§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement outlining what action he has taken in respect of the final report of the visiting committee of the Open university.
§ Mr. FormanMy right hon. Friend decided, on the advice of the chairman of the Open university visiting committee, that the report should be passed to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, since that body would be responsible for the Open university's funding from April 1993. A copy of the report was sent to the chairman of the funding council on 21 August.
§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how much financial provision he has made available in the current year to the Open university to assist students in financial hardship.
§ Mr. FormanThe practice of earmarking a portion of the Open university's recurrent grant for the provision of financial support for unemployed students was discontinued in 1991 at the university's request. The university is now free to determine how much of its grant it spends on assistance for students suffering financial hardship.