§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact that meeting matchfunding requirements for joint infrastructure fund and science research investment fund schemes has had on the financial health of relevant higher education institutions. [41748]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF), which provided a total of £750 million for research infrastructure in science and technology, had no general requirement for matched funding. The Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF) is worth a total of £1 billion over 2002–03 and 2003–04, of which £600 million was allocated to higher education institutions in England by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). SRIF has a requirement that 25 per cent. of the overall cost of a project is met by external contributions, except where there are partnerships between higher education institutions. HEFCE monitors the financial health of higher education institutions and has no concerns about the financial health of any institution in relation to JIF and SRIF requirements.
The issue of science research infrastructure funding for the HE sector is being considered by the Cross Cutting Review of Science and Research.