HC Deb 02 March 1967 vol 742 cc678-81
12. Mr. Judd

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what reply he has sent to the representations made to him by distinguished academics, Commonwealth representatives, student bodies and others about his decision to increase fees for overseas students studying in Great Britain.

Mr. Crosland

I explained, as I have done to this House, the reasons which led the Government to take this decision and the measures which are being taken to cushion the effect in particular groups of case.

Mr. Judd

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is still a great deal of anxiety about the detailed and long-term implications of his decision? Can he assure us that the matter will be clarified in detail at the first possible opportunity?

Mr. Crosland

Yes. I am well aware of the detailed worries as opposed to the basic principle of the decision. I hope that it will not be long before I am able to announce more details of various easements which we have discussed in public.

Mr. Scott

Would the Secretary of State say what representations he has received about refugee students? Would he bear in mind that if all fees are raised it will be necessary for some money to be made available for students in this category?

Mr. Crosland

That is one of a number of very important detailed points which have been put to me. I hope that the short-term easements which I mentioned a week ago today and the long-term review of the situation to which I also referred last week will have these points very much in mind.

Mr. Hogg

As we are receiving by almost every post letters from students who want their individual cases considered by somebody, when will the Minister redeem his promise to me to let us have at least the machinery through which we can move?

Mr. Crosland

I hope very shortly. There is a meeting today between the Departments concerned and the British Council, which is, and should be, heavily involved in this. I hope, therefore, that I shall be able to reply to the right hon. and learned Gentleman's letter and the letters of other hon. Members within a reasonably short space of time.

26. Mr. Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will now seek to establish a special fund to assist unsponsored private students in need to meet the increase in university fees proposed for overseas students.

Mr. Crosland

I have already announced my decision to do so.

Mr. Fisher

Could the right hon. Gentleman indicate how much he estimates will be required for this special fund and how it will be applied in individual cases? Will it be applied on a means test basis, or what? Will unsponsored private students, despite the fund, have to pay anything out of their own pockets if they are in genuine need, or will it all be largely defrayed out of the fund?

Mr. Crosland

The likely amount of the fund is the subject of the next Question, but I do not want to evade the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question. At the moment, I cannot say what the likely amount will be. Referring to the latter part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, the object of the fund is mainly to help those unsponsored students who might otherwise be in difficulty. As I cannot announce details, for the reasons which I gave earlier, the best thing that I can do is to make it clear that the object of the fund is to ensure that no student in this country currently on a course will have to leave that course and go back to his own country because of the increase in fees.

27. Mr. Fowler

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total estimated cost of the special fund to be established to aid overseas students who will suffer hardship as a result of the decision to increase overseas students' fees.

Mr. Crosland

I cannot add to what I said about the proposed fund in the debate last Thursday.

Mr. Fowler

How can the Secretary of State continue to give bland assurances that the savings from this cut will be £5¼ million if he does not know how much he has spent on this fund—or does he think that the fund will be so small that it will not nullify what he will save by his parsimony in general?

Mr. Crosland

The figure that my hon. Friend has quoted has nothing to do with this fund. The figure that he quoted was the saving which we estimated for a full year. When we are discussing this fund we are discussing students already in this country, and that would relate to savings for 1967–68. So the figure that he quoted was not strictly relevant. But even if we make the most generous provision for any likely hardship that would result in the case of students already in this country—as I think we shall—I calculate that the greater part of the saving will still be maintained.

Mr. van Straubenzee

Does the right hon. Gentleman's answer mean that there is in the Government's mind no intention to have a fund to meet hardship for future students, and that his idea is that the fund is to relate exclusively to those students who are already here?

Mr. Crosland

The fund which we are now discussing is intended to meet cases of hardship in respect of students who are already here. In connection with students who are not yet here but who may wish to apply and who may be deterred from applying or coming, I repeat the assurances that I gave last Thursday and have given before, that I shall be keeping the long-term question under review with the Minister for Overseas Development, in collaboration with universities and local education authorities, and other persons concerned with the long-term flow of overseas students.

Mr. Alexander W. Lyon

Can my right hon. Friend give some indication of the nature of the long-term review? Many of us are very perturbed about this aspect of the problem. Is it not right to say that since this is really an overseas aid problem the overseas aid should be increased and this matter should be taken off the Vote of the Department of Education and Science?

Mr. Crosland

I have a great deal of sympathy with what my hon. Friend says on this matter. When I spoke about the long-term review I made it clear that this could not be simply an educational review but must be a review carried out in conjunction with the Ministry for Overseas Development. Beyond that I cannot go at the moment.