West Midlands College of Higher Education (Hansard, 21 November 1983)

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Earl of Swinton
My Lords, the provision to be made in 1984–85 for the West Midlands College of Higher Education and elsewhere in the local authority sector of higher education is currently being considered by the National Advisory Body for Local Authority Higher Education (the NAB)—the body set up by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to advise him on such matters. The NAB's recommendations have still to be submitted to my right honourable friend, and it will be a little time yet before final decisions are announced.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, will the Minister acknowledge that the recommendations of the NAB to wipe out the three degree courses were received with astonishment, anger and dismay not merely by the college and its students but throughout the West Midlands? Does the Minister appreciate that when the courses were conceived as a vocationally relevant package for the 1980s they were approved not only by the authority but by HMIs and the Department of Education and Science? Will the Government recognise and take fully on board the potential knock-on consequences of the action? Will they recognise that not only should these relevant courses of quality he maintained but the future of the college in this difficult area of the country also ought to be secured? Will the Minister use his best endeavours to make sure that the case that I am attempting to make is borne heavily in mind when the future of the college is being considered?

§ The Earl of Swinton
My Lords, as I said in my original Answer to the noble Lord's Question, the NAB's proposals have not yet been submitted to my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science. If the NAB's eventual advice to my right honourable friend is that the diversified courses of the college should be withdrawn, he will need to consider the proposal, not only on its own merits but also in relation to its impact on the institution as a whole. I agree that he will need to reach a judge ment on the prospects of the college continuing as an institution devoted exclusively to teacher training. If those prospects do not appear favourable, the NAB's proposals will have to be weighed against the possible loss of this college's contribution to teacher education. However, as I have said, we are not yet at that stage. I also understand that there has been considerable lobbying on behalf of the college, which has been brought to the attention of my right honourable friend. I shall make sure that he also reads what has been said in this House today.

§ Baroness David
My Lords, does the Minister know that in the magazine Educationthis week it is said that Her Majesty's Inspectors admitted to the paper that they had made a tragic mistake in backing the closure of these courses at the West Midlands College? Is he willing to make representations to the Secretary of State and others who will make the final decision to bear that fact in mind, as it seems extremely important?

§ The Earl of Swinton
Yes, my Lords. I have not in fact read the article, but, as I have said, the NAB has not yet produced it proposals. I am sure that when it does all these things will he taken into account.