§ 3. Mr. EvennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of young people are now entering higher education; and what was the figure 10 years ago.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further and Higher Education (Mr. Tim Boswell)The Government's policies have led to record participation in higher education. Some 30 per cent. of young people now enter full-time higher education compared with 14 per cent. 10 years ago.
§ Mr. EvennettI thank my hon. Friend for that reply and congratulate him and the Department on the excellent figures that he has just provided. I also thank him for taking the time and trouble recently to visit our local university in south-east London, the university of Greenwich. His visit was much appreciated by all concerned. It is an excellent university doing a first-class job. May I ask my hon. Friend what he is doing to encourage more links for research between the universities and industry so that we can develop a good partnership?
§ Mr. BoswellI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comment and, indeed, his interest in his local university in Greenwich. I was delighted with the provision that I saw there. The message is that local participation and the role of the university in the local community and its link with industry there are extremely important.
On my hon. Friend's specific point, the Department is taking a number of measures, including enterprise and higher education, and have given a commitment to assess all kinds of research, including contract research, in the funding council's next research selectivity exercise.
§ Mr. PikeIs it not regrettable that many county councils are unable to give people discretionary grants because they simply do not have enough cash? It is no good the Minister saying that they have a choice. If county councils do not have the cash, they cannot give grants. What will the Minister do about that?
§ Mr. BoswellThe hon. Gentleman raises an interesting, if somewhat irrelevant, point. I was under the impression that the local authority financial settlement was about £17 billion. I have held a series of discussions with interested parties in the light of the Gulbenkian report on discretionary awards, and the Department is continuing to review the position with a 757 view to securing achievements; but the funding is there and it is open to local authorities to provide that funding for the purpose.
§ Mr. Barry FieldDoes my hon. Friend agree that one of the great success stories in education was the unshackling of colleges from the control of local authorities? Has that not given greater diversity of choice to sixth form students, who, rather than furthering their education, were held on to by schools because of the budget that they represented? Will he ensure that, in future, the careers service is up to this new challenge?
§ Mr. BoswellI am grateful to my hon. Friend for those remarks. We believe in diversity and choice. We believe in the benefits of unshackling the further education sector, with its natural and characteristic progression towards higher education where appropriate.