§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how he will encourage higher education institutions to attract additional funds to assist needy students. [141558]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 12 December 2000]: The Government have increased the resources available through the Access and Hardship Funds to £87 million in 2000–01, 236W over four times greater than in 1997–98. Additionally, Opportunity Bursaries for young disadvantaged students will also be available from 2001. This carefully targeted extra support is a key part of our widening access policies, which are designed to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have the confidence to enter higher education and the help they need to complete their studies. We have made available £2.7 million of the total amount of £4.4 million provided for specific administrative funding in 2000–01. We believe that higher education institutions should also use their own funds to ensure these essential services are properly resourced and effectively delivered.
Of course we welcome initiatives such as the Ogden Bursary scheme, and the recent one announced by Edinburgh University with the Royal Bank of Scotland, which are excellent examples of private/public sector partnerships providing further opportunities for more of our disadvantaged young people to benefit from higher education. We have responded to these initiatives by increasing the income students can receive through bursaries without it affecting the level of student support they receive from the taxpayer.