HC Deb 14 June 1994 vol 244 cc499-500
1. Mr. Fabricant

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what analysis his Department has made of the effects of the introduction of the student loan scheme on the uptake of student places in institutions of higher education.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Further and Higher Education (Mr. Tim Boswell)

Student loans were introduced in September 1990 to support the Government's plans for the expansion of higher education. In the current academic year, a record proportion of young people have found places in higher education. The current student support arrangements, including the availability of student loans, have made this possible.

Mr. Fabricant

Does my hon. Friend recall that when he and I were at university—not together, Madam Speaker—we both used to take loans from banks and they were certainly not on such agreeable terms as those currently available? Does he also recall that just six or nine months ago Labour Members were saying that the student loan scheme would mean that students would not apply for higher education? Is that not another example of the Opposition's scare tactics?

Mr. Boswell

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. Student loans offer excellent value for money; they are merely tied to the rate of inflation and do not have to be repaid unless people are earning something like £14,000 a year. There is no evidence whatever of any decline in participation in higher education as we now have the highest number of students on record.

Mr. Wigley

Whatever the backgrounds of the Minister and the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Fabricant), and whether or not they could afford loans and came from a culture willing to take up such loans, is the Minister aware that thousands of people come from homes where there is unemployment or fear of unemployment or where people are just afraid of taking up a loan? Whatever his experience, mine is that people are not going to universities when they could, because they cannot afford to do so.

Mr. Boswell

It is interesting to note that last autumn's student income and expenditure survey showed that for the first time the participation of people from comparatively less advantaged social groups exceeded 50 per cent. of the total in higher education. That gives the lie to any suggestion that our policies are exclusive or stop students choosing to study.

Mr. Bryan Davies

Will the Minister confirm the statement of the chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England that funding for teaching will be reduced by 14 per cent. over the next three years if present trends continue? How can students taking out increasingly expensive loans expect high-quality higher education in those circumstances?

Mr. Boswell

The quality procedures that the Government have put in place, alongside those that the higher education institutions have introduced, guarantee the highest possible standards of education in our universities and colleges. The Government have increased real spending on higher education by approximately 20 per cent. over the past five years, they have increased real spending by 2.6 per cent. in the current year, and they have provided for an increased capital programme of 20 per cent. extra in the next three years. That shows that we mean business in relation to delivering higher education.

Mr. John Marshall

Will my hon. Friend confirm that the system of student support in this country is the most generous anywhere in the world? Will he also note that the Labour party has still to say what it would do to replace student loans?

Mr. Boswell

My hon. Friend is entirely right. It is certainly the most generous system in Europe and many of our students' counterparts in Germany, for example, would give their eye teeth for the support that our students enjoy. We have nothing to be ashamed of in our participation or in the delivery of higher education.