Durham SU) will be submitting a response to the consultation on March 26 2020. This is an exciting opportunity to feed into national policy, and we’re encouraging Durham students to get in touch with feedback on our response by contacting our Policy Coordinator (Welfare) at nicola.a.frampton@durham.ac.ukbefore Monday 23 March.

You can access the consultation in full here.

WHAT ARE THE PROPOSALS?

The OfS are proposing a set of expectations for providers and a requirement for ‘clear, accessible and effective complaints procedures’. The statement of expectations focusses on the need for:

• Clear and consistent communication regarding policy, reporting and prevention
• Commitment from leadership teams and governing bodies to ensure approaches preventing and responding to harassment and sexual misconduct are adequate and effective.
• The need for engagement with students when developing processes, policies and systems aimed at addressing harassment and sexual misconduct.
• Training for staff and students to raise awareness of and prevent harassment and sexual misconduct
• Demonstrably fair and independent investigatory processes which are free from bias
• Appropriate and effective support provision for students which is not dependent upon the submission of a formal report or complaint

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR UNIVERSITIES?

The OfS is the independent regulator of HE providers in England. Any provider that charges more than £6000 in fees must be registered with the OfS, and therefore must adhere to the guidelines, conditions and expectations set out by the OfS. If they don’t, the OfS has regulatory powers to sanction providers.

When specifically considering the impact of these proposals, it’s probable that the Statement of Expectations will guide University decision making in this area in the future. Whilst we feel that Durham University is currently in a positive position in terms of its policy and reporting procedures, we do feel that these expectations set a precedent for valuable improvements in the areas of investigation, accountability and student engagement.  

WHAT WILL DURHAM SU’S RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION SAY?

The consultation sets out 11 questions about the proposals, which are listed below along with Durham SU’s response to each question. Read the proposals in full here to understand what each question refers to.

1. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the scope of our proposed regulatory approach, as set out in paragraphs 1-7? [Strongly agree, tend to agree, tend to disagree, strongly disagree, N/A]

Tend to agree.

These proposals represent a good first step in the right direction, but they could go further. Greater clarity would be welcomed on how the OfS and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE (OIA) will work together in identifying patterns of individual complaints which may be reflective of a structural issue within an institution. Additionally, greater clarity on what the scope would be if a responding party is staff would be welcomed.

Strong agreement with the definition of students and responsibility.

2. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the OfS should publish a statement of expectations in relation to harassment and sexual misconduct for HE providers, as set out in pages 10-14?

Strongly agree.

3. To what extent do you agree or disagree with our proposed approach to future engagement with the sector on these issues, as set out in paragraph 10?

Tend to agree.

Working with providers to develop guidance is a positive approach and this is welcomed. However, it’s felt that the proposed approach in its current format is too ‘hands off’, and allows too much freedom to individual providers without enough incentive to effectively tackle harassment and misconduct. Again, the proposals could go further and offer a baseline of requirements rather than ‘expectations’. The OfS should focus on tackling problem areas based upon current existing research, and also ensure that signposting to effective practice and guidance includes avenues for criminal proceedings. Currently, the proposed approach lacks any timescales and includes too much relative language (‘appropriate’, ‘adequate’, ‘further development’), which needs to be defined. 

4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposals for evaluating the impact of the statement of expectations, as set out in paragraphs 11 and 12?

Tend to disagree.

The proposals for evaluation currently place too much reliance upon individual providers. Durham SU feels that this process should be led and driven by the OfS with a more strategic approach to evaluating the impact of the statement of expectations. HE providers should be required to provide evidence, rather than offer this following a call from the OfS. 

5. Do you have any comments about the proposed statement of expectations?

The proposed set of expectations are practical, and it is positive that they allow for institution-specific differences. The expectations are reasonable, but it’s difficult to see how far this approach will go in achieving effective cultural change.

1a. Should include executive accountability as well as governance.

1c. Should be clearer that institutional expectations are different to legal expectations.

4b. Should be reworded for training to be ‘required’ rather than ‘made available’.

6. Opportunities for providers to learn and evaluate should be included within this point (i.e. process for reviewing cases).

6. N/A

7. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the OfS should assess compliance with ongoing conditions of registration (B2 and C1), where there is evidence that registered providers have not effectively addressed harassment and sexual misconduct cases, as set out in paragraphs 13-29?

Strongly agree.

8. Do you have any comments about the interaction of these proposals with other regulatory or statutory requirements?

Clarity on how these proposals interact with current OIA procedures for reconsidering a complaint and with policies for external placements (e.g. with the NHS) would be welcomed.

9. Do you have any comments about the impact of these proposals for particular types of providers?

None

10. Do you have any comments about the impact of the proposals for particular groups of students?

A set of expectations will be helpful to student leaders to hold providers to account and lobby for change more effectively.

We have some concern that responsibility will be placed on students to engage with the monitoring process, which may become a burden for them.

11. Do you have any other comments?

The OfS must ensure that messaging around these expectations and the possible sanctions for non-compliant providers is clear and firm.

Overall, Durham SU welcomes these proposals and do not see them as a threat to institutional autonomy or academic freedom.