HC Deb 22 June 2004 vol 422 cc1388-9W
Sir Sydney Chapman

To 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 Johnson

The 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.

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.