§ Mr. Simon Hughes (Southwark and Bermondsey)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the shortage of housing for students.The matter is specific in that it relates to the lack of accommodation for thousands of students at universities, colleges and polytechnics who are still without adequate or permanent accommodation one month into the academic year. In addition, there are accurately known totals for the number of students at colleges in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — 70 at Nottingham, 180 at Reading, and over 200 or more at Kingston polytechnic, University College Swansea and at the two universities in Northern Ireland. They arrived with nowhere to live and many of them are still unhoused.The matter is important because the Department of Education and Science and other authorities, including the National Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education, have urged certain colleges, such as Kingston, to increase their numbers, without ensuring that there is the accommodation to take the increased number of students arriving this month. Moreover, they have not taken into account the growing proportion of grant money above the accommodation element that is required for rent, let alone the inceased restrictions on the money available to them to meet their travel costs.
Lastly, the issue is urgent, because hundreds of students today are sleeping in libraries, common rooms, bed and breakfast accommodation or on the floors of other students' rooms. In the words of the welfare officer of the South Bank polytechnic in my constituency, "This is one of the worst years ever known." Some students are spending up to four hours a day commuting to and from college, and some are travelling as far as 200 miles. With every day that passes with our students, who are meant to be our academic elite, being inadequately housed, this country's education is suffering. It is a matter that the House should debate.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific an important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the shortage of housing for students.I listened with care to what the hon. Gentleman said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10, and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.