§ Mr. Peter Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many students in higher education in each of the five education and library boards are presently receiving the minimum grant;
(2) how much he estimates will be saved by the abolition of the minimum grant to students in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. ScottThe number of students holding minimum awards is as follows: 381W
Education and Library Board Number North-Eastern 521 South-Eastern 749 Western 336 Belfast 538 Southern 69 Total 2,213 In addition, 98 students are in receipt of minimum awards from the Department of Education for Northern Ireland.
On the basis of there being approximately 2,300 minimum awards, abolition would save some £0.5 million per annum; if the changes in parental contribution rates recently announced for England and Wales were also applied, the overall savings would be about £0.2 million.