§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will review the funding of St George's Hospital Medical School to safeguard its future as a centre for research into and treatment of plastic anaemia, in the face of the combination of top-slicing and the concentration of research funding on grade 5 institutions. [HL3778]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) distributes research funding to institutions dependent on volume and quality, and teaching funding on student numbers and subject. As part of the overall funding arrangements, HEFCE has changed the weightings in its research funding algorithm, and provided extra funding to meet the extra costs universities face when recruiting students with less attainment. In making these changes HEFCE has ensured that no institution, including St George's Hospital Medical School, suffered a reduction in its grant.
HEFCE allocates its funding as block grant and institutions have discretion over the internal distribution including that obtained from funders other than HEFCE.