§ Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she is aware that the provisions of the Awards (First Degree, &c. Courses) 368W Regulations, 1970, have given rise to problems about the payment of student union fees at Kingston-upon-Thames Polytechnic; and what action she proposes to take to deal with the situation.
§ Mrs. ThatcherYes. I propose to amend paragraph 1(g) of Schedule 1 of the Regulations, and my Department is consulting the local authority associations, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, and the National Union of Students about the proposed amendment. My immediate aim is to restore the situation to that which the current regulations were intended to cover. This is without prejudice to consideration of those major issues concerning the financing of student unions which I propose to examine, in consultation with the various interests concerned, when the results are available of the current inquiries into the facilities and financing of student unions. For this reason the amendment now proposed is intended to stand for a limited time only.