§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will report on the projected requirements of the information technology industry for graduate entrants, trained in information technology, in 1985; what is the number of students at present attending courses in information technology at universities expected to graduate in 1985; and what is the Government's proposed level of finance over the coming year for university departments of information technology.
SirJosephDetailed demand projections of the kind ind[...] cannot be made with any precision and estimates vary widely. The question of demand for graduates in the information technology field was, however, recently considered by a committee chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South-West (Mr. Butcher), Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry. A copy of its first report is in the Library. In 1984–85 some 1,900 first degree students are expected to graduate from universities in electronics engineering, and some 1,500 in computer science. The Government do not fund university departments directly. Individual universities determine how to distribute between departments the grant allocation made to them by the University Grants Committee.