§ 2. Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what would be the annual cost of treating post-graduate students as independent, so relieving their parents of the need to contribute to the cost of their courses.
§ Mr. JenkinI thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, but does he agree that it is a considerable disincentive in cases where parents are having to make a contribution and discourages people from going on to take 1447 post-graduate courses? Will not he undertake to look at the matter and see whether there is some way of removing this disincentive?
§ Mr. CroslandI am reluctant to look at this question by itself, because it raises the wider question of parental contributions to all student awards, and that point comes up in a later Question on the Order Paper. I am also reluctant to make any particular decision about post-graduate student awards until I have the report of the Standing Advisory Committee on Grants to Students which, as I told the House last week, will be presented to me before Easter.