HC Deb 14 February 2003 vol 400 cc172-3W
Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what he estimates the annual costs of deferred tuition fees will be to his Department, once they are introduced in 2006. [96276]

Margaret Hodge

The costs of offering students the option to defer their tuition fees will depend on the proportion of those students who decide to defer payment of fees, which institutions decide to charge variable fees, at what level and for which courses, and the number of students taking those courses.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what mechanisms his Department will put in place to recover debt from non-UK EU-resident students under the post-2006 university tuitions fee arrangements; and if he will make a statement; [97253]

(2) what estimate he has made of the likely default rate on tuition fee payments from non-UK, EU-resident students from 2006 onwards; and if he will make a statement. [97254]

Margaret Hodge

[holding answer 11 February 2003]: Non-UK EU students are not eligible for maintenance loans. Mechanisms are in place to recover loans from UK students who live abroad after graduation, and who are outside the UK tax system, through direct payments to the Student Loans Company. The arrangements for collecting varied fees from EU graduates will be based on these arrangements.

Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to Government of abolishing tuition fees in higher education. [93911]

Margaret Hodge

For 2002–03, the standard tuition fee contribution for full-time home and EU students of £1,100 is estimated to raise around £853 million for English institutions and around £57 million for Welsh institutions. The contribution made from public and private resources towards these totals is as follows.

£ millions
2002–03 estimate England Wales
Public contributions to fees 447 30
Private contributions towards the cost of tuition 406 27
Total 853 57

Note:

Private contributions to tuition fees have been estimated from 2000–01 LEA income assessment data and assumed growth rates in annual earnings.

Estimates are based on projections of student numbers derived from actual data for academic year 2000–01. The figures for Wales exclude initial teacher training.

If the Government were to abolish tuition fees, the extra cost to the public purse would be the loss of private contribution towards the cost of tuition.

Mr. Watts

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the cost of providing all students with free tuition at university. [94752]

Margaret Hodge

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) on 20 February 2003.

Mr. Watts

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what level of support students receive in(a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) other EU countries.[94756]

Margaret Hodge

Financial support for students in Scotland is the responsibility of the First Minister for Scotland. Financial support for students in Wales is broadly the same as in England, except that the Welsh Assembly has introduced additional Assembly Learning Grants of up to £1,500 for Welsh-domiciled students on low incomes. About a quarter of Welsh HE students are expected to qualify for some or all of this grant.

The Department does not have up to date information about arrangements in all EU countries. However, the level of public spending on financial support for students in the UK as a percentage of total public expenditure on higher education is the highest in the OECD, including many EU countries.