§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of the Higher Education Bill's(a) clauses and (b) schedules were (i) debated, (ii) partially debated and (iii) not debated during the recent committee stage. [162988]
§ Alan Johnson[holding answer 23 March 2004]25 clauses of the bill were formally debated during Committee Stage. Debates over fourteen sessions were both wide-ranging and detailed. Debate on the fees provisions lasted for seven committee sessions, and ensured a very full exploration of the Government's policy on tuition fees. A similarly long debate on the Government's proposal to establish an Office for Fair Access lasted for three Committee sessions. 25 clauses and seven schedules were not debated. Among the clauses not debated are 10 clauses that cover technical, interpretative or commencement provisions. The wide-ranging discussion on several clauses meant that the debates touched on a number of issues associated with later clauses that were not formally reached.
In order to ensure that the policies and legislation in the Higher Education Bill were debated in detail, the Government encouraged the extension of several Committee sessions into the evening and added an extra day to the time allotted for Committee stage.