§ Dame Jill KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what criteria will be used by the Higher Education Funding Council for the funding of subjects allied to medicine; and what account such funding will take of the relative costs of the subjects within that category;
(2) what steps he will take to ensure adequate funding for the clinical training of university students of optometry under the future arrangements proposed by the Higher Education Funding Council.
§ Mr. FormanThe Higher Education Funding Council for England is consulting institutions on the funding methodology for teaching and on the academic subject categories to be adopted from 1993–94. The council has adopted the general principal that the number of subject categories should be relatively small so as to maximise institutions' management freedom. The precise coverage of academic subject categories will be the subject of further444W consultation. It will be for individual institutions to determine the level of funding for particular courses within each category, taking account of cost differences.