§ Mr. Kenneth Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of total public expenditure on higher education expenditure on student grants has represented in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. Prentice:The proportions of total recurrent public expenditure on higher and further education in England and Wales attributable to student maintenance grants in the financial years 1964–65 to 1973–74 were as follows:
Per cent. 1964–65 16.1 1965–66 16.8 1966–67 17.0 1967–68 16.8 1968–69 17.3 1969–70 16.8 1970–71 15.2 1971–72 15.2 1972–73 13.5 1973–74 13.1
§ Mr. Goodhewasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the estimated cost of increasing the minimum grants for students to cover fees, or alternatively of allowing for fees and travelling expenses to be paid by local education authorities in addition to minimum grants.
§ Mr. Prentice:For the current academic year the additional expenditure by local education authorities in England and Wales that would be involved in increasing the minimum grant to cover fees is estimated at about £1 million. If fees were paid in addition to minimum grant, the extra expenditure would be 476W about £2 million. There is not enough information available to estimate the additional expenditure involved in paying traveling expenses.
§ Mr. Gristasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what would be the cost of raising the full university student grant to £845 a year.
§ Mr. Prentice:The estimated cost in the current academic year of raising the grant rate of £605 to £845 and all other rates by a similar amount would be about £110 million for all students in Great Britain receiving awards at undergraduate mandatory rates.