§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his most up-to-date estimate of the amount spent per head per full-time equivalent student in public sector higher education in Welsh colleges in the(a) current and (b) next financial year.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsThe recurrent expenditure on higher education provision in Welsh local authority colleges is funded from three main sources. These are the higher education quantum determined annually by the Secretary of State and paid by LEAs from local authority resources, tuition fees paid through the mandatory awards system and "topping-up" payments paid by LEAs to their own colleges. The Department does not hold information on the level of topping-up payments, which are a local matter, but in some cases they are known to be significant. Recurrent expenditure at Trinity college Carmarthen, the only Welsh voluntary college, is funded by grant from the Welsh Office and tuition fees.
The amount of recurrent funding per full-time equivalent home and EC student in public sector higher education in Wales from the higher education quantum, Welsh Office grant and tuition fees is estimated at £3,335 in 1990–91 and £3,738 in 1991–92. These figures take no account of topping-up payments to recurrent expenditure in the local authority colleges and funding for capital expenditure, but cover all public sector higher education in Wales. In this respect they differ from equivalent information regarding the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council sector, which does not take account of local authority higher education provision in England.