§ Sir Sydney ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total Government funding for(a) higher and (b) further education has been in each financial year since 1997–98. [179269]
§ Alan JohnsonThe funding by this Department to the FE and HE sectors is shown in the following table. In addition, the HE sector receives public funding from the Department of Health, the NHS, other Government Departments, and from the Research Councils.
1389W
Public funding £ million HE FE1 1997–98 4,686 3,131 1998–99 4,851 3,102 1999–2000 5,169 3,300 2000–01 5,414 3,471 2001–02 5,810 3,924 2002–03 6,109 4,326 2003–04 6,559 24,732 1These figures represent total assumed funding allocated to the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) until 2000–01, and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) from 2001–02 in either further education sector colleges (further and higher education students) or in external institutions, specialist designated institutions and higher education institutions (further education students only).
Over the last year the FE sector and other providers have exceeded expectations in participation, retention and attainment. In response the Government recently announced that they will increase the LSC's budget by £130 million over the 2003–04 to 2005–06 period. These additional funds are not included in the table.
2 Planned.