The Westminster government will consult on introducing “minimum service levels” in UK universities to limit the impact of industrial action on students, education secretary Gillian Keegan has announced, in a move decried by unions as “a spiteful attack on workers”.
Addressing the Conservative Party conference, Ms Keegan said it was “outrageous” that an assessment boycott coordinated by the University and College Union had led to thousands of students not getting their degrees on time.
She said that ministers would consider extending minimum service levels, introduced earlier this year in sectors such as rail, ambulance and fire and rescue services, to higher education. These allow employers to issue notices to unions to ensure that a minimum service operates during periods of strike action.
The announcement comes after several years of on-off strike action in disputes over pay, pensions and working conditions in UK universities.
