Labour will ¡°review the way that the whole landscape of tertiary education works¡±, according to the party¡¯s shadow higher education minister, who accused the Westminster government of creating a ¡°funding crisis¡± in England.

Matt Western also accused the government of ¡°deliberately trying to weaken and reduce the sector, stoking political fires, not engaging with the issues the sector faces or the people working in the sector¡±, in a speech to Independent Higher Education¡¯s annual conference.

The ¡°reputational impact¡± of this was ¡°certainly being felt internationally¡±, he added.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the party will drop its Corbyn-era policy to scrap tuition fees and fund English higher education through direct public spending ¨C but has?offered little clarity?over what funding policy the party would back in government.

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Mr Western said: ¡°For too long, recent governments have chosen not to address the issue of sustainability in university funding. They have ignored [estimates on] the increasing number of 18-year-olds?entering universities in the next decade, leading to greater demand and increased applications in the years ahead.¡±

He added: ¡°They have damaged the appeal of the UK to international students and impacted on the value and income [international students] bring to universities. It is because of this that universities are now seeing a growing funding crisis; a crisis which creates tensions in every university workplace¡­and which the government is running from, rather than tackling.¡±

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Mr Western continued: ¡°Labour will review the way that the whole landscape of tertiary education works and how the lifelong learning entitlement can provide opportunity to further and higher education systems; that high quality learning should be accessible to everyone, at whatever stage of life, in a variety of forms.¡±

Labour at Westminster was ¡°particularly interested¡± in the new?tertiary education regulator for Wales, established by the Labour-run Welsh government, which would allow students to move ¡°between institutions and courses¡±, he added.

In England, Labour would ¡°encourage a reset in the regulatory relationship with higher education providers ¨C a reset that enables collaboration between universities and the regulator¡±, he said.

Referencing the Office for Students, the English regulator, Mr Western criticised ¡°a politicised regulator¡± lacking ¡°both the respect and vision it needs to be effective¡±, that ¡°does little to support the interests of students or support the development of universities¡±.

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com