The allegation of those campaigning for a statutory duty of care for students in higher education is that while there are examples of good practice across the sector, the standard (and sometimes existence) of support is not consistent.
At the Petitions Committee session on the issue on May 16, Mark Shanahan (whose son Rory died by suicide at Sheffield University back in 2018) argued that students do not enjoy a “parity of approach”:
…we need the law to get universities to act consistently and find their different ways to get to that duty of care. What we want are competent communities that care about their students. It is far too patchy. UUK has said that already.
Mental health campaigner Ben West raised the difference between best practice and minimum practice:
Why on earth are we calling it best practice and not basic practice? We have lifesaving policies that we say are best practice. “Here they are, adopt them if you want.” Why on earth are they best practice? Health and safety laws are laws and statutory, not voluntary for a reason, because they point at an employer or they point to the construction company and say, “You have to wear hard hats. If you don’t wear hard hats, you’re breaking the law”. If it was voluntary they would not do it.
