§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what planned expenditure on higher education was in 1996–97 and each of the subsequent five financial years; and what the total outturn spending on higher education was in each of those years excluding proceeds of tuition fees. [45256]
§ Margaret HodgePublicly planned expenditure for higher education in England is set out in the annual Grant letter issued to the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The data set used in calculating the out-turn for public and student contributions to fees differ from that used in calculating publicly planned expenditure on fees. The tuition fee data for planned expenditure are for all students, including students from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, at English HE institutions, while for out-turn the figures are based on students from England at English HE institutions. The two sets of data are not therefore directly comparable. The figures, excluding all planned tuition fee income, are:
Publicly planned expenditure excluding fees1 Out-turn excluding fees2 1996–97 3646 3678 1997–98 3702 3743 1998–99 3757 3791 1999–2000 4422 4423 2000–2001 4643 4811 1Figures reflect Grant Letter announcements and include ear-marked capital, allocations for access and widening participation paid via institutions, HE expenditure for the British Academy and directly funded DfES small programmes. They exclude public and student contributions to tuition fees and funds paid to students for their maintenance support. 2The differences between planned and actual expenditure are explained in part by the different coverage used for tuition fees and by in year adjustments.