§ Mr. BryantTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the capital needs of UK universities. [102708]
§ Margaret HodgeReports commissioned from JM Consulting by the Higher Education Funding Council for England into the capital requirements of higher education institutions in the UK concluded that there was a total shortfall of some £8 billion of investment, consisting of a research infrastructure backlog of £3.2 billion, and a teaching infrastructure backlog of £4.6 billion, plus a need to double expenditure on maintenance. The Secretary of State announced in January 2003 that capital funding for higher education institutions in England will increase by 77 per cent. for research and by 185 per cent. for teaching and learning in cash terms between 2002–03 and 2005–06.