HC Deb 26 February 1986 vol 92 cc933-5
8. Mr. Steel

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received recently from the National Union of Students (Scotland) concerning the level of the student grant.

Mr. Rifkind

My hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for industry and education has received a letter dated 15 January from the president of the National Union of Students (Scotland) on the subject. He has agreed to meet representatives of the union on 17 March 1986.

Mr. Steel

When the Minister meets representatives of the NUS, will he take into account the changes both in the assessment of parental contribution and in housing and supplementary benefits? As a result of those changes, one student in my constituency is expected to survive the summer vacation on £2 a week.

Mr. Rifkind

The changes in supplementary benefit relate to the short vacations and not to the long summer vacation. I remind the right hon. Gentleman that even taking into account the changes that are proposed the United Kingdom will continue to have by far the most generous system of grants for students of any major country in the Western world.

Mr. Henderson

Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that the best universities in Scotland have withdrawn from the National Union of Students? Because most of the English universities still adhere to the National Union of Students is no reason why we should not review yet again the amount of grants paid to the National Union of Students.

Mr. Rifkind

That is quite a separate matter, but clearly the authority with which the NUS speaks in Scotland is influenced by the number of universities affiliated to it.

Mr. Dewar

Does the Minister accept that there is now genuine hardship not only among students but among parents who have to support them? Clearly the increase for 1986–87 of 2 per cent. represents a cut in real terms in student incomes. Does the Minister accept the NUS compilation that under this Government there has been a fall in the purchasing power of the basic grant by 20 per cent.? If he does accept that, is he prepared to defend it, or will he use his good offices with his colleagues in the Department of Education and Science to do something about it? Has the Secretary of State no sympathy with the Scottish Tertiary Education Advisory Council's argument, which links the level of grant, the availability of student finance, to access to higher education?

Mr. Rifkind

Dealing with the hon. Gentleman's final point, I have to say to him that notwithstanding the decisions that have been made on student grants over the last few years, the number of those actively seeking admission to higher education in Scotland is greater than ever before. This year there are 5,000 more Scottish students than there were in 1979, when this Government came into office. The suggestion that somehow the Government's policy on grants is deterring youngsters from coming into higher education is not true. If the Government were to accede to the NUS demand for a minimum of £35 per student per week, that would add £550 million to the cost of supporting students. I do not believe that even the hon. Gentleman would wish to commit a future Labour Government to costs of that kind.