§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what estimates he has made of the cost of providing(a) maintenance loans and (b) fee loans in each of the next 10 years assuming (i) current student numbers and (ii) expected growth in student numbers; [148564]
(2) how much annual Government spending on student loans will change in each of the next 10 years from the amount set out in the Higher Education Bill. [148566]
§ Alan JohnsonInformation on the costs and benefits associated with the proposal in the Higher Education Bill to allow universities to set their own tuition fees is contained in the Regulatory Impact Assessment published on 8 January alongside the Bill. Because of the nature of a variable scheme, the costs vary greatly according to the decisions that both students and higher education institutions take, and they cannot be estimated precisely at this stage. Copies 957W of the Regulatory Impact Assessment were placed in the Library of the House; it is also available on the Department for Education and Skills website.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the size of the total student loan debt was in each year since 1999; what the size of the increases in(a) loans taken out and (b) repayments of principal were in each year; what the increases from interest additions were in each year; and what the Government contribution to the student loan scheme was in each year.[147417]
£ million England and Wales Financial year 1999–2000 Change 2000–01 Change 2001–2002 Lent 1,281.7 618.1 1,899.8 217.9 2,117.7 Repaid1 111.4 47.1 158.5 80.6 239.1 Interest added 69.4 32.1 101.5 44.1 145.6 Amount outstanding at the end of the financial year 3,413.8 1,889.3 5,303.1 1,900.1 7,203.2 1Amounts repaid cannot be split between repayments of principal and interest. The resource accounting and budgeting (RAB) costs to the Treasury for loans to students domiciled in England and Wales are shown in the table:
Full details of student loans movements for England and Wales are included in the DfES resource accounts.
£million Resource Accounting and Budgeting costs
Financial year
Movement on Provisions 1999–2000 558.9 2000–01 794.6 2001–02 855.9 Full details of student loans movemednts for England and Wales are included in the DfES resource accounts.
No figures have yet been published for 2002–03. Information for that year will be contained in the 2002–03 resource accounts which will be published within the next month.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects universities to take on responsibility for the funding of the new student complaints office. [148565]
§ Alan JohnsonWe anticipate that universities and other higher education sector institutions will be required, subject to parliamentary approval of the Higher Education Bill and designation of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), to fund the OIA from March 2005.