HC Deb 29 March 2004 vol 419 cc1195-6W
Bob Spink

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will list the university science departments that have run(a) with a deficit and (b) in credit over each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [163992]

(2) what action he is planning to support university science departments that are running with a deficit. [163993]

Alan Johnson

Higher education institutions are required to prepare audited financial statements each year. Those statements do not, however, record income and expenditure at the level of individual departments within the institution. Details are not, therefore, available.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) takes account of the additional costs of science subjects as part of its funding methodology. The funding it pays to institutions is, however, provided as a block grant and it is for the individual institutions to determine the levels at which to fund their departments based on the funding from HEFCE and their other income.