§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will project against annual Government spending plans to 2004 the real unit of resource per student in higher education on the assumption of(a) no increase in student numbers and (b) steady progress towards a target of 50 per cent. participation by young people. [132530]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 25 July 2000]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment last week announced an extra £100 million for higher education in 2001–02 on top of the increase announced in November 1999. Compared to 2000–01 the projected real-terms increase in unit cost per full-time equivalent student in 2001–02 if student numbers remained at 2000–01 levels, would be 2.2 per cent. If the number of students increases in line with plans for 2001–02, which are compatible with meeting the Government's target that 50 per cent. of 18 to 30-year-olds should have the opportunity to benefit from higher education by the end of the decade, then the real-terms unit cost will be about 0.5 per cent. above that in 2000–01. My right hon. Friend has yet to announce the allocation of funding for higher education for 2002–03 and 2003–04.