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Education: Adult Learners

My Lords, in a few moments I intend to come to the consultation point because I also want to try to describe why I think that the process we are in, including this evening’s debate, is fruitful. I hope that I can put it in the proper position in the debate. I wanted to conclude my point. No funding decisions have been taken beyond the CSR period, and the future decisions on ELQ funding will not lead to the overall funding for individual institutions falling off a cliff. I simply do not accept that that will happen. The OU is an extraordinary institution. I am like other people who love it. I think that it is quite capable, through the variety of high-profile public activities that it engages in, to think of ways in which block grant funding mechanisms can properly recognise a wide variety of its activities. That brings me to the consultation point. Those who have made points about the OU or indeed any other institutions have said that they do not believe there has been adequate consultation. I understand that. I should say at least that the Government were quite clear about the priorities that they intended to meet. That was not a matter for consultation. It has been in the public domain for as long as I can remember, and it has been very widely debated. Consulting on whether to consult would not have been particularly fruitful. However, the consultation, which will conclude very shortly, is a genuine consultation about how the policy should best be implemented. I cannot stress too strongly to the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, who wondered whether we were taking it seriously, that we have gone into it with an open mind. We wanted to see what the best approach should be, and we are grateful to everyone who has made constructive proposals about how to do this in partnership. We are taking part in that partnership. The noble Lord, Lord Dearing, in particular, floated a suggestion, which sits alongside other suggestions made by my noble friend Lady Warwick, about how universities most affected by the new funding policy could be put at the front of the queue for new student numbers that would be created as a result of the change. That proposal is worth serious consideration, and I promise the House that it will be seriously considered even in the last period of the consultation. I will also ensure that there is consideration of the questions asked by my noble friend Lady Blackstone and the points made by my noble friend Lord Plant about pharmacology, arts training and the training of further education teachers. I am not aware that we have ever stepped back from that, and I should be very disappointed to find that we had even done so by accident, although I do not believe that we have. I will ensure that those questions are in front of the consultation process people. I will also ensure that the point made by my noble friend Lord Griffiths about the training of the clergy is considered in that period. I should say to the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, that I do not believe that there will be a particularly difficult outcome for part-time students. That is probably the subject of a very important debate to be had about support for part-time students, but it is probably slightly different from our debate this evening. We wish to continue to fund students who are progressing to higher-level qualifications. We particularly want, and we believe that we must get, the support of employers because we have no option but to get it. We must get more people to enter higher education for the first time. We cannot continue to lag behind and then hope somehow that our economy will continue to prosper. That is not realistic. We are not in a position in which we will back off from that philosophy, but we are in a position in which the consultation must consider the details of this debate and the other submissions that have been made. I will ensure that all those factors are put in front of those conducting the consultation.