§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many university students his Department and associated agencies has supported or sponsored with a 1043W work placement in the last year; what his policy is on work placements; what plans he has to develop such schemes; and what his policy is on paying their university fees. [98542]
§ Dr. MoonieThe separate and differing policies in relation to the Armed forces and our civilian workforce are designed to support university students to benefit recruitment. The Armed forces offer a combination of cadetships and bursaries (349 were awarded in 2002–03) for which a grant is made to the individual and can be used to meet university fees. There are a further 45 officer cadets and young officers for whom fees are paid direct to the university, and 200 studying for first degrees at the Royal Military College of Science. All these arrangements involve a continuing association with the parent Service. For our civilian workforce, details are not held centrally of the total number of work placements involving university students, and our policy remains to support them where this makes sense for recruitment. For example, the Defence Engineering and Science Group currently sponsors some 190 students, all of whom benefited from a work placement this year. Normally, university fees are not paid but the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is currently supporting 38 students in a similar way to the Armed forces.