Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Murphy (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 16 March 2010.

Universities: Student Services

Question: My Lords, the Higher Education Funding Council for England has very wisely allowed flexibility for universities—I declare an interest as chairman of St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London. That being so, could we not return to the very serious case raised by the noble Lord, Lord Ashley of Stoke, that with such flexibility comes responsibility? Unfortunately in the past, support services, especially those for students with disabilities, have often been disadvantaged. What will the Government do to ensure that those services are preserved?

Answer: My Lords, my experience from visiting a number of universities is that they all take very seriously the question of access for students with disabilities. They go to inordinate lengths. We have stressed that efficiency savings should not be achieved at the expense of groups such as students with disabilities. These fairly modest savings of 5 per cent in relation to a budget of £15 billion should be achieved without putting at risk the important groups referred to by the noble Baroness.

Secondary information