§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many students are currently at institutions of higher education on sabbatical leave to fulfil students union commitments whilst in receipt of local education authority grants; and what is the annual cost of these sabbatical students.
§ Mr. BrookeStudents on sabbatical leave to fulfil student union commitments are not eligible for mandatory grants. They are paid by their student unions out of public funds allocated to the unions by the institutions concerned. Information about the total numbers and costs of student union sabbatical posts is not available, although the last known survey of universities showed that in 1979 80 per cent. had five sabbatical officers or fewer and 60 per cent. had four or fewer.