Hoyle calls on government to investigate leaks over tuition fee announcement

Sir Lindsay Hoyle has asked the Government to launch a “full” investigation into the leaks to find out how news of the Government’s tuition fee hike was published in the press before it was announced in Parliament.

The Speaker of the House of Commons said it was “greatly discourteous” to report the matter ahead of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s parliamentary speech on Monday afternoon. She announced that tuition fees in England would rise to £9,535 next year.

Sir Lindsay called for staff to be questioned about who leaked the news to the press. He then asked for a statement to be given to the House of Commons about what had happened.

He said: “Before I call the Education Secretary to make a statement, I note that reports of higher education tuition fee hikes began appearing in the media this afternoon.

“If the premature media report is due to an unauthorized leak of information, then it is a great discourtesy to this house.

“I hope the Secretary of State can identify the party at fault, take wider action and inform me accordingly.

“So I now hope that the Secretary of State will announce an investigation into the leak and that we will have full details of how it may have come to light and the House will be informed as soon as that happens.”

Last Monday he said it was “completely unacceptable” that Rachel Reeves revealed measures in the budget before it was presented to MPs on Wednesday.

Speaking ahead of her tuition fee announcement, Ms Phillipson said: “Can I start by expressing my deep regret that the contents of the announcement I am about to make have appeared in the media this afternoon.

“It has always been my intention to come to this House first to make this statement, given the significance and importance of it, because I value you, the members of this House, and our conventions rightly demand and expect it.

“I hope you can accept my deep disappointment and regret about what happened, and I will take every step possible to keep you informed of this matter because I respect the conventions of this house and my responsibilities to this house.”

Mr Hoyle responded: “Can I just say, can we assume from now on that there will be a full investigation into how this happened, that everyone will be brought in, questioned and then you will report back to us? A full investigation is what we really want.”

Ms Phillipson replied: “I can give you that undertaking and will speak to officials about it as you request.”