Lord Bruce of Doningtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether in connection with the difficulties they apprehend in effecting direct comparisons between University and Polytechnic funding to which they referred in their answer to a supplementary question on 12th June 1984 (col. 991),they would define and describe the term "allocative mechanism" used in their reply; and whether they will now state the average annual cost, per course, of providing first degree arts courses and first degree science courses in Universities and Polytechnics respectively.
§ The Earl of SwintonThe term "allocative mechanisms" refers to the procedures by which the University Grants Committee and the Advisory Bodies for Local Authority Higher Education determine the recommended allocation of resources to the institutions on which they advise my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science.
Available data about the expenditure patterns of institutions do not allow the actual costs of first degree courses to be separately identified: to do so would require an impracticably detailed apportionment of staff time and materials and of library, premises and utilities costs.