Mrs. RenéeShort asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has yet taken a decision on the amount of Government grant to be allocated to the Open University for 1981; if so, what percentage of its total income this is to be; and what percentage is intended to be made up from (a) student fees and (b) other sources.
§ Dr. BoysonThe Open University has been told that Government grant for 1981 will be £45.4 million at 1980 grant prices, including £1.4 million for the continuing cost of the BBC move from Alexandra Palace. It is not possible to express this as a percentage of total income since no 291W forecast of income other than grant or fees is available. It is intended that, of the income from grant and fees, the latter should represent 13 per cent.
Mrs. RenéeShort asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what finance the Open University received in 1980 from (a) Government grants, (b) student
Open University Recurrent Income—Table I Year DES recurrent grant Per cent. of total Student tuition fees Per cent. of total Other sources Per cent. of total Grand total Per cent. 1970(April-December 2.215 99.55 N/A — 0.010 0.45 2.225 100 1971 6.015 91.92 0.481 7.35 0.048 0.73 6.544 100 1972 7.965 89.92 0.765 8.63 0.128 1.44 8.858 100 1973 10.091 88.54 1.180 10.35 0.126 1.11 11.397 100 1974 12.549 88.58 1.257 8.87 0.361 2.55 14.167 100 1975 16.833 89.74 1.414 7.54 0.510 2.72 18.757 100 1976 21.551 88.34 2.230 9.14 0.615 2.52 24.396 100 1977 26.508 89.25 2.639 8.88 0.554 1.87 29.701 100 1978 29.146 87.29 3.556 10.65 0.687 20.6 33.389 100 1979 34.891 88.23 3.655 9.24 1.000 2.53 39.546 100
Open University Non-Recrurrent Grant at Outturn Prices—Table 2 Financial year £ million 1970–71 1.800 1971–72 0.947 1972–73 0.759 1973–74 1.497 1974–75 0.991 1975–76 1.953 1976–77 2.399 1977–78 1.591 1978–79 2.209 1979–80* 4.699 1980–81 4.799 *Includes payments delayed from 78–79 by industrial action at Government computers. For recurrent income the figures relate to the university's academic year—the calendar year. The grant figures are from my Department's records and take account where necessary of retrieval of grant relating to earlier years. The figures for fee income and other income are from the Open University's published accounts. Neither summer school fee income nor income from the university's continuing education programme is included since they have not been specified in every year in the university's accounts. Because some of the university's activities are shown in summary only in its accounts the percentages should be regarded as approximate only.
The figures for non-recurrent grant are from my Department's records and relate to financial years.
Mrs. RenéeShort asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the fees for a full credit undergraduate course at the Open University for 1980; what the fees were for each of the last 10 years; what he intends the fees to be in 1981; and if he will give the figures in 1970 and 1980 prices.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information is as follows:
292Wfees and (c) other sources; what percentage this was in each case; and what the comparable figures and percentages are for each year since 1970.
§ Dr. BoysonFor 1980 grant is £45.607 million; a provisional estimate of course tuition fees income is £4.535 million. The level of other income is not yet known. For each year since 1970 the information is as follows:
Academic year Course Tuition Fee Column 2 at 1970 Prices Column 2 at 1980 Prices £ £ 1970 No courses offered — — 1971 20 18.3 65.4 1972 20 17.1 61.0 1973 25 19.6 69.9 1974 25 16.8 60.3 1975 25 13.6 48.5 1976 40 18.6 66.6 1977 45 18.1 64.7 1978 52 19.3 69.0 1979 55 18.0 64.4 1980 67 18.7 67.0 1981 98 Notes:
1. The "1970 Prices" are based on the annual average increase in the retail price index.
2. The "1980 Prices" are based on the average increase in the retail price index for the 10 months to October 1980.
3. Columns 2 and 3 cannot be completed in respect of 1981 until a retail price index becomes available for that year.
For 1981 it is understood that the university's council has accepted a course tuition fee of £98.