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Ministerial statement on Wednesday, 3 November 2010, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Willetts.


Higher Education Funding

Statement on higher education funding.


Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
517 c924-46 
Session
2010-12
Department
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP2010-1917
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Higher Education Funding and Student Finance
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Written statements
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Lord Willetts | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very important point. The ambition is to tie together a coherent package of s...
Amber Rudd | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) In January 2010, it was estimated that 18.5% of school-age children in Hastings were on free school ...
Show all contributions (129)
Lord Willetts | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) We are going to produce a White Paper, and I have also made it clear that there will be a proper opp...
Angela C Smith | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) The Government's policy represents a major shift in all sorts of ways, not least because it is based...
Lord Willetts | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) Those are exactly the kind of long-term issues in Lord Browne's report, and my hon. Friend is quite ...
Robin Walker | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Minister on delivering what the Secretary of State promised, something even more ...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) The Minister suggests that the proposals are good for universities, so will he explain how it is goo...
Lord Willetts | 517 c937 (Link to this contribution) We are, of course, following the precedent set by the previous Labour Government.
Damian Hinds | 517 c939-40 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that, although it is undeniably true that earlier generations of stu...
Jonathan Edwards | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) Considering that higher education funding structures in Wales are more or less tied to those in Engl...
Lord Willetts | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) I have had discussions over the months with Leighton Andrews, who has described to me his proposals ...
Speaker | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) Order. I would like to accommodate a few more, but I really do appeal to Members to help each other....
Speaker | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. I call the Minister.
Lord Willetts | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Many of us in this House benefited from a higher education syste...
Lord Willetts | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of any feature of the proposals which would lead to the cross-subsidy that concerns t...
Speaker | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman will resume his seat. I am sorry but this is the second—[Interruption]. Or...
Michael Connarty | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) I am in no way a nationalist, but there is clearly an impact on Scotland, even under the current fee...
Lord Willetts | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) We will be in close touch with the Scottish Administration, and of course we will continue to have o...
Matt Hancock | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) I detect widespread support for the proposals to improve access to universities, which is an extreme...
Lord Willetts | 517 c938-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and the crucial thing is the number of young people who are anxi...
Liz Kendall | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) As well as giving extra support to those on low incomes, a genuinely progressive student finance sys...
Lord Willetts | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) Yes. On the estimates that we have done—and we are placing some of our figures in the Library, not l...
Greg Mulholland | 517 c939 (Link to this contribution) I accept and welcome the fact that this proposal is more progressive than the current system, but I ...
Andrew George | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) The lobby for university students is particularly powerful, but for those studying for vocational qu...
Lord Willetts | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) All Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are very strongly committed to t...
James Clappison | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) May I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend's statement and this package, which is a good deal for stu...
Lord Willetts | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) All students going to university in 2012 will do so under the regime that I have proposed to the Hou...
Duncan Hames | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) If raising the repayment threshold is to benefit every single graduate, in the Minister's words, can...
Lord Willetts | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. These are proposals for the future, which come in f...
Paul Farrelly | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will no doubt be pleased that in the past fortnight the six-point timetable for scrappi...
Lord Willetts | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) I think that ““free radical”” captures very well the enormous contribution that the Secretary of Sta...
Christopher Pincher | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that these welcome proposals will begin to even up the opportunity f...
Lord Willetts | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) I hope that these proposals will ensure that British students have a very fair deal at our universit...
Lord Willetts | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) We have to respect the devolution settlement, and I am very aware that we are talking about higher e...
Lord Willetts | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) This relates to the mechanisms whereby the teaching grant is allocated. For the more expensive, lab-...
Tom Greatrex | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr Kennedy) has already detailed some of the impl...
Chris Williamson | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister stop referring to his policy as progressive and fair, because it is no such thing?...
Lord Willetts | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) Our proposals are progressive, because they help to encourage people from poorer backgrounds to go t...
Mary MacLeod | 517 c941 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the progressive and fair announcements that my right hon. Friend has made. How can we ensu...
Lilian Greenwood | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister not understand that many talented young people will simply feel unable to choose t...
Andrew Stephenson | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) How does today's announcement sit with the Government's wider approach to higher education, such as ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) In the comprehensive spending review, we were able to secure a very good settlement for science and ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State and I work so closely together that we are, for all practical purposes, inter...
Gavin Shuker | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) Many Members will have heard about the tripling of tuition fees this morning on Radio 4, and the Min...
Sam Gyimah | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that one purpose of higher education is to equip our students for the workpl...
Lord Willetts | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) I do not recognise the figure of £70,000, and of course there is continuing support from the Departm...
Alex Cunningham | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) Medical students face many extra years of learning and could end up with debts in excess of £70,000,...
Lord Willetts | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is quite right to raise that matter. We are indeed committed to keeping the special a...
Lord Willetts | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) We have been completely frank with the House throughout in saying that of course there are public ex...
Sheila Gilmore | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) The Minister's boss said in the House when he last spoke on the matter that the reason why he and hi...
Lord Willetts | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) One of the big sources of frustration for students at the moment is that they do not feel that they ...
Gregg McClymont | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) Everything that the Minister has said about student choice suggests that we are moving towards a mar...
Lord Willetts | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Universities must maintain control of their individual admission...
Lord Willetts | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the careers advice and guidance function will be very important in this respect, because...
Andrew Percy | 517 c942-3 (Link to this contribution) I have never liked tuition fees; I did not like them when the Labour party introduced them. My conce...
Lord Willetts | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) We believe in broadening access, but we do not believe in artificial targets for the number of peopl...
Mark Hendrick | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) Prior to the general election, the Government parties rubbished Labour's proposals to get more than ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Some evaluations sadly show that bursaries, despite a large amount of money...
Julian Smith | 517 c943 (Link to this contribution) The £150 million scholarship fund is great news for low-income students, but many young people tell ...
Speaker | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister and to other colleagues for their co-operation.
Lord Willetts | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) I was not aware of that specific sum of money, but I would be interested in looking into the matter ...
Tessa Munt | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) ... Sorry, Sir, and thank you. I have discovered that £19 million of bursary money was apparently n...
Speaker | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) Order. I will let her off on this occasion, but let me just say to the hon. Lady, who is a new Membe...
Lord Willetts | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) We have indeed considered that carefully, and we are very happy to meet representatives from the Isl...
Julie Hilling | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) I am really concerned about the effect of these proposals on universities such as Bolton, which draw...
Lord Willetts | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) Many of the proposals emerged from the report of an inquiry that the previous Government set up, whi...
Paul Blomfield | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has admitted that this is not simply about saving money and is in fact a fundamental an...
Lord Willetts | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) Slightly over 40% of people now go to university. We envisage the absolute number of students remain...
Philip Hollobone | 517 c944 (Link to this contribution) I understand that there is now no target for the proportion of young people who go into higher educa...
Lord Willetts | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the experience of young people at university will improve as a result of these reforms. ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) I do not recognise the hon. Gentleman's figure of £45,000. The crucial point, which Members of all p...
Chris Bryant | 517 c946 (Link to this contribution) The bottom line is that for a three-year course, fees will cost £27,000. Adding on the costs of goin...
Nick Raynsford | 517 c936-7 (Link to this contribution) The Minister referred to the interest rate that will be reclaimed as being 3% plus inflation without...
Lord Willetts | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) A cause to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State attaches particular importance is havin...
Lord Barwell | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) Croydon college has recently started offering degrees from the university of Sussex. Does my right h...
Lord Willetts | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) When I follow from the sidelines the debate in Scotland about financing its universities, it is clea...
Fiona O'Donnell | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) Why does the Minister think that the Lib Dems in coalition with Labour in Scotland stuck to their pr...
Lord Willetts | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman recognises that the proposals clearly offer a progressive way forward...
Julian Huppert | 517 c936 (Link to this contribution) I welcome some of the changes. They are more progressive than the Conservatives would have achieved ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for the plug for my book—that was very good of her. It is available i...
Lord Willetts | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) It is very important that our internationally competitive universities are able to compete with the ...
Helen Goodman | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) A couple of months ago, the Minister published a book about the unfair advantages that the baby boom...
Sammy Wilson | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has described his proposals as delivering"““a better deal for our students,””" but giv...
Lord Willetts | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We need to have tough pressures on universities to hold down...
Lord Willetts | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) It will be for individual universities to put forward their proposals on what they believe to be the...
Iain Stewart | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) I, too, warmly welcome the announcement regarding part-time students; it will do much to help the Op...
Lord Willetts | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) I did hear that interview and I thought that the leader of the Russell group made the point very wel...
Baroness Berger | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) Many of the students at Liverpool's three fantastic universities have been helped by the Aimhigher p...
Lord Willetts | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) There will be a vote on the changes that are necessary in the regulations for fees that are in the l...
Paul Uppal | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister aware of the words of Michael Arthur, chairman of the Russell group of universities,...
Lord Willetts | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) The crucial decisions will be taken by students. It will be the universities that win the students t...
Andrew Miller | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) What analysis has been undertaken to consider the differential impact on different universities, dif...
David Lammy | 517 c933-4 (Link to this contribution) The decision to withdraw state funding from arts and the humanities entirely—from politics, geograph...
Simon Hughes | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister tell the House which categories of future part-time or full-time students in Southw...
Andrew Smith | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister understand that this is fundamentally about trust in politics and will he confirm ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) I thought that my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, in his statement on 12 October, set out ...
Conor Burns | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) On Friday, I will be attending the graduation ceremony of Bournemouth university, voted Britain's No...
Lord Willetts | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) It clearly will be important to uprate that figure periodically on the basis that my hon. Friend sug...
Lord Willetts | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) I accept the right hon. Gentleman's point—it is very important that we consider the links between th...
Lord Willetts | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) I do respect the devolution settlement. From reading the press, it is clear that there is a growing ...
Pete Wishart | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) Tuition fees—started by Labour and taken up with such relish by the Con-Dem Government—could, as the...
Lord Willetts | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) I do remember my visit to the university of Reading, which is a very impressive university. One of t...
Rob Wilson | 517 c932 (Link to this contribution) May I welcome the statement by my right hon. Friend, particularly for part-time and disadvantaged st...
Stephen Williams | 517 c929 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister and the Secretary of State for working constructively together to construct a g...
Lord Willetts | 517 c929-30 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. He is correct that part of the process whereby the coal...
Lord Willetts | 517 c928-9 (Link to this contribution) What we just heard from the hon. Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) was a classic old Labour attack,...
Lord Willetts | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) Our proposals do, indeed, save public money. But our proposals are not simply a matter of saving pub...
Jack Straw | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) May I first repeat to the Minister the commendation expressed by my right hon. Friend the Member for...
Speaker | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) Order. A very large number of colleagues are seeking to catch my eye so, as usual, brevity from both...
Adrian Bailey | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has rightly emphasised measures taken to improve access for low-income students. In my ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is right, and I know that he was a lecturer in an FE college bef...
David Evennett | 517 c930 (Link to this contribution) I particularly welcome the statement today from my right hon. Friend as it relates to part-time stud...
Lord Willetts | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) What I can guarantee is that we will place on universities an obligation to achieve the things that ...
Margot James | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my right hon. Friends on achieving increased funding for the university sector while ...
Lord Willetts | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the kind of initiative that we wish to encourage. It is obviously up to individual u...
Joan Ruddock | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) What analysis has the Minister made of his proposals on our world renowned institutions, such as the...
Lord Willetts | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of the specific financing point that the right hon. Lady has in mind. I have to say t...
Charles Kennedy | 517 c931 (Link to this contribution) The Minister of State and our right hon. Friend the Secretary of State both well appreciate the long...
Gareth Thomas | 517 c926-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving me an advance copy of his statement, but is not t...
Lord Willetts | 517 c924-6 (Link to this contribution) With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on higher education funding and studen...
Nicholas Dakin | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) My question rather follows on from that point. Young people who are in their final year of a level 3...
Lord Willetts | 517 c940 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Lady will join me in sending the very clear message to young people that the sy...
Lord Willetts | 517 c942 (Link to this contribution) We are in a system where there will be a continuing and very important role for the Government, thro...
Lord McCabe | 517 c945 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is a very honest man. Does he genuinely believe that the next generation of middle Engl...
Lord Willetts | 517 c934 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a very powerful champion of the Open university, which I have enjoyed visiting in ...
Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 517 c935 (Link to this contribution) Some of the best and brightest students and researchers in the country come through Oxford universit...
Lord Willetts | 517 c938 (Link to this contribution) The money will reach universities in a different way; it will come via the choices of students. Stud...
Rehman Chishti | 517 c943-4 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister's statement as a constructive and progressive way forward. Will he clarify wh...
Lord Willetts | 517 c933 (Link to this contribution) We believe that people will be assisted in several ways. The increase in the maintenance grant for t...
Notes
Statement corrected on 9 November 2010 at 518 c9WS.
Subjects
Admissions Finance Fees and charges Graduates Grants Higher education Interest rates Low incomes Loans Part-time education Universities Repayments Students Scholarships Higher Education and Student Finance Independent Review
Link
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