HC Deb 11 February 1985 vol 73 cc6-7W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science to what degree he intends to instruct universities to reduce their recurrent costs per student during the next two years.

Mr. Brooke

The Government's Expenditure Plans (Cmnd. 9428) assume that the universities will continue to improve their efficiency, but my right hon. Friend has not set specific targets for costs per student.

Mr. Radice

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the recurrence grant to the universties for each year since 1978–79 in constant 1984–85 prices and in cash terms, excluding the element of the grant paid since 1982–83 to compensate for the loss of fee income from the reduction in tuition fees for home students in that year.

Sir Keith Joseph

Recurent grant made available to universities in Great Britain on the advice of the University Grants Committee in each financial year since 1978–79, excluding elements to compensate for the loss of fee income from the reduction of the home undergraduate tuition fee in 1982–83 and its freezing in 1983–84, was as follows. (The real terms figures are the cash terms figures adjusted to a 1983–84 base, using GDP deflators which provide an estimate of the average movment of prices across the economy as a whole. A deflator for 1984–85 is not yet available.)

Financial year Cash terms £ Real terms £
1978–79 602,005,233 1,022,323,189
1979–80 728,481,734 1,058,209,111
1980–81 942,931,714 1,154,845,945
1981–82 967,959,423 1,077,905,816
1982–83 1,006,705,242 1,051,147,770

Financial year Cash terms £ Real terms £
1983–84 1,061,199,999 1,061,199,999
1984–85 1,124,664,000 1,073,664,916
(Estimates provision)

Provision specificallay for redundancy and restructuring, amounting to £57,000,000 in 1982–83 and £38,000,000 in 1983–84 is not included in the above.