Westminster Weekly: 18 April – 25 April

Westminster Weekly: 18 April – 25 April

1. UCAS application figures show slow progress on lower socio-economic groups

The number of applicants to UK universities and colleges is up 7.8% on the same point last year. Data released on 24 April by UCAS refers to people applying for full-time undergraduate courses and is a snapshot taken at 24 March. Responding to the figures, NUS President Gemma Tumelty said: "A mere 0.7% rise in applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds is certainly no cause for celebration, especially as these figures take no account of the change in the overall size of the population. Clearly, the unworkable and unsustainable tuition fees system needs to be abolished in favour of a more equitable means of funding the sector. That is why NUS is calling on the Government to hold a proper review of higher education funding in 2009, instead of just debating whether the cap on top-up fees should be lifted."

2. Schools Select Committee call on new Children's Department to show who's in charge

The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee published its report on Thursday 24 April the remit of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Children's Plan. The report welcomes the opportunities presented by a new department with a specific focus on children but warns of the challenges posed by joint working between various parts of Government. Apart from early years and 5 to 13 schooling, for which DCSF has sole responsibility, it appears the Department has joint responsibility and varying degrees of control for all other areas of children's policy. The Committee urges DCSF and the Secretary of State to demonstrate strong and decisive leadership to ensure effective and coherent policy making. Responsibility for education is split between DCSF and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Neither Department appears to have the lead role on 14-19 education. The Committee has called on DCSF to set out each Department's responsibility towards Diplomas and says that the success of this qualification is vital for the new education landscape.

3. Parliamentary questions tabled

Cable - Students Loans (Interest)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the revenue which would be received by the Exchequer from increasing the interest rates charged on student loans by (a) 0.1 per cent. and (b) 1 per cent. in 2008-09. [166346]

Bill Rammell: The principle behind student loans is that borrowers repay broadly the same amount, in real terms, as they have borrowed. The interest rate on student loan balances is therefore fixed at the rate of inflation.

Increasing the interest rate on student loan balances by 0.1 or 1 per cent. above inflation would provide no immediate additional revenue to the Exchequer. Repayments are based on earnings and not the amount borrowed, so increasing the interest rate charged to borrowers would not impact on receipts in 2008-09, although it would impact on receipts in the future.

Under resource accounting, the Government accounts for the full lifetime cost of making a student loan in the year that loan is made. Any change in the way the interest rate was calculated would increase or decrease those costs.

Willetts - Students: Finance

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when the sector assessment of the impact of the new funding criteria for equivalent or lower qualification students will be published. [198524]

Bill Rammell: We will respond substantively to this point when we publish our response to Innovation, Universities and Skills Select Committee's recent report. But any full analysis has to look not just at the characteristics of existing students but also at the millions of potential students without a first HE qualification who will have more opportunities in future as a result of our policy.

Cunningham, Jim - Students (Fees and Charges)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government plans to take to prevent students from being banned from university campuses due to late payment of fees. [177316]

Bill Rammell: All eligible students starting their higher education course in the academic year 2006/07 can take out a non means-tested loan for tuition fees: they do not have to pay the fees themselves at the start of the academic year. The fee loan is up to £3,070 in 2007/08 (£3,145 in 2008/09, The Student Loans Company pay the tuition fee direct to higher education institutions; the loan is repaid after graduation on the same terms as loans for maintenance. The policy on payments and attendance Is a matter for each higher education institution.

We re-introduced a means-tested higher education maintenance grant for students who started their course in 2006/07, Up to £2,765 is available in 2007/08 (£2,835 in 2008/09). From 2008/09 the minimum threshold (of family income) for a full maintenance grant will be increased from £17,500 a year to £25,000 a year; with a partial grant available up to an income threshold of £60,000, It is expected that up to around two thirds of air students will receive a full-or partial-grant

For full-time students, maintenance loans are also available-for example up to £6,315 in 2007/08 (£6,475 in 2008/09) for students in London living away from home. Most universities offer institutional bursaries above the mandatory minimum level of £305 in 2007/08 (£310 in 2008/09).

In addition, full-time students with dependants can claim supplementary grants including adult dependants grant; Parents learning allowance and childcare grant. Both full and part-time students can claim disabled students allowances to support the course related costs of disabled students.

For part-time students, in 2007/08 a fee grant of up to £1,150 (£1,180 in 2008/09) is available (depending on how intensive the course is), together with a course grant of up to £250 (£255 in 2008/09).

Williams, S - Students (Burseries)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that funds allocated by universities for student bursaries are fully spent. [188042]

Bill Rammell: The director for fair access is responsible for ensuring that universities have satisfactory access agreements in place as a pre-condition of charging variable fees and for ensuring that institutions comply with these obligations. A range of sanctions is available to the director if a university is found to be in breach. In 2006-07, the director has reported that all universities have complied with the obligations in their access agreements.

The question rests on a misunderstanding of how bursaries work. Institutions do not allocate a fixed amount of expenditure for bursaries. They have made forecasts of the costs of their bursaries packages, but these have always contained a level of uncertainty for methodological reasons. Additionally, a number of universities forecast their highest level of overall payment rather than the most probable outcome.

I have always made it clear that where a university is spending less than it had anticipated on bursaries, it would be right to spend on other activities to encourage widening participation, which will not normally be reported under the access agreement. The Russell Group and the 1994 Group of universities and individual institutions have supported this policy.

Prisk - Universities (Business)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when the Government expects that every university will be twinned with a business champion. [193764]

Bill Rammell: Business engagement in different forms is increasingly a mainstream activity for every university. Over 90 per cent. provide an inquiry point for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and over 80 per cent. provide short bespoke courses on company premises. It is for individual higher education institutions (HEIs) to decide the nature of their engagement with business, including whether to twin with a business champion.

However, the demands imposed by global competition mean that Government have a key role to play in creating the conditions within which individual HEIs develop a range of mutually beneficial collaborations with appropriate businesses and employer partners. For example, we have provided the funding to enable the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to deliver its 'Transforming Workforce Development' programme of activities, which is set to enable a wide range of HEIs to work more closely with businesses in supporting work force development. This will allow growth in a new form of higher education, co-funded by employers, that will deliver higher level skills provision that meets business needs.

Hayes - Aimhigher Initiative (Expenditure Levels)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2008, Official Report, column 1291W, on Aim Higher Initiative, what the reasons are for the change in expenditure levels on the aim higher programme. [195160]

Bill Rammell: In 2004-05, both HEFCE and the then DfES made additional, one-off, contributions to the Aimhigher budget. The funds were from underspends elsewhere, and amounted to over £25 million in total. In 2004, Ministers reviewed the programme and, in the light of the decision to introduce the Higher Education Grant, decided to reduce expenditure on Aimhigher to help fund the increases in student support, thereby providing more money directly to students from less well-off backgrounds. The growth in expenditure on student support was shown in the answer to Question 172276.

The Government remain committed to Aimhigher and recently announced its extension to 2011. The Government and HEFCE have together allocated £239.5 million for the three years. This represents a substantial investment and is an indication of our continuing commitment to widen participation in higher education in line with the country's social and economic needs. More young people than ever before are applying to go to university. As of 15 January 2008, 311,741 people from England applied through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for 2008 HE entry, an increase of 7.1 per cent. on the same point of the previous year. Of the 18-year-olds 21 Apr 2008 : Column 1596W and under applying for whom social class background is known, 28.9 per cent. are from lower socio-economic groups, up from 28.2 per cent. in 2007.

Lidington - Adult Learning Grants (Estimated Total Values)

Date: Monday, 21 April 2008

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his latest estimate is of (a) the likely total value of payments made in adult learning grant during 2007-08 and (b) the likely cost of administering adult learning grants in that year. [198559]

Mr. Lammy: The Learning and Skills Council for England manage the adult learning grant on behalf of the Department. Adult learning grant became available across England from September 2007 following trialling in four LSC regions. The LSC contracts with Liberata, which provides helpline, assessment and payment services. Final figures for 2007-08 are not yet available but the LSC estimate that (a) the total payments made to learners for the adult learning grant during 2007-08 was £11.98 million and (b) the cost of administering the adult learning grant during 2007-08 was £1:07 million.