HC Deb 24 July 1997 vol 298 cc1031-2
7. Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to charge students in higher education for all or part of their tuition fees; and if he will make a statement. [8602]

Mr. Blunkett

I refer the hon. Member to the statement that I made in the House yesterday.

Mr. Willis

Does the Secretary of State agree that his announcement yesterday about students paying for tuition fees will not put money into our universities immediately? Does he agree with Sir Ron Dearing's analysis that, to try to combat the 6.5 per cent. deficit over the next two years, which is the legacy of the previous Administration, he will need to find £100 million for next year and £250 million for the following year, simply to stand still? If the right hon. Gentleman agrees with Sir Ron, will he guarantee to provide that funding?

Mr. Blunkett

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that there is a shortfall and that it arises from the previous Government's settlement for higher education in the next two years. As part of the fundamental spending review undertaken by the Government, we shall address how best to meet that deficit and how to ensure that, between now and the resumption of a revenue stream for higher and further education, we can sustain standards and quality.

Mr. Gunnell

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the way in which he presented the issue of fees and maintenance yesterday. In particular, I thank him for the way in which he made plain his intention that no one would be prevented from undertaking higher education by these charges. He gave the limits for qualifying home income for places that would be provided free of cost. Will the household income of current part-time students who receive pay be looked at on the same basis? Has any thought been given to whether part-time students will be eligible for student loans?

Mr. Blunkett

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks. As I said yesterday, we need to examine how equity between full and part-time students can be obtained. We will consider that as part of the development of the White Paper in the autumn. Those considerations will include the disregards against the gross income of a family or individual, which include at the moment the discounting of mortgage but not rent, and the discounting of some forms of domestic help. It will cause great disquiet to the House when it realises that those discounts are provided against gross income, and it will want us to deal with such anomalies, as well as with the general thrust of my statement yesterday.

Mr. Dorrell

Following yesterday's statement, will the Secretary of State confirm that, under his proposals, the loan available to an individual student will be equivalent to the total amount of loan and grant currently available to that individual student, plus an enhancement that would be sufficient to pay the means-tested tuition fee that he proposes to introduce? If that is the position, is it not true that any increase in resources for higher education during the next three years—the length of a course for students starting from next September—would have to come from extra public expenditure or publicly guaranteed expenditure in the form of loan disbursements? Given everything that he said yesterday about the importance of his proposals in releasing new resources for higher education, will he now be more specific about what he plans in terms of extra resources for British universities?

Mr. Blunkett

I am happy to answer the right hon. Gentleman's questions, especially as he has put them more gently than he did yesterday. With one addition—that, for those with hardship, there will be a supplementary loan available of £250 a year—I can confirm that his figures are correct. In the first year—if we are in a position to implement the proposals from next September—we would raise around £125 million. That would be displaced by the introduction of the loan scheme. It will therefore be necessary to consider additional resources in the light of my reply to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis).