HC Deb 17 June 1986 vol 99 c511W
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria were used by the University Grants Committee to decide the allocation of research funds to universities.

Mr. Walden

The allocation of recurrent grant to the universities recently announced by the University Grants Committee took account in its provision for research of the number of staff and research students in universities, universities' income from research councils, charitable bodies, contract research income from industry and Government Departments and the committee's own rating of the quality of research in the different subject areas in each university, in the light of universities' own research statements and the advice of the research councils and other bodies.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria were used by the University Grants Committee to decide the allocation of funds for university buildings.

Mr. Walden

The recently announced recurrent grant allocations include resources to enable universities to undertake minor capital works, which were allocated pro rata to student numbers. Further resources may be allocated for specific minor capital works in the course of the academic year. Funds for major capital works are allocated from the capital subhead of the universities Vote in respect of specific projects approved by the University Grants Committee; these were not covered by the grant allocation letter of 20 May.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what efforts were made by the University Grants Committee to advise universities in advance of the criteria that would be used for the allocation of funds.

Mr. Walden

The University Grants Committee wrote to universities on 19 November 1984 to outline its intention to review grant distribution; on 9 May 1985 to set out a new framework for the allocation of grant and to seek responses from universities; and on 19 November 1985 to describe the new grant allocation procedure in detail. An article by the chairman of the University Grants Committee inThe Times Higher Education Supplement of 15 November provided further explanation. The committee's grant allocation letter of 20 May 1986 and its annexes gave universities an account of their individual grant allocations.