§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the cost of student loans in each of the next 10 years.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthStudent loans are available for all eligible students who apply for them. Levels of expenditure on loans depend on the level of demand and the rates and conditions of loans prescribed in the statutory regulations for each year.
Table 1 in the departmental report of the Department of Education and Science (Cm 1911) sets out planned net public expenditure provision for England and Wales of £137 million for 1992–93, £204 million for 1993–94 and £286 million for 1994–95. We shall review the expenditure plans for future years—and the underlying planning assumptions—in successive public expenditure surveys.