Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(10 years, 1 month ago)
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Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
2. What recent estimate he has made of the resource accounting and budgeting charge on student loans.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We currently estimate the RAB charge to be around 45%. The estimate changes frequently in the light of new economic forecasts and will continue to change.
Paul Blomfield
Back in the days when the Minister was confidently predicting that the RAB charge would not rise above 32%, writing in The Independent in October 2012 he described an RAB charge of 38% as the worst outcome for the taxpayer. How does he describe an RAB charge of 45%?
Mr Willetts
What we have achieved with our higher education reforms is significant savings to the taxpayer and extra income going to our universities. That is the right combination.
Mr Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)
The whole House will want to join me in congratulating Toni Pearce on her re-election as president of the National Union of Students. Figures this morning from the Sutton Trust and the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that Toni’s generation will now be paying off their student loans into their 50s. Will the Minister get to the Dispatch Box and confess that this student debt system is now not only unsustainable, but unfair? Does the Conservative party have any plans to raise the £9,000 fee in the next Parliament?
Mr Willetts
Let us be absolutely clear what today’s IFS report shows. It shows that people on lower earnings throughout their working lives are going to pay back less. That is a deliberate feature of our reforms which means that they are fairer and more progressive than the system we inherited from the Labour Government. Meanwhile, people who earn a lot during their working lives as a result of going to university will pay back more. That is what we intended with these reforms, and that is what the IFS shows we are delivering.
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
3. What progress he has made on rebalancing the economy across the UK.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
6. What steps he is taking to ensure that universities remain financially sustainable in the long term.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Our higher education reforms have increased university income and reduced costs to taxpayers. In 2011, universities received £7.9 billion of income for teaching. Next year, they will receive £9.9 billion. Universities are now well funded, on a sustainable basis for the long term.
Mr Sheerman
The Minister will be surprised to hear that I do not agree with relative complacency. I am a member of the Higher Education Commission and we are taking evidence on the long-term financial viability of our higher education sector. Time and time again, the Higher Education Policy Institute, the vice-chancellors, Lord Baker, Charles Clarke and everyone else who gives evidence to the commission say there is a serious, deep problem. We are not getting any British post-graduates as a result of the £9,000 a year. Something is deeply wrong. Will the Minister act before it is too late?
Mr Willetts
We now have record numbers of people applying to university. The funding is going to the courses that students choose. We are getting rid of controls on numbers of students. This system is financed by graduates—not students, but graduates—paying money back. That is the right way to finance our higher education. It is the system that all three parties have ended up proposing when they had to confront the realities of financing higher education. It is the right way forward for our young people.
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)
Universities in Scotland—in Edinburgh, in particular—contribute substantially to the UK’s research community, as most spectacularly exemplified recently by Professor Higgs. At the same time, universities in Scotland receive 15% of UK research funding, as is right and proper given their achievements. Would it not be a tragedy if that support and co-operation were put at risk by Scotland becoming independent from the rest of the UK?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Although Scotland has about 8% of the nation’s GDP, it gets about 15% of the public research income that is allocated across institutions, because of the excellence of the research in institutions in Scotland. That works to the advantage of Scotland and to the advantage of the entire United Kingdom, and that is why we are better off together.
Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)
7. What recent support he has provided to small businesses.
Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)
10. What estimate his Department has made of the contribution of life sciences to the UK economy.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The life sciences industry contributes more than £13 billion a year to the UK economy. Since the launch of our life sciences strategy, industry has been investing £1 billion a year in Britain.
Paul Burstow
Sutton is home to the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden. Together, they have a formidable global reputation in the fight against cancer. As part of its Opportunity Sutton programme, my council has a shared plan with those two organisations to develop a life science cluster. Will the Minister meet me and representatives of those organisations to discuss how the Department can facilitate the co-ordination of policy across Government to secure that vision and the 4,000 extra jobs that will come with it?
Mr Willetts
I would be happy to meet my right hon. Friend. That is exactly the kind of initiative that the Mayor of London envisaged when he launched his MedCity initiative earlier this week. We look forward to a golden triangle that links Oxford, Cambridge and Sutton.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
11. What steps he is taking to help small and medium-sized businesses to export.
Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)
T6. The latest report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England shows for the first time in 29 years a decline in the number of overseas students studying in the United Kingdom. Let me now give the Secretary of State another opportunity to admit that the inclusion of students in the net migration target is hindering the growth and international competitiveness of our British universities.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
There is no cap on the number of legitimate overseas students coming to Britain, and we will not introduce any such cap. The Secretary of State and I work with the Prime Minister and others on trade missions around the world to encourage young people with the necessary aptitude and qualifications to benefit from study in Britain to apply to come here. We can be proud of our universities.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend congratulate Elekta Oncology Systems, a leading manufacturer and exporter of oncology systems which is based in my constituency, on its plan to expand by about a fifth in Crawley, and also on its involvement in the Government’s regional growth fund?
Mr Willetts
I do congratulate that company. As part of our life sciences strategy, we are supporting high-tech medical companies large and small, and it is great to hear that they are prospering.
John Robertson (Glasgow North West) (Lab)
T7. The Secretary of State said earlier that investment in businesses would go ahead next year, but today we have heard about the closure of coal mines. Will the Minister explain why, according to figures from Bloomberg New Energy, investment in clean energy in the United Kingdom is due to hit a five-year low this year? What is happening to that investment?
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
The Budget invited universities and others to bid to develop the new Alan Turing institute for big data, an invitation enthusiastically embraced in Wiltshire and Swindon’s economic plan. How can we now work with the Minister to make this bright idea a reality?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend indeed represents an area with, shall we say, some very distinctive skills in cyber and big data, and yes, absolutely, it is very important that places like his have the opportunity to apply to have the Turing centre. We will be running a consultation on its best location.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
In answer to a written question I was told that the Government know next to nothing about the number of jobs they claim to have created, not even how many of them are new jobs rather than simply a transfer from the public sector, so why will the Secretary of State not tell us how many of these jobs are minimum wage, unpaid or zero-hours?
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham) (Con)
Farmers are the backbone of the £97 billion agriculture and food sector. How are the Government helping them take advantage of the latest science and innovation supporting our world-class agricultural technology sector?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the significance of this sector, and that is why we have a £160 million agri-tech strategy, which is aimed at promoting exports and investment in high-tech agriculture for the future.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
The Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), refused to answer me, but I wonder whether the Secretary of State could estimate how many of the 12 immediate beneficiaries of the fire sale of the Royal Mail are Tory party donors?
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(10 years, 2 months ago)
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Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)
14. What steps his Department is taking to encourage UK students to study for postgraduate qualifications at UK universities.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The Government understand the importance of postgraduate study, which is why we are creating a new postgraduate support fund, worth £75 million over the next two years. This investment will allow universities to pilot innovative programmes to support access and participation.
Hugh Bayley
As the Minister knows, the UK will not remain competitive if we do not reverse the frightening trend of falling numbers of British students starting postgraduate qualifications, and I fear that the situation could get worse as the first cohort of students to have paid much higher undergraduate fees starts to feed through the system. How many additional postgraduate students will £75 million pay for? What will the Government do further to boost the number of British students doing postgraduate courses?
Mr Willetts
After 2016, graduates will be paying back less per month than under the current arrangements, so that factor should not deter postgraduate study. Our extra funding is paying for 20 programmes, in 20 universities, to explore different ways of encouraging more postgraduate study.
Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
15. What recent estimate he has made of changes in the number of applications by (a) part-time and (b) mature students since changes in the level of student fees.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Data are not collected on applications for part-time study in higher education. However, the number of part-time students enrolling in higher education has fallen by 42% since its peak in 2008-09. The latest figures from UCAS show that the number of mature applicants to full-time undergraduate courses has risen over the last two application cycles by 5%.
Tom Blenkinsop
I thank the Minister for that answer, and for that rather startling statistic. Another startling statistic is that the number of part-time undergraduates fell by 19% in 2012-13. Does he now regret the trebling of tuition fees? Does he understand that it has undermined the number of part-time students and that it is leading to declining social mobility?
Mr Willetts
This is not to do with the introduction of the fees and loans. As I said in answer to the previous question, the burden of repayment on graduates has fallen. The hon. Gentleman describes a trend that began under the previous Government. We believe it is attributable significantly to their policy of not funding students who already have an equivalent-level qualification. That is why I have started the process of reversing that by extending entitlements to loans to more part-time students, and we aim to continue to reverse the damage done by Labour’s policy.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
17. What assessment he has made of the effects on businesses of banks’ lending practices.
Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)
I will meet representatives of Jaguar Land Rover tomorrow to discuss their vision for their Gaydon headquarters. As it is international women’s day on 8 March, I will also be discussing the work they do to encourage women and girls to take up science, technology, engineering and maths. The Secretary of State is passionate about getting more women on boards and, importantly, into all sort of industries, so will he join me in celebrating international women’s day and reminding businesses that they need to do their bit to encourage more women into the sciences?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. To encourage more women into science, we have specifically said that when universities bid for the new capital funding we are allocating to them, they will be required to show what they are doing to attract women into those essential subjects.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(10 years, 4 months ago)
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Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)
8. What support he is providing to the life sciences sector.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We are supporting this key sector through our life sciences and agri-tech strategies, which back research and development and promote manufacturing. Since the Prime Minister launched our strategy two years ago, industry has announced investment of £2 billion, which is a vote of confidence in what we are doing.
Julian Sturdy
I welcome the Government’s commitment to encouraging the nation’s agri-tech industry and to recognising the importance of food security. The Minister and the Secretary of State will no doubt be aware of York and north Yorkshire’s huge potential to become a global leader in food manufacturing, agri-tech and biorenewables industries. As such, will the Minister clarify whether there are any plans to announce further catapult centres in this field?
Mr Willetts
There is a lot of interest in our new centres for agricultural innovation. We expect to announce the bidding process for the first one in the spring and we will consult on themes for the other centres. I congratulate my hon. Friend on reminding us of the case for York as a possible centre. Of course, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was brought up there, but we will try not to allow that to affect our decision.
Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)
9. What steps he is taking to support small businesses.
Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)
10. What assessment he has made of innovation in the UK manufacturing sector.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Manufacturing businesses are among the most innovative in the UK. In 2012, they spent £12 billion on research and development. We are investing in R and D alongside them. In particular, we are backing eight great technologies that are shaping the industries of the future.
Laura Sandys
The Government focus a lot on labour productivity, but what support are they giving to innovation in resource productivity, which accounts for two thirds of the costs in manufacturing?
Mr Willetts
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the interesting and imaginative work she is doing on this subject with other hon. Friends. Through our support for R and D—notably but not solely through our catapult centres—we are rewarding innovation that ensures that businesses operate with lower overheads.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
18. What assessment he has made of the potential for reshoring and import substitution in the UK economy.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
There is great potential for business reshoring to Britain. We surveyed manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises and found that 11% have reshored some production to the UK in the past 12 months. The Automotive Council has identified £3 billion of additional sourcing opportunities. Businesses are bringing activities back to Britain as we become a more flexible and competitive economy.
Richard Graham
I believe there is more we can do to help reshoring, for example by making cash contributions to regional growth funds, cutting business rates locally for manufacturers bringing back jobs and adding reshoring to the UK Trade & Investment job description. Does the Minister agree that on import substitution there is a real opportunity to encourage supply chains to get local suppliers to compete for business? For example, Gloucestershire-based ADEY Professional Heating Solutions recently gave a £1.5 million contract to Future Advanced Manufacture, business that was previously being done in China.
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are, of course, an open economy and we export and welcome companies from abroad that invest here, but we can do more to support our supply chains so that more prime manufacturers in Britain also purchase from SMEs across the country. Indeed, I remember visiting the company to which he refers. It is an excellent example of what we are talking about.
Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
There are of course no caps on the number of legitimate, properly qualified students who can come to study in Britain, and I take every opportunity to visit India, as does the Prime Minister, to communicate that message there. Properly qualified Indian students are welcome here.
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
T8. The Financial Times this morning quotes a Treasury spokesman as saying that an interest rate rise is “not something we are worried about” and a “sign of success”. Does the Secretary of State concur with that view?
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
T6. Did the science Minister hear the excellent Radio 4 programme about Malvern’s cyber-security hub, and will he clear his diary to come and open the private sector-led national cyber-skills centre in Malvern?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is a great advocate for the Malvern cyber-security hub, and I do indeed very much hope to visit it. I am sure it is well worth a visit.
Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)
T9. Is the Secretary of State aware that all the new oil and gas platform construction projects for this year have been either cancelled or postponed, which will have a devastating effect on employment in my constituency and others in the north-east, as well as those in Scotland? Will he, together with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, take immediate steps to address this matter?
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
Last year, Sheffield Hallam university received £6.9 million as part of its share of the student opportunity fund. That not only helped it to recruit 30% of its undergraduate intake from low-income households—a commendable achievement—but to engage in critical retention work with the most disadvantaged learners. Yesterday, in the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, the Secretary of State agreed with me that the fund’s work would be damaged if its resources were cut. Can the Minister reassure the House that that will not happen?
Mr Willetts
We certainly understand the value of the work of the student opportunity fund. Indeed, I have visited Sheffield Hallam university and have seen the excellent work that it does.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
As the Prime Minister’s recent excellent trip to China has shown, there are phenomenal opportunities for Britain to trade with the Chinese. May I urge the Department to continue to lobby for the simplification of visas for Chinese visitors and entrepreneurs?
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Two able pupils at a Hackney secondary school in one of the most deprived parts of my constituency have been offered a place at a good university on condition that they secure two As and a B in their A-levels. The university is willing to negotiate on those grades, but will not discuss their C grades in GCSE maths: they will need B grades. If they were foreign students, they would be given coaching by the university. Will the Minister meet me, and some of the people in Hackney who are concerned about the matter, to discuss how we can tackle it and ensure that there is proper social mobility in this country?
Mr Willetts
I should be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss the matter, but let me make two things clear. First, universities decide their own admissions criteria, which is right, and secondly, as we increase the number of students and remove artificial caps, it will be possible for universities to recruit all the students who are qualified to benefit from going to university.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(10 years, 6 months ago)
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Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
17. What steps he is taking to promote engineering as a career.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
In September the Government announced a £400 million boost for science, technology, engineering and maths teaching. Last month we launched the first annual Tomorrow’s Engineers week, during which the Government worked with more than 70 partners. Our recently published Perkins review of engineering skills calls for action from employers, educators and the profession to work with us to inspire young people to become engineers.
Nigel Mills
Does the Minister agree with the importance of getting local engineering employers to work closely with skills providers to inspire young people to go into engineering, and will he join me in welcoming the soon-to-open Heanor studio college, which will do exactly that?
Mr Willetts
We strongly support such initiatives, which are absolutely what is required to ensure that employers get the skilled engineers they need.
Neil Carmichael
Now that the Government’s economic plan is delivering the rebalanced economy we need, we also need engineers, as the Minister just said. Does he agree that one way forward is to encourage engineering in schools, and to ensure that it is considered a protected profession?
Mr Willetts
I certainly agree that we need to encourage engineering in schools. “Engineer” is not a restricted term, but we support professional titles such as “chartered engineer” or “engineering technician”, which are regulated, and we aim to register 100,000 apprenticeships with EngTech status by 2018.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
Does the Minister agree that investing in fundamental research is vital to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers and to create conditions for the serendipitous discoveries of the future?
Mr Willetts
I completely agree with the hon. Lady, which is why the Government support fundamental research. Only last week I went to the launch of £250 million of public money for centres of doctoral training run by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)
One of the biggest engineering projects this country has ever seen will be High Speed 2. What specific steps is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills taking in conjunction with the Department for Transport to ensure that engineering opportunities are available to businesses throughout the entire country, not just firms adjacent to the route?
Mr Willetts
We are already working with the current largest infrastructure plan, Crossrail, to ensure that skills are available and that we take the opportunity to build up skills in crucial techniques such as tunnelling. We will take the same approach to HS2.
Mr Mark Spencer (Sherwood) (Con)
I recently visited Fairfield Control Systems in my constituency, which is a small engineering company responsible not only for moving the roof at Wimbledon, but for the Division bells in the House of Commons. One of its main concerns was the Government’s encouragement of STEM subjects by the Department for Education. Has the Minister spoken with that Department about how we can encourage the teaching of STEM subjects within the school system?
Mr Willetts
STEMnet ambassadors are doing a fantastic job of going to schools to encourage young people to study those subjects. There is a surge in the number of young people taking A-levels in subjects such as maths and physics, which are often a requirement for going on to engineering.
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
9. What assessment he has made of the ability of businesses to recruit staff with appropriate IT skills.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Our recent information economy strategy shows that employers find it hard to get people with the right IT skills, yet there is also relatively high unemployment among computer science graduates. That is why I recently convened a round-table with vice-chancellors and employers to tackle that mismatch. I know that issue is vital in the Malvern cyber-valley that my hon. Friend does so much to support.
Harriett Baldwin
Indeed, cyber-security IT skills are vital for the online world. Will the Minister welcome the initiative by private sector firms in my constituency to set up a cyber-skills training centre, and may I invite him, once again, to visit?
Mr Willetts
I do support that initiative and I hope it will be possible to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency, because I know how much she does to support the Malvern cluster, which will soon be rivalling the Cambridge cluster and tech city.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
10. What assessment he has made of the potential opportunities for manufacturers in onshore construction of offshore wind turbines.
Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)
14. If he will make it his policy to increase investment in higher education.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
That is already our policy. Higher education is vital to our future productivity and economic growth. That is why we have reformed university finance and protected research spending. As a result of our reforms, total university income for teaching will rise from £7.2 billion in 2011-12 to £9.1 billion in 2014-15.
Caroline Lucas
The Minister will know that spending on higher education remains lower than the OECD average, yet higher education makes a huge contribution to the national economy, as I know from the two excellent universities in Brighton and Hove, so will he do even more to address this gap please? Will he also make an assessment of the University and College Union proposal to fund our knowledge economy via an increase in corporation tax for the richest 4% of our corporations, rather than by relying on tuition fees that unfairly fixate on the individual benefit of students going to university?
Mr Willetts
We have a fair and sustainable way of financing higher education. It is right to expect graduates to pay back the cost of their higher education if they are earning more than £21,000. That has enabled us to see more students going to university and increases in funding for teaching at universities, even while we have been tackling the budget deficit we inherited from the previous Government.
Mr Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)
As you know, Mr Speaker, while the Minister was batting for Britain in Kazakhstan last week, the National Audit Office was battering his handling of the student loans system. We look forward to the hearings at the Public Accounts Committee, but in the meantime would he mind telling the House how late he discovered that students at private higher education institutions were soaking up public subsidies at such a rate that there was an overspend of hundreds of millions of pounds? How did he lose control so spectacularly?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear: these students are studying for HNCs and HNDs, which are all legitimate and valuable qualifications. Whereas under the right hon. Gentleman’s Government there was no control whatsoever of the designation of alternative providers, we have introduced controls. The number of students going to alternative providers has increased dramatically, and in order to maintain budgetary controls, we have introduced further limits on the numbers, but these are worthwhile courses that we should support.
Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)
15. What progress he has made on his review of zero-hours contracts.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)
May I ask the Minister for Universities and Science what progress has been made in expanding the scholarship scheme for university students, particularly to help with the cost of living rather than the cost of fees?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We continue to provide support to students. The national scholarship programme has been shown to have less effect on young people choosing to go to university than some of the other support that is available through maintenance and student access programmes. We continue to work on the agenda set out by my right hon. Friend, ensuring that as many young people as possible from disadvantaged backgrounds apply to university.
Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)
T7. The Government have consistently been on the back foot when it comes to addressing the issue of late payments to small businesses. In the review of that, how will they address the central issue that late payment is a cultural and leadership issue, and needs to be seen as unethical as tax evasion?
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
T10. May I press the Minister for Universities and Science further on why he repeatedly rejected warnings on uncontrolled financial support to students in private higher education colleges? In March, he argued that the policy was important to enable private providers to continue with their expansion, but now that he is faced with a growing black hole in the BIS budget, he has reversed the policy. Will he explain why and will he guarantee no further cuts to student support to pay for his mistake?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear, we inherited from the previous Government a complete rubber-stamping exercise under which there was no control whatsoever over alternative providers. We introduced controls. For example, in the last year, out of 87 applications from alternative providers, 18 were approved and 69 were rejected. That was effective quality control and we have taken further steps to ensure that the Department can remain within its budget.
Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood) (Con)
Our plans predate small business Saturday, but this weekend in Rochester we have a Christmas fair and also a Dickens weekend. They attract many thousands of people to Rochester, which has, almost entirely, independent small businesses. Will the Minister join me in welcoming that?
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(10 years, 7 months ago)
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Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
8. What steps he is taking to increase the number of students from Liverpool who go to university.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We have placed increased responsibilities on universities to widen access. Universities and colleges plan to spend more than £700 million a year by 2017 on broadening access, and our highly successful student finance tour is running again this year, providing students and parents with information about the student finance available.
Steve Rotheram
The Minister will be aware that we face a difficult task in attracting people from deprived areas in Liverpool to universities and that we also face a challenge in retaining students who have graduated from higher education institutions. What steps does he plan to take to make it more attractive for graduates to stay in the city of their learning?
Mr Willetts
We are seeing an increase in the percentage of people from deprived areas who are applying to university and last year saw a national record overall. The figures in the Liverpool local authority area also show continuing increases in the percentage of people from poorer backgrounds applying to go to university. Of course, one of the great attractions of having a leading university in the city is that many graduates then stay.
Mr Willetts
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend and congratulate him on his commitment, particularly to education as it affects Liverpool.
Mr Speaker
I call Mr Simon Hughes, from the distant territory of Southwark and Bermondsey.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)
When I visited Liverpool to do some work for the Government on access to education, I was clear that one thing that students there wanted was the opportunity for scholarships to help with living costs. Will the Minister update us on the roll-out of the scholarship programme for young people from deprived backgrounds in Liverpool and elsewhere?
Mr Willetts
We have been able to help people from deprived areas in Liverpool and across the country through the fact that the combination of the value of the maintenance grant and the maintenance loan is higher now for people from poorer backgrounds applying to university than it ever was before.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
9. What assessment he has made of the effect on postal services of the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
17. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on UK artists and creators of introducing a private copying exception without compensation.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
This change will allow people to make personal copies of content they have bought. For example, it will allow an individual to copy their CDs on to an iPad. Many people already do this without realising it is illegal under copyright law. Most people think it is reasonable and should not be prevented by copyright. The Government agree and our new law will recognise this. This change will not allow people to obtain copies unlawfully, and British creators will continue to be rewarded when people buy copies of their works.
Kerry McCarthy
So far, the 22 EU member states that have introduced private copying exceptions have all introduced corresponding levy schemes on MP3 players and other copying devices to compensate artists for the loss of income. Why will the UK not do the same?
Mr Willetts
The reason is very simple: those European countries have introduced far wider exemptions than we are proposing. Many of them allow content borrowed from friends, families and libraries to be shared very widely. That damages creators, so they need to provide compensation, but our proposal is carefully targeted to protect what happens, as we all know, in almost every family in the country without doing damage to creators.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
The Secretary of State will know that there is serious concern among our universities about many of the provisions of the Immigration Bill and their impact on international student recruitment. What discussions has he had with universities on the issue and what representations has he made to the Home Office?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
What we are seeing is a continuing increase in the number of overseas students applying to come to study in Britain. We all make it clear whenever we visit overseas markets that there is no cap on the number of legitimate overseas students coming to Britain; they are very warmly welcome.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
I understand that in 2014-15 the local LEP is going to have a sizeable budget to distribute for infrastructure. Will the relevant Minister explain how we can access that budget and what the criteria will be?
Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)
Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the formal launch of the transport systems catapult, which is going to be based in Milton Keynes. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this will be an important innovation to reaffirm the UK’s leading role in transport technology development?
Mr Willetts
This is a very important event—investment in our transport infrastructure to make it smart and innovative. It is backed with £50 billion of BIS money, with support from the Department for Transport—and, most importantly, with substantial business support as well.
Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
The Secretary of State will be aware of my concern about the legal requirements when a company goes into administration. Will he look at making it a mandatory requirement for administrators to prioritise the wider social consequences of the sale of a company rather than allowing asset strippers to destroy jobs and local communities?
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Robbins report. Will the Minister for Universities and Science confirm that this Conservative-led Government will continue the spirit of Robbins and ensure that higher education is open to all?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; indeed, today is the day, 50 years ago, when the then Conservative Government accepted the Robbins report. We are marking the 50th anniversary with more funding going into universities, with more students and with more applications from students from disadvantaged backgrounds than ever before, so we can be proud of our record on higher education.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
A report published today by the 1994 Group of universities shows that, although the overall figures for post-graduate study in the United Kingdom look healthy, that is mainly due to a 90% increase in the number of overseas students. What are the Government doing to support British post-graduate students?
Mr Willetts
That is an issue, which is why the Higher Education Funding Council for England has provided an extra £25 million of support for next year’s post-graduate students. We will increase that amount to £75 million for the following year, because we do not wish to see people who could benefit from post-graduate education missing out.
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Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)
9. What steps he is taking to promote advance manufacturing.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Advanced manufacturing is crucial to economic growth. That is why the Chancellor announced a further £1.1 billion for our industrial strategy in his Budget. That follows an additional £600 million investment in the autumn statement for eight great technologies.
Graham Evans
Will my right hon. Friend commend the vital contribution to the national economy made by advanced manufacturing industries, such as APPH in Runcorn, which manufactures vital parts for the Saab Gripen fighter? The company has recruited four new engineering apprentices from Manchester, Liverpool and Salford universities. Does he agree that it is vital to encourage more young people to take up engineering as a career?
Mr Willetts
I agree with my hon. Friend. The aerospace announcement in the Budget, to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just referred, is crucial in supporting those industries. My hon. Friend can be proud of a constituency that has, in Daresbury, an important high-tech centre.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
This week, AstraZeneca announced a deep global restructuring, committing its manufacturing facility to Cheshire, but moving its global R and D to Cambridge, with a £300 million investment and 2,000 staff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is a sharp reminder of the deep global restructuring in the pharmaceutical sector and the importance of the life science strategy we put in place 18 months ago? May I congratulate his Department on the speed with which the task force was set up?
Mr Willetts
The announcement was obviously disappointing for people at Alderley Park, but we have worked with AstraZeneca in setting up a task force, which I hope will secure a future for the site. Meanwhile, we should celebrate the fact that AstraZeneca decided, having looked around the world, that the UK was the best place to invest in new R and D facilities.
Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)
10. What his policy is on vocational education routes; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
International students provide enormous economic and cultural benefits to the UK. Education exports from further and higher education contribute some £9 billion to the economy. We therefore stated in January that we will place no cap on the number of genuine students coming from across the world to study in this country.
Richard Fuller
I thank the Minister for that answer. We all understand the importance of clearing up the chaotic mess of immigration left by the last Government and the attention that the public pay to reducing the total numbers, but many of us would like to see student numbers excluded from our migration statistics. The economic case has been made by Universities UK and the 1994 Group. Will the Minister reassure me that he is sensitive to these representations?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is right. The first priority was to eliminate abuse so that people can have confidence that students are legitimate. We have now said that we will disaggregate the statistics so that students are separately identified. The next step is a positive education export strategy, which we will produce before the summer.
Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)
The Royal Botanic Gardens in my constituency carries out world-leading research that benefits the UK in many ways. International students and interns are an important part of that work, but the gardens’ particular organisational status sometimes makes it difficult to obtain visas for them. If I write to the Minister with the details, will he, perhaps in conjunction with his colleagues in the Home Office, look at this issue to help support its important work?
Mr Willetts
I am always happy to work with the Minister for Immigration, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper), to iron out such problems, but the general point is very simple: genuine, legitimate students are allowed into this country and there is no limit on the numbers.
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)
The Minister tries to paint a rosy picture, but the facts are that the recent drop in net migration is due to 38,000 fewer international students coming to this country. His policy is choking growth in our seventh-largest export industry, worth billions of pounds, at a time when our economy is flatlining. It is clear that the Minister is too weak to make the case for our world-class universities around the world and too weak to lobby his Government colleagues to change course. Does he agree with me that the one genuine achievement of the net migration pledge has been a net decrease in his own credibility?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Lady should understand that we have a clear policy: there is no limit on the number of students. I went with the Prime Minister on his most recent trade mission to India, accompanied by leading vice-chancellors, to communicate clearly and directly to one of our most important markets for overseas students that they are welcome to come and study in the UK.
Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
14. What assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the development of a new agri-tech centre in Wisbech for regeneration in the fenland region.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We announced funding for agri-tech only this week as part of the Chancellor’s excellent Budget. I congratulate my hon. Friend on being the first to bid for some of that funding. I am sure his idea for a new agri-tech centre will be considered carefully, and we will set out our plans in our agri-tech strategy.
Stephen Barclay
I welcome the additional funding announced in the Budget yesterday and pay tribute to the excellent work my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) has done on this issue. Will the Minister agree to meet me and the leaders of Cambridgeshire county council and Fenland district council, given the strength of the bid for an area that is located at the heart of the farming fens, in close proximity to the talent centres of Cambridge and Norwich, and adjacent to the College of West Anglia, which is the regional lead for science and technology and is currently building a new £12 million engineering faculty?
Mr Willetts
Of course I am happy to meet my hon. Friend. I understand the significance of the wider strategy for his area. East Anglia is one of our national leaders in agri-tech and agri-science, with excellent research institutes across the area.
Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
15. What progress his Department has made on improving the export performance of UK manufacturers; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
17. What support his Department is providing to small businesses to compete in global markets.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The Government have increased funding to UKTI, with an extra £140 million over the next two years, so that it can double the number of small and medium-sized businesses supported from 25,000 to 50,000 by 2015. We will also help 8,000 small companies attend overseas exhibitions in the next financial year. My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right about the importance of promoting small businesses and export markets.
Stephen Phillips
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. SMEs in my constituency, such as Destec Engineering, which I recently had the opportunity to visit, are the drivers of both our local and national economies. Does he agree that the measures announced in yesterday’s Budget, particularly the employment allowance and the reduction in corporation tax, will go a long way to helping such businesses grow and compete in the global economy?
Mr Willetts
My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. We believe that the employment allowance measure, on its own, will ensure that more than 400,000 SMEs no longer have to pay employers’ national insurance contributions, which is the boost they need.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
19. Which measures in the Government’s growth plan his Department has not yet implemented; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)
T7. I welcome the appointment of Andrew Witty to lead a review of how universities can support local growth. The university of Worcester has already delivered exciting regeneration projects, including Europe’s first joint university and city library, the Hive, and the new Worcester Arena. As it sets out to look into a new university business park, may I encourage my right hon. Friend to come to Worcester to meet representatives of the university, which has already become a powerful engine of local growth?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I welcome my hon. Friend’s welcome for the important new review that Andrew Witty will be carrying out and, yes, of course I look forward to visiting the university of Worcester. I have not visited it for several years, but I believe that I shall be there in June, and I look forward to that.
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)
T5. May I press the Minister on payday lenders? Will the Government really get those companies to make it much easier for consumers to understand the cost of those awful payday loans?
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
T9. Lancaster is an excellent university town, and we have a high number of creative and innovative entrepreneurs. What additional help can we get from the Department to provide them with the right marketing, financial and manufacturing advice to help them to get their products to market?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Among the resources that we do not use enough are the business schools in our universities, which can be a source of expertise and support for local businesses. I hope that this will be among the issues that Andrew Witty addresses in his review.
Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
The Secretary of State is fond of talking about rebalancing the economy. A walk down the high street in any town or city will show that the growth industries are payday loans, betting shops, pawnbrokers and food banks. Is not that a really sad, evil commentary on these three wasted years?
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Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)
9. What support his Department is providing to the life sciences sector.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Our life sciences strategy, launched by the Prime Minister, has already triggered more than £1 billion of business investment in life sciences. That is good for growth and good for the NHS.
David Rutley
As my right hon. Friend is aware, Macclesfield and north-east Cheshire are well known for their strong base in life sciences skills and the economic contribution of companies such as AstraZeneca. In the light of that, what further steps is he taking to encourage investment in the north-west, and in north-east Cheshire in particular?
Mr Willetts
I pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend, and I recall visiting the AstraZeneca facility at Alderley park with him last year. There is a very strong life sciences cluster in the north-west. We are supporting it with extra investment in the new Manchester cancer research centre and in the Manchester collaborative centre for information research.
Stephen Metcalfe
At a recent meeting of the Science and Technology Committee, Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s chief medical officer, talked about the increasing amount of antibiotic resistance in disease and stated that
“the apocalyptic scenario is that when I need a new hip in 20 years I’ll die from a routine infection because we’ve run out of antibiotics.”
Will the Minister therefore tell the House what steps the Government are taking to fix what some have described as the “broken pipeline” in the development of new drugs?
Mr Willetts
I have heard Dame Sally Davies speak eloquently about that challenge, which is why the Secretary of State for Health will, I understand, be launching an action plan on that particular issue in the spring. What we are doing in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is backing investment and ensuring a pipeline of new drugs for the future. That is what the patent box is about, it is what research and development tax credits are about and it is what the new biomedical catalyst is about. We can be confident of the support we are providing for medical research in the UK.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
I hope the Minister will forgive me for describing that answer of his as a tad complacent. The fact of the matter is that when we talk to leading academics and leading investors in business we find that they think that in life sciences we are lagging behind the other countries we are competing with—particularly China, but also many other places. They are worried that what will happen in life sciences is what is steadily happening in pharmaceuticals, whereby we are losing our pharmaceutical industry and it is switching overseas.
Mr Willetts
There is certainly a global race and I believe that the Government’s policies are securing us a strong position in it. We are not complacent, but the improvements in the tax relief, the protection for medical research and the innovations taking products closer to market ensure that when companies look around Europe it is clear to them that Britain is the best place to locate their pharmaceutical activities.
Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West) (LD)
The Scottish life sciences sector is worth £3 billion to the economy and employs 32,000 people. Last week, Edinburgh’s BioQuarter announced that three new companies have just moved in. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, as we have already heard, the life sciences sector is about more than the golden triangle in the south-east of England?
Mr Willetts
That is absolutely right. As well as what is happening in the north-west of England, the Edinburgh BioQuarter is of international repute and the university of Dundee is the centre of another excellent cluster of medical research. This is a British strength, not simply a strength in the London-Oxford-Cambridge triangle.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
4. What assessment he has made of the need for business certainty for firms to secure investment and long-term growth.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Our higher education reforms are increasing cash for teaching at our universities and delivering more choice for students. Higher applications this year are up by 3% and the proportion of 18-year-old applicants from the most disadvantaged backgrounds has increased to the highest level ever. Every English region has seen applications increase.
Mr Willetts
The variation in applications between universities is what happens when there is competition and when the money goes with the student. That is a key feature of our reforms. This year we are seeing applications up. Given the hon. Gentleman’s genuine concern about this issue, I should have thought that he would welcome the fact that the application rate for disadvantaged young people from England is at its highest ever level—19.5%.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
May I congratulate the Minister on his excellent reforms and urge him to push forward with all the efforts that he is making to attract foreign students to the UK?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is right. There is no cap on the number of overseas students who come to Britain. All legitimate overseas students are warmly welcome in our country.
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
Will the Minister acknowledge that both universities in my constituency, along with many others across the sector, have been negatively impacted by the ill-considered and hastily introduced student control measures last year? Will he recognise that he made a mistake by rushing into that and explain what he is going to do to mitigate the damage?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear. The student control system that we inherited involved allocating a fixed number of student places to every university in England. We do not believe that that is the right way of ensuring competition and choice in our education. That is why we are introducing new flexibilities, so that universities that succeed in attracting more students can take on more students.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)
The Government are right to be encouraged by the fact that we have seen the highest ever number of applicants this year from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the EU and outside the EU, and the third highest ever from England, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Will Ministers continue to focus on those from disadvantaged backgrounds and on young men, of whom there appear to be relatively smaller numbers of applicants, compared with young women? I am sure we need both to feel encouraged to go to universities in equal measure.
Mr Willetts
My right hon. Friend is right and I pay tribute to his efforts in this area. Clearly, we must not be complacent. There is always more to do, and I hope that in all parts of the House we can agree that we must communicate the crucial message that no student has to pay up front to go to university; they pay back only if they are graduates in well paid employment.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
6. What assessment he has made of the effect of the regional growth fund on job creation in the north-west.
Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)
T9. My right hon. Friend will be aware of the growing funding problems for postgraduate students. Most have to pay large sums up front, borrowing from banks or their families if they are rich enough, which creates huge social mobility problems. Has he had a chance to look at the proposals in my policy paper, “Developing a future: Policies for science and research”, or, indeed, the very similar proposals from the Higher Education Commission and the National Union of Students?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Postgraduate education is very important. We have maintained funding for it through the Higher Education Funding Council for England, but I am following with great interest the imaginative ideas being brought forward and we are open-minded if people have proposals for increasing access to borrowing and finance for postgraduates.
Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
In an earlier question, on the privatisation of Royal Mail, the Minister deliberately referred to the fact that shares would be sold off to the people in Royal Mail. It almost harks back to the “share-owning democracy” of Mrs Thatcher, when she privatised all the public utilities and almost without exception those public utilities—E.ON, EDF and all the rest—are now owned by Germany, France, Spain and even further afield. That is what happens to share-owning democracies. Instead of gazing into crystal balls, read the history!
Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)
There will be no swearing in my question.
My right hon. Friend the Minister for Universities will be aware of Chester university’s great success in getting industrial support. The vice-chancellor, Professor Tim Wheeler, the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller) and I all have a free spot in our diaries on 1 March. I was wondering whether my right hon. Friend would come and join the celebrations with us.
Mr Willetts
I very much hope to join that event. I hope to be up there that day. If not, I will be there on another occasion, because I am a great admirer of what has been achieved at the university of Chester.
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
Does the Secretary of State imagine that the counterfeiters, the smugglers and the others will welcome the introduction of plain packaging for the tobacco industry?
Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)
There are concerns that the UK is lagging behind its competitors in the registration of graphene patents. The USA has more than 1,100; we have just 46. Does the Minister agree that this is an example of why the Government need to provide more strategic direction and to support important technology sectors for the future?
Mr Willetts
We have, of course, invested more than £60 million in graphene research, notably, but not only, in Manchester. I have seen that evidence from patents. It is a reminder of the importance of ensuring that we are absolutely out there supporting the commercialisation of graphene, and that is what we are committed to doing.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
I congratulate the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson) on taking the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill through Parliament, and on allowing the adjudicator to impose fines. Will she look favourably on the adjudicator taking their own initiative in investigations from day one?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. These reforms increase resources for universities. They are not putting off students from less affluent backgrounds and it is graduates, not students, who pay. That is a very fair and progressive way of financing higher education.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
Does the Secretary of State agree that, if the United Kingdom stayed in the European Union and completed the single European market, our growth could increase by 7% within a decade, but that if we left the EU and had a relationship with it such as that of Norway or Switzerland, our exports could be as much as 14 times lower over the same period?
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Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
9. What steps he plans to take to protect and support the work of the British Antarctic Survey following his decision not to merge that body with the National Oceanography Centre.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I saw the important work of our scientists when I visited the Falklands and the Antarctic last February. The Natural Environment Research Council has committed to maintain funding of the British Antarctic Survey at £42 million a year for the rest of this spending period. The NERC should, in future, have a discrete funding line for the Antarctic from within the ring-fenced science budget, subject to future spending reviews, to ensure that there is a visible UK commitment to Antarctic science and our presence in the region. It is a fitting tribute that the southern part of the British Antarctic Territory has been renamed Queen Elizabeth Land in honour of Her Majesty the Queen at the end of a glorious jubilee year.
Andrew Rosindell
The whole House and the entire nation will be delighted at the Government’s announcement that part of the British Antarctic Territory will be named after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in this diamond jubilee year. The House is also delighted that the British Antarctic Survey has been rescued from the previous proposals. Is it possible for the British Antarctic Survey to work more closely with the Falkland Islands? Does the Minister recognise the importance of having British sovereign territories in that region of the world to conduct scientific research and endeavour?
Mr Willetts
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s work on behalf of the Falklands and the British presence in the Antarctic. There is already practical co-operation. I have seen for myself the support that the Falklands Islands provides to the British Antarctic Survey. While I was in the Falklands, I met the director of the newly created South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute in his office at Stanley cottage. Although the NERC cannot legally fund the institute, we are offering non-financial assistance by giving advice, hosting visits and facilitating partnerships with British universities.
David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)
11. What support his Department is giving to the life sciences sector.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Last week, the Prime Minister launched the “One Year On” report for our life sciences strategy, which included a new commitment to sequence 100,000 genomes. In the autumn statement, the Chancellor announced an additional £100 million for life sciences research and, in the past year, more than £1 billion of private sector investment has been attracted to the UK on the back of Government initiatives for the life sciences. We are therefore succeeding in creating the right environment to attract global life sciences investment.
David Rutley
I welcome the Government’s progress report, “Strategy for UK Life Sciences—One Year On”, and the Minister’s strong support for this vital sector. Given the critical contribution of life sciences and pharmaceuticals to Macclesfield’s local economy, what plans does he have to build on this important momentum in the year ahead?
Mr Willetts
We need to do more and we can do more. We are going to work closely with British businesses, including AstraZeneca, which I remember visiting with my hon. Friend in his constituency earlier this year. That company has received a conditional offer through round 3 of the regional growth fund. We are continuing to back this very important, internationally competitive industry.
Mr John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)
12. What steps he plans to take to reform the law on copyright; and if he will make a statement.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
16. What recent assessment he has made of his changes to higher education and to the level of student tuition fees; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The proportion of English school leavers accepted by universities for 2012-13 was the second highest on record. Final data show that acceptance rates from disadvantaged areas increased. More students are getting into their first choice universities.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
But UCAS data show that there was an overall 11% fall in applications for higher education in 2012-13, and early indications are that the number of applicants for 2013-14 will fall further. Is the Minister worried by that emerging trend, and if so, what will he do about it?
Mr Willetts
Of course, entry to British universities is competitive, and we have many more applicants than places, but we will continue to get across the message that no student has to pay up front to go to university, and that students start paying for university only if they are earning more than £21,000. That is a very fair way of financing our universities.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
What measures is the sizzling science and higher education Minister putting in place to ensure that applicants to universities have the very best information on the outcomes of their courses?
Mr Willetts
For the first time, we have required that key information sets contain the information that prospective students want about, for example, employment outcomes from particular courses at particular universities. People are entitled to that information—it was not available before, but now it is.
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)
I am afraid the Minister is trying to gloss over the facts of his record. The reality is that two years on from the Government’s decision to treble tuition fees to £9,000 a year, applications have dropped by 54,000, which is 11%; acceptances are down, as are the numbers of mature learners and part-time learners; his core and margin policy has caused nothing but chaos and confusion; his AAB policy has been a dramatic failure; and to top it all off, legitimate international students are choosing to go to our competitor countries to study as a result of Home Office policies. Is not the truth that the past two years under this Government have been a disaster for students and universities alike?
Mr Willetts
The fact is that the confusion is over the Opposition’s policies. We know they are planning to reduce fees to £6,000, but there is no indication of what they will do to compensate universities for the loss of those revenues. The only time the hon. Lady came to the House to explain her policies, it became clear she would abolish bursaries for students under access funds. Under this Government, we have more students going to university, well-funded universities and more students getting their first choice than ever before. We are proud of those reforms.
Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)
17. What support he is providing for new business start-ups.
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
19. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the use of satellite broadband for delivering internet access in rural areas.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We see satellite broadband as an essential means to deliver faster internet access for rural communities, businesses and individuals. Everywhere in Britain can therefore access broadband via satellite. This is an issue we regularly discuss with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Harriett Baldwin
How will the latest round of European Space Agency negotiations support the UK companies that want to deliver satellite broadband to my constituents in West Worcestershire?
Mr Willetts
We got an excellent outcome from the European Space Agency ministerial last month. Britain is now the leader of the ARTES 2 programme for the development of the next generation telecommunications platform. It is great to see British businesses taking a lead here, and this will increase broadband speeds and reduce costs for UK users in rural and remote areas, making satellite broadband even more accessible.
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
T3. Does the Minister agree that it is the wide range of educational provision in the higher education sector that really benefits young people, and if so, what is he doing to increase the diversity of that provision?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of diversity, and that is why we have liberalised the rules on the size of institutions that can take the name “university”, as a result of which 10 more higher education institutions fulfilled that criterion, seven of which have already received approval from the Privy Council to become universities.
Mr Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)
This has been a sad week for British retail. Comet has closed its doors after 79 years of trading. I am sure that the whole House will want to convey our deepest sympathies to the 6,900 employees who have subsequently lost their jobs at the worst possible time of year. Given that in less than a year the owners appear to have lost the £50 million dowry they received to buy the business and left the taxpayer with a £49.4 million bill, will the Secretary of State commit to publishing the findings of the inquiry he has set up into this affair?
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
Bolton university is making up to 90 people redundant because of the fall in student numbers, while 60,000 of the young people awarded places at university last year did not turn up. Will the Minister admit that the tripling of fees has created chaos and will harm the British economy?
Mr Willetts
We do not recognise that description of what is going on. We have very enterprising universities, including Bolton, that are thriving as more students get their first choice of university than ever before. And, of course, there is no cap on the number of overseas students legitimately entitled to enter the country to study.
Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
In my constituency, we have a thriving manufacturing sector, but one area of concern I have is the availability of skills, especially in engineering. Does the Minister agree that we need to redouble our efforts on science, technology, engineering and maths—the STEM subjects—at school to ensure that we have a good pool of skills in that sector?
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
The rising world population means that by 2050 we will need to double world production, albeit with half as much water, land and energy. Does the Minister agree that British agricultural science, not least at the Norwich research park, has a potentially huge role to play in helping the world to feed itself? May I welcome the agricultural science strategy and ask that it look to draw in as much investment from around the world into Britain’s science base as possible?
Mr Willetts
This is an area where British science has a lead. We have already invested more in the Norwich science park, which I visited with my hon. Friend, and we will continue to do so as part of our industrial strategy.
Oral Answers to Questions
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Karen Lumley (Redditch) (Con)
3. What assessment he has made of the effect of the business Olympics on exports and inward investment.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Over 4,000 business leaders and others attended 17 business summits at the British business embassy at Lancaster House. Every one was attended by a BIS Minister. I was very pleased to attend five, which were excellent events. We expect them to generate £1 billion of additional sales by UK companies, and £6 billion of direct investment over the next four years.
Karen Lumley
Wild Automotive, a great company in Redditch, has increased export sales by 73% over the past two years. What more help can this company and others in Worcestershire access to continue this great record of growth?
Mr Willetts
I congratulate that company on its performance. UK Trade & Investment is running export week in the next week, with more than 100 events throughout the UK, which is a great opportunity for businesses to get further advice about exporting. The automotive sector, of which the company in my hon. Friend’s constituency is an example, is now running its first balance of payments surplus since 1975.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
4. What estimate he has made of the proportion of loans for students starting courses in 2012 with fees of £9,000 a year which will not be fully repaid.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We estimate that around half of all borrowers will have some part of their loan written off, as repayments are contingent on their future income. Our reforms are more progressive than the previous system, because people start to repay only once they are earning over £21,000. The new system helps reduce the deficit and is affordable and sustainable for the Government, while offering protection to those who may not go on to high paid employment.
Mr Willetts
There is no such gap. That report was an eccentric interpretation of the evidence. Our figures have been checked by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, and the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has produced its own estimates and reached conclusions that are very similar to ours.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
Well, that eccentric report was produced by the highly respected Higher Education Policy Institute, and one of its arguments is based on the findings of the self-same Institute for Fiscal Studies, even though the Minister has just said that it underestimates the figure. The Government originally assumed 32% non-payment, but the IFS, as quoted in the report he dismisses as an eccentricity, cites 37%, and today he has said it will be up to 50%. That is where the £1 billion figure comes from. How will the Government explain that away?
Mr Willetts
Perhaps it would help my right hon. Friend if I explained that there are two different measures. The answer I gave the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin) was that we think about half of all borrowers will have some part of their loan written off. There is a separate calculation for the value of the loans that will be written off, which we estimate will be about 30%, so both figures are correct. Nothing can be completely certain in this life, and repayment essentially depends on future earnings, but what is certain is that starting to repay only when one is earning more than £21,000 is a jolly sight better than repaying when one is earning more than £15,000, which was the system left by the Labour party.
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)
It is clear that the maths supporting the Government’s higher education funding policy is staring to unravel. The Office for Budget Responsibility has shown that tuition fees count towards inflation and will add 0.2 percentage points to the consumer prices index in the fourth quarter of this year, so the impact of the Government’s policies not only will be felt by students, but will have wider implications. Because CPI is the measure by which public pensions and benefits are increased annually, the Government’s welfare bill and civil service pensions will be affected at next year’s annual uprating. Therefore, does the Minister accept that his policies are disastrous not only for students, but for Government finances in general, and what conversations is he having with other Departments about mitigating that?
Mr Willetts
Let us be absolutely clear about what our reforms will do. They will save money for the Exchequer, but at the same time they will ensure that universities have, if anything, an increase in the cash they receive for teaching, and graduates will repay only when they are earning more than £21,000 a year. That is a fair deal for all the partners in the higher education system.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
Is not it the case that costs would be lower if the cost of courses was lower, particularly for the Open university, which was not always supported by the previous Government as fully as it should have been, and for further education that is skills-based? I thank Ministers, in particular, for their recent intervention in Kent college to secure skills-based education in Kent.
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is, of course, a range of options for access to higher education, and the Open university is an important part of them.
Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)
5. What support his Department has provided to university and business research partnerships in the last 12 months.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We want to see the best possible links between universities and businesses. The Chancellor recently tripled public investment in our UK research partnership investment fund, which promotes investment in shared research and development facilities on our campuses. Winning bids must include sponsorship from businesses or charities, so the scheme will deliver more than £1 billion of new R and D investment in total.
Stephen Mosley
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s response and highlight for him the success we are achieving in Chester with the Riverside innovation centre and work between businesses and the university of Chester. May I ask him to visit the innovation centre in the near future?
Mr Willetts
I have happy memories of visiting the university of Chester when Opposition spokesman and so will certainly try to visit as a Minister. My hon. Friend describes just one example of the reason why the World Economic Forum recently placed the UK second out of 144 countries for the quality of university and business collaboration in R and D.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Does the Minister agree that there is so much in Lord Heseltine’s review, “No Stone Unturned”, that it shines a light not only on the eyes we see under the rock, but on the policies that affect the relationship between universities and the business and research communities and the entrepreneurship we need in all our regions to make this country economically vibrant?
Mr Willetts
Lord Heseltine’s report was excellent. The message that we need to see growth across the entire country is absolutely correct. It is also correct that universities across the country are crucial drivers of local economic growth, and that is one of the many reasons we are supporting them.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
In past years, Higher Education Funding Council for England letters have never done much for Wiltshire. Will the Minister be flexible in his approach to student number controls on universities seeking to co-locate with high-tech businesses, and so bring university education to our fine county?
Mr Willetts
That is an ingenious piece of local lobbying on which I congratulate my hon. Friend. I will certainly bear that in mind. We are continuing to reduce the number controls that we inherited from the previous Government; we have been able to achieve that successfully through our reforms. Now, one in three students is choosing a university without number controls, and we want that to go further.
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)
9. What steps his Department is taking to encourage participants in further and higher education to gain experience and training in business and industry.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We are supporting students to gain vital work experience by growing high-quality apprenticeships across the economy. We are also supporting the roll-out of student enterprise societies in every university to support the creation of student internship and graduate job opportunities with local enterprises.
Gordon Henderson
In my constituency, the human resources department of our local Morrisons regional distribution centre is working closely with Sittingbourne community college to ensure that school leavers have a better understanding of what employers expect from potential employees. Will the Government encourage human resources departments based in the head offices of large companies to liaise in a similar way with universities, to better equip students for the workplace?
Mr Willetts
That is an excellent and imaginative idea. I think some of that happens already, but we are actively promoting such initiatives in a series of round tables that the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), will be leading. Universities are now obliged to put on their websites key information about graduate employment outcomes from their courses, which will encourage initiatives such as that described by my hon. Friend.
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)
10. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on investment in green manufacturing jobs.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
Next week is global entrepreneurship week. May I welcome the work that the Government are doing to support entrepreneurship, particularly their support for the national student entrepreneurship union, for silicon valley coming to the UK next week and for the launch of the important Cambridge cluster portal, which highlights that in Cambridge there are now 1,400 technology companies employing 53,000 people and more than 10 billion-dollar companies? Does that not suggest that our policy for an innovation economy is working?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
That is an excellent example of the success of our innovation policies. Like other BIS Ministers, I will be welcoming visitors from silicon valley, who I am sure will be coming to England and Cambridge to see how it is done.
Mrs Linda Riordan (Halifax) (Lab/Co-op)
T5. Every pound invested in the construction industry generates nearly three in economic activity. What support is being given to construction companies, such as Marshalls in Halifax, to get them building, boost the construction industry and protect and create jobs now—before it is too late for these companies?
Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
I welcome the good news that the British Antarctic Survey is to continue as an independent organisation. May I underline the need to ensure that it remains on a firm and sustainable footing, and also add my thanks to the Minister for helping in that matter?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The decision by the Natural Environment Research Council to continue supporting the British Antarctic Survey has been widely welcomed. At the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to go to Rothera and the Antarctic and can personally confirm the excellence of the research that the British Antarctic Survey does.
Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)
Ministers tell us that they are well minded against capricious regulation, perverse taxation and over-interpretation of EU judgments. Will one of them therefore listen to the consortium of intermediate alcohol producers and exporters across the UK? They have profound concerns about the impact on their business of HMRC’s changes to notice 163, which go far beyond a one-off adjustment to a marginal tax rate.
Higher and Further Education
Lord Willetts Excerpts(11 years, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add:
“congratulates all those who have recently achieved their educational qualifications; notes the number of full-time higher education students in 2012 is expected to be higher than in any year under the previous administration; believes that the pupil premium, which is designed to raise the attainment of pupils from low-income households, represents a powerful mechanism for widening participation in higher education; welcomes the increased spending on widening participation in higher education, including the higher maintenance grants, the National Scholarship Programme and the extension of tuition loans to part-time students; further notes the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ recent finding that the new student finance system ‘is actually more progressive than its predecessor: the poorest 29 per cent of graduates will be better off under the new system’; supports the extra information provided to prospective students through the student finance tour and the Key Information Set; further supports the efforts being made to ensure the best possible match between students and institutions, with one-quarter of all undergraduate places removed from centralised number controls; and congratulates the Government for working with employers to deliver an unprecedented increase in apprenticeships, with 800,000 new starts since September 2010.”
I welcome this opportunity to debate our reforms to higher and further education. It is the right time to have this debate, as hundreds of thousands of students are starting at university. We congratulate them on their achievement and wish them well at university. We also welcome this opportunity to set out our policies. I will describe our approach to higher education and my excellent new colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), will set out our approach to training and further education.
Mr Willetts
In a moment.
Of course, it is also right to scrutinise the Opposition’s policies, as set out in the motion. I will turn to the previous Minister for universities, the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), in a moment. I hope he will accept that under the inevitable partisanship of these exchanges, we should remind ourselves that all three political parties, faced with the dilemma of how to finance higher education in the future, have concluded that the right way forward is to have no up-front payments by students, but instead to have a graduate repayment scheme, paid for through pay-as-you-earn and incorporating the best features of a graduate income tax. All three parties, when faced with the responsibilities of Government, have reached the same decision.
Mr Willetts
We have published our White Paper and have set out our proposals in several consultation documents. We are implementing those proposals step by step.
Shabana Mahmood
The Minister has tried to defend his £9k policy, but has avoided saying anything about the 80% cut to teaching grant funding, which has necessitated the trebling of tuition fees to £9,000 a year. What does he have to say about that?
Mr Willetts
That leads me on neatly to setting out what our reforms are accomplishing. The first thing they are accomplishing—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) will have to be patient, because I am going to set out the figures for her. Our reforms ensure that students will continue to get well-funded higher education, while at the same time—we make no apology for this—saving money for the Exchequer, because of the fiscal crisis that we inherited from the previous Government. The total amount of cash going to universities to pay for the teaching of students is £7.2 billion for 2011-12, £7.4 billion for 2012-13 and £7.9 billion for 2013-14. We are increasing the amount of cash available to finance the education of university students, while significantly reducing the Exchequer contribution.
Contrary to what the Opposition spokesman said, we are maintaining a partnership between Exchequer funding and private funding. The latest OECD figures, which were published yesterday in its excellent education handbook, estimate that approximately 40% of the costs of educating students will be met directly by the Exchequer. The other 60% does indeed come not from students, but from graduates when they can afford to pay it back. That is a sensible way of financing higher education in an age of austerity.
As well as providing more cash for universities while saving money for the Exchequer, our second achievement is increasing the choice and flexibility in the system by liberalising the controls over numbers that we inherited. We have started that this year with our liberalisation for AAB students. We estimate that approximately one in four students will benefit from the freedom of choosing a university without any of the old corporatist controls on the total number of places at individual universities that we inherited. We are proud to be going further next year by including ABB students, meaning that one in three students will enjoy those freedoms.
Mr Willetts
I want to make some progress, but I will of course give way to the Opposition spokesman for a second time.
Shabana Mahmood
I thank the Minister for giving way a second time. Will he remind the House why he had to introduce his core and margin model? Does he remember telling the House on many occasions that £9k fees would be the exception, not the norm?
Mr Willetts
I did not recognise what the hon. Lady said about fees of £7,500. I have explained to the House many times the basis of the calculations. We introduced the policy to bring more diversity into the system. There are local further education colleges across the country that, for the first time, will be able to offer higher education, financed out of our core and margin policy, which is to be welcomed.
We have therefore increased choice and flexibility. We have also transformed the amount of information that is available for prospective students, which we believe will drive up standards in universities as prospective students think about what contact hours they will have, what the class sizes will be, how universities score on the national students survey and, crucially, how universities score on employment outcomes for graduates.
Indeed, this morning, I joined Which? at a London comprehensive for the launch of its excellent new website, which offers far more information to prospective students than ever before. It was a great moment. It was also a pleasure to be joined by the president of the National Union of Students. The NUS is working with Which? to provide better consumer information for prospective students.
Mr Andrew Smith (Oxford East) (Lab)
If the information that the Minister is giving out is so good, why are withdrawals from the application process up by 16%? Does that not show that the more information people get about the costs that the Government have imposed, the more they are put off?
Mr Willetts
No. I think that we have succeeded in getting across to prospective students the important message that they do not have to pay up front to go to university. I hope that all Members from all parts of the House, regardless of their views on the fees, will agree that we should all communicate the message that no student pays up front and that they pay back only as graduates. I pay tribute to the enormous efforts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) in that regard.
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)
I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman will help me communicate a message to one of my constituents, who is here legally as an overseas student. He is unable to go into the third year at London Metropolitan university because, for some reason, he is no longer allowed to go there. He wishes to pay the fees and wants to complete his degree. Will the right hon. Gentleman help me convey to him why his education has been so abruptly and unfairly stopped?
Mr Willetts
Several points have been made about London Met, so let me explain the latest position to the House. I fully understand that there are genuine overseas students who are here legitimately and who need as much assurance as we can offer them about their ability to pursue their studies. That is why we set up a taskforce on the day that the UK Border Agency took its operational decision. The taskforce has met several times. It is led by the head of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and other bodies are involved. Next Monday, as a result of the efforts of the task force, there will be a mini clearing procedure. We are collecting offers from universities around London and elsewhere of places on particular courses, which will be available to overseas students at London Met. I will be happy to keep the House updated, in whatever way is suitable, as the taskforce makes progress in ensuring a fair deal for overseas students.
Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
Why did the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills not stand up to the Home Office and the UK Border Agency, and not stand up for British universities and their reputation around the world, by not allowing this crazy decision to go ahead, which is doing untold damage to this world-class industry?
Mr Willetts
It was an operational decision by the UK Border Agency, for whom the matter is very clear. Highly trusted status, which is enjoyed by individual universities, is highly prized and brings heavy responsibilities. UKBA’s assessment, independently made, was that London Met was not meeting the responsibilities that it needed to in order to have highly trusted status. In those circumstances, it was unable to advise Ministers that the situation should be allowed to continue. That is the background to the decision, but we are focusing on ensuring the best possible support for legitimate overseas students as constructively as we can.
Simon Hughes
Does the Minister agree that we need to persuade everybody to get the message across not only that there are no fees to be paid up front or while at university, but that there are still places available not just for first-time, 18-year-old students but for more mature students? We should also encourage people to consider university not as the only option in the weeks ahead but as one option.
Mr Willetts
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that leads me to my next point.
Another feature of our reforms is that we have done everything to encourage students from the widest possible range of backgrounds to continue to apply for university. I remind the House of the figures, which the Opposition spokesman carefully ignored in her lengthy speech. The percentage of applications to university by young people has indeed fallen—I accept that—to 31.6% from 32.6% last year. Last year’s rate was the highest on record, and this year’s is the second-highest on record. It is a higher rate of university applications than in any year when the Labour party was in government. I believe that that is because we have successfully communicated to young people that they will not have to pay up front to go to university. Of course, we are also increasing maintenance support for students at university this year. The maintenance grant and support for bursaries are going up. That is why we still have record rates of application to university, and we should celebrate and remember that fact.
Steve Brine
Given that the Minister inherited a commitment to cutting £600 million from the budget, what would the outcome have been if he had not taken the decision to base university financing on a system of student fees and loans? Presumably it would have been a dramatic drop in numbers and my having to say to thousands of my constituents, “Sorry, university’s not for you.”
Mr Willetts
We inherited from the previous Government a simple line in the 2009 autumn statement announcing £600 million of cuts in higher education, science and research. Absolutely no work had been done about where the cuts should be and how they should be delivered, but they would have meant either falling student numbers or less support for science and research. We have been able to offer cash protection in a ring-fenced science budget, and as I showed the House earlier this evening, there has been an increase in the total funding available for teaching in our universities. To achieve that when we are facing the severe financial problems that we inherited from the previous Government is evidence of our commitment to opportunities for young people and to universities and research.
That is exactly what the outside experts say. For example, I remind the Opposition spokesman of the assessment by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It stated in June:
“The HE funding regime to be introduced in England in September 2012 will be substantially more progressive than the current system. Roughly the poorest 30% of graduates, in terms of lifetime earnings, will be better off…than under the current system…Universities will also be better off, on average, and the taxpayer will save around £2,500 per graduate.”
Only yesterday I met the head of the education division of the OECD, who was here to launch “Education at a Glance”, its annual publication. He described our system of repaying loans as
“the most advanced system in the OECD”,
and added that
“probably no system does it better.”
That was what the impartial head of the OECD’s education division said yesterday.
Mr Willetts
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree that he should endorse the assessments of the IFS and OECD.
Tristram Hunt
While the Minister was having that conversation, did the OECD back the Government’s strategy of an 80% cut in the teaching budget at a time when every other major nation is investing in education and higher education and thinking about those industries as part of the future rather than cutting them? We are in the same bracket as Romania.
Mr Willetts
The OECD actually believes that our proposals are a way of continuing to ensure that a good number of people go to university even when we are having to save Exchequer funding. It believes that other countries can learn from our model.
I have set out our policies, and I should like to turn to the Labour party’s policies, about which the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood said surprisingly little in her lengthy speech. We know from the motion that Labour’s policy is £6,000 fees. There is a long and unhappy history to Labour’s higher education policy. I will not take her through the whole of it, although I am tempted. I will jump straight to where we are at present, as stated in the motion and in the longest single statement of Labour’s policy that we have found, the speech by the shadow Secretary of State on 2 December. His explanation of that policy took up a tiny fragment of the speech, a few lines. It was the type of fragment of text that academics in our universities love to pore over. He said:
“I’ll explain how this works: reducing the maximum level of fees to £6,000 while compensating universities for the difference costs £1.1 billion.”
That was his starting point. Well, the Department’s official costings show that his policy of bringing fees down to £6,000 would cost £2 billion. That £2 billion is currently going to our universities to pay for the education of students and for outreach, bursaries and access programmes that we thought Labour supported. He would take away that £2 billion of funding for higher education. He claims that he would miraculously be able to finance that, although admittedly he would only have £1.1 billion so he is £900 million short already.
Let us go through how the shadow Secretary of State claims he would plug that gap. He stated:
“£350 million will come from automatic savings from reducing the cap to £6,000 because it will mean some associated expenditure, such as on as fee waivers, will no longer be required”.
The trick is in the words “such as”, because it is not just fee waivers. Let us be clear about what that “associated expenditure” is. It is programmes to assist with student retention; outreach programmes whereby universities go to local schools and encourage students to apply to university; and bursary programmes financed out of the higher fees to offer our students increased financial support. I have a simple question for the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood. I have already permitted her to intervene twice, and I will do so again. Can she offer a guarantee that no student at university would be worse off as a result of the changes that she would make to save that £350 million?
Shabana Mahmood
I am very happy to intervene on the Minister, and I can absolutely guarantee that. What he is missing in his desperate attempt to attack the much more progressive £6,000 fee proposal is that it would automatically obviate the need for quite so many fee waivers and bursaries created by his more expensive system of tuition fees.
Mr Willetts
That is a very confusing intervention. First, the hon. Lady said that she could guarantee that nobody would be worse off, then she said that Labour’s policy would obviate the need for bursaries. Let us be absolutely clear that no student will pay fees up front. They will be paid by graduates. Bursaries matter because they are cash for students now. Is she pledging that the extra money from fees above £6,000, some of which finances bursary programmes and extra support for students, would continue after fees were reduced to £6,000? Yes or no? Would all bursaries be preserved?
Shabana Mahmood
The position of bursaries would be unaffected under the £6,000 proposal. We are saying that the additional cost incurred by moving to £9,000 tuition fees would be brought down. We would not need quite so much money, because people would not have the same level of debt.
Mr Willetts
We are talking about future graduate debt, and the House is noticing that the hon. Lady is wriggling on the issue. We are saying that the extra funding helps to pay out cash for students at university through higher bursaries that are paid for out of revenues from higher fees. Students will have observed the failure of the Labour party to commit to maintaining that money.
Let us look at the next item that will supposedly meet those losses. We have established that the cost is not £1.1 billion but £2 billion, and that £330 million of that already comes from a set of measures that students will dislike. The shadow Secretary of State went on:
“£300 million comes from cancelling the Government’s planned cut to the corporation tax on the banks”.
That is the next extraordinary device that he thinks will help him save that money. Let us be clear: this Government have introduced a bank levy to raise at least £2.5 billion a year. That was set out by the Chancellor in the 2012 Budget, to take account of the benefit to the banking system from additional reductions in corporation tax on banks. In other words, we are already raising this money; we are already collecting extra money from the banks through the banking levy which is to offset the effect of lower corporation tax. There is no reduction in the taxation on banks that the Labour party could use to pay for this policy; the banking levy is extracting that funding.
If any Member of this House were remorseless in ensuring that every pound of revenue was extracted from our banks to contribute to education and other purposes, it would be my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. We are already extracting a large amount of money from the banks, and it is evidence of the bankruptcy of the Labour party’s thinking that when faced with any problem or public expenditure challenge it keeps claiming that it can meet the cost by taxing the banks. The evidence shows that the funding is simply not available to pay for it.
Reversing the VAT increase—£13.5 billion—is supposed to be met by taxing the banks. The Opposition have called for more capital spending—£5.9 billion—which will supposedly be met by taxing the banks. Reversing the child benefit savings of £2.5 billion will apparently be met by taxing the banks. Reversing tax credit savings—£5.5 billion—will be met by taxing the banks. They want more regional growth funding, and now we learn their plans for universities as well. There is simply no way in which taxing the banks will solve the gaping black hole in the Opposition’s financial proposals, and we will not let them get away with it.
Mr Willetts
Let me continue to make progress.
The final item, and the biggest on the shadow Secretary of State’s list, is in some ways the most curious. Some £500 million is to come from the top 10% of graduates. I quote the shadow Secretary of State, who wishes to ask
“graduates earning over £65,000 in each year of their working life—to pay more through a combination of a higher interest rate…and to continue to pay for an additional two years.”
That is £65,000 in each year of their working life. The shadow Secretary of State is possibly the only person in the Chamber who could have imagined earning £60,000 a year in each year of his working life. The idea that a levy on people earning £60,000 in each year of their working life could raise £500 million is absolutely incomprehensible. Does the Labour party perhaps mean that when someone’s earnings eventually reach £65,000, they will be charged a higher rate or be charged retrospectively? Again, however, there is no way in which such a measure could raise anything like £500 million, not least because in a free and voluntary system in which we have—quite correctly—protected the right of people to make early repayments of their loan, people whose earnings are heading that way will simply repay their loans. The idea that they will find themselves trapped in penal repayment terms when they are earning over £65,000 a year is complete fantasy. There is no £500 million.
I am, incidentally, offering the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood a free briefing on her policy, and I hope she appreciates how helpful it is. I am trying to explain it to her. In addition, if she were to move to anything like the commercial terms envisaged by the Opposition, consumer credit legislation would come into force and she would find a whole host of new regulatory requirements placed on her scheme that it would not be able to meet because of the design of the scheme that we inherited from the previous Government. It would simply become unworkable. There is no £500 million to finance the Opposition’s proposal, and they have no way of financing fees of £6,000.
Mr Thomas
Perhaps I can bring the Minister back to the Government’s own policy—or lack of it. Perhaps he will explain why it is fair for a student and their family to be able to probe the offer from a mainstream university using freedom of information legislation, but not that of a commercial, for-profit university.
Mr Willetts
It has come to a pretty pass when a loyal Opposition Back Bencher has to help those on the Front Bench by diverting attention from his party’s own policies, but that is what it has come to. The fact is that there is a black hole in the Opposition’s accounts, and we need to know whether they will cut £2 billion from resources that are now going to our universities. How are they are going to provide an extra £2 billion that is financed properly and honestly, and not by the slick accounting tricks used in the only attempt that they have so far made to explain their policy?
George Freeman
The Minister is famously well read, and I wonder whether he saw the comments made by Lord Mandelson in his paperback autobiography. He said that when he launched the Browne review in November 2009, he
“assumed, as the Treasury did, that the outcome would have to include a significant increase in tuition fees. I felt that they would certainly have to double.”
Is not the truth that dare not speak its name on the Opposition Front Bench that the Labour party would have doubled fees had it stayed in power?
Mr Willetts
I do recall that vivid and frank admission from the former Secretary of State.
The final irony of the Labour party’s proposals is that it is not at all clear what purpose they achieve. Let us be clear: there is nothing in those proposals for students who are currently at university; there are only risks. There are risks of having less money to pay for the student’s higher education, and, as we have seen, of less money for their bursaries. There seems to be no proposal to change the repayment terms of the scheme—9% on earnings above £21,000—and there is no reduction in the monthly repayments that graduates pay. There is, therefore, nothing in those proposals for people in their 20s or 30s; it will simply mean that they end their repayment period a bit earlier than they would otherwise have done. There is absolutely nothing for recent graduates.
Therefore, there is nothing for students, nothing for recent graduates because monthly repayments are not reduced, and there is no help for the poorest graduates, the one third who are better off under our scheme because we fully accept that they will not be able to repay the full amount under the current scheme. The Opposition managed to spend £2 billion that they do not have, with no help for students, no help for recent graduates, and no help for the poorest graduates. That is an extraordinary achievement.
I do not know which bit of the policy-making process produced this proposal, but the Opposition really need to do better. Just possibly, the Leader of the Opposition recognises that problem. In September last year he was asked on the “Andrew Marr show” about his policy, and about the status of the commitment to £6,000 and whether it was a policy that the Labour party would take into the next election. He said:
“The status is that it’s something that we would do now, that it’s something we’re committed to. But the manifesto’s three and a half years away. We'll announce the manifesto”.
It does not even look as if the Leader of the Opposition believes that that policy will ever make it into the Labour manifesto, and after what we have understood about it in today’s debate, I am not at all surprised.
Mr Clappison
I will later, if I have time. I think I have used up my extra minutes already, although I know that the right hon. Gentleman is very interested in this subject.
Although I disagree with OFFA in principle, I pay tribute to its outgoing head, Sir Martin Harris, who is a man of great academic distinction. That brings me to the question of his successor. As my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) touched on, the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee expressed concerns that led it to withhold approval for his appointment. I share these concerns and, as a parliamentarian, take little pleasure in seeing a Select Committee’s view being completely ignored, but I wish Professor Ebdon well, will take a close interest in his work and will endeavour to help in any way I can. His recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, however, has attracted much comment. [Interruption.] I can see the Minister in a leaping position, as though he wants to leap into the debate. I will certainly give way, if he wishes intervene.
Mr Willetts
I look forward to continuing these exchanges in a variety of ways, but let me assure my hon. Friend that the most recent advice that I and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State have sent to OFFA makes it clear to Les Ebdon, for whom I have the greatest respect, that he is to work within the framework of agreed Government policy, as set out in the higher education White Paper. We explicitly set out in our letter that he has a duty to protect the ultimate right of higher education institutions to select their own students. That right of universities to choose their own students was put into law by the previous Government—possibly by the very Committee that he sat on—and is one that we will continue to respect and protect.
Mr Clappison
That is like the small print of a contract. I have seen the advice to OFFA and what is said on its website. I do not know whether my right hon. Friend, through that intervention, sought to withdraw the injunction given to OFFA last year—the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) is looking very interested—that universities should focus more sharply on their outcomes, rather than simply on their inputs and activities in trying to generate applications. The universities were given the clear message that there had to be a sharper focus on targets. If my right hon. Friend the Minister is withdrawing that, I would be pleased to hear it. Otherwise, what he has said remains the case, as it always has been, including under the previous Labour Government—it has been put in the small print as a longstop.
Mr Clappison
That sharper focus was the clear message in the guidance. If my right hon. Friend is prepared to withdraw that, I will happily give way to him.
Mr Willetts
Let me try to set out the position—this goes back to my comments about the Opposition’s policies. We are talking about universities having perhaps £700 million of access spend, because of the extra revenues they have from higher fees. It is absolutely right to say to OFFA that we want it to scrutinise the effectiveness of all that spending. Some of it goes on summer schools and some of it goes on outreach visits to secondary schools, and there are also foundation-year programmes. Indeed, there is a whole range of things. When we are talking about expenditure on such a scale, it is rather important to ask OFFA to work out what works and what does not. That is a legitimate question when substantial sums of money are involved.
Mr Clappison
I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend could therefore clarify—perhaps I will leave it to the wind-up, because I am intervening in my own speech now—what else “outcomes” can mean other than admissions. That is the only way one can look at it in this context. My right hon. Friend’s advice was to go beyond applications and look at outcomes, and outcomes in this context can mean only admissions. If there is another meaning, I look forward to his clarifying that, but as I see it, the position is that OFFA’s original activities were given a “sharper focus”, as the advice to OFFA from the present Government puts it. I shall be taking a great interest in this matter.
I am also particularly interested in what Professor Ebdon has said—perhaps the Minister would care to deal with this in the wind-up as well—about what he describes as the “most selective universities” in terms of admissions. He said:
“It would be wrong to underestimate the challenges they face.”
I think we should praise and celebrate our most selective universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, not seek to undermine them. My frame of reference is the fact that they are a great national asset. They are not doing anything wrong. If Ministers and Professor Les Ebdon want something to look at, they should perhaps look at those universities that have an extremely high drop-out rate—not Oxford and Cambridge, or the other selective universities—which is such a waste of public money and resources.
I hope that the Minister will be able to convince me in his winding-up speech and answer the concerns that have been raised. At the moment, I feel very much as though I am not helping to build the big society—which is what I want to do—but recreating the Soviet Union, because that is what this apparatus reminds me of.
Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) is spot-on about the effect of such high tuition fees on those wanting to apply for postgraduate courses. Like him, I want to focus on one particular issue, which is clearly linked to the Government’s plans for higher education and their policy of £9,000 tuition fees, but which has not been given such a high profile in the debate so far.
As others have mentioned, Ministers wanted students to consider degrees costing less than £9,000, to reduce the Treasury’s exposure to student debt. What has not been highlighted in the debate is Ministers’ plan significantly to increase the role of commercial, for-profit universities owned by private shareholders to help to achieve that objective. They have significantly increased the number of courses run by such institutions for which students can secure a student loan.
I should say that there are already a large number of students studying and doing well at private universities in the UK. However, it is far from clear that Ministers have grasped the scale of risk involved in allowing an even bigger expansion of access to student loans for commercial universities without proper safeguards. In the US, the for-profit higher education world has been rocked by a series of scandals involving very high drop-out rates, very low degree completion rates and aggressive recruitment practices. Indeed, according to a recent American Senate investigation, in the three previous years almost 2 million students had withdrawn from for-profit institutions without completing a degree but with significant personal debt. One such institution had a drop-out rate of 84%.
I accept that Ministers have said that some safeguards are needed as the commercial, for-profit part of the universities sector grows. It would be helpful if the Under-Secretary of State for Skills, the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), whom I congratulate on his appointment, set out in his response a little more detail about the Department’s plans.
For-profit commercial universities are still much less well regulated than mainstream universities. Surely Government Members would want the marketplace, as they describe it, for university education at least to be on a fair basis. Surely all for-profit companies offering a university education that want to recruit students who can access publicly backed loans should be subject to the same information and publication requirements as public universities. Those requirements should include student data and financial information and, as I made clear in my intervention on the Minister—uncharacteristically, he resorted to blather and ducked the question—be subject to freedom of information legislation.
When he replies to the debate, I encourage the Minister not to follow the example of his right hon. Friend the Minister for Universities and Science but to answer the question: when will Ministers bring forward plans to require commercial, for-profit universities to be subject to freedom of information legislation? When will they be required to provide the same level of data and information as mainstream universities so that they can be held to account in the same way?
Mr Willetts
Briefly, we are using the designation power—the power to designate courses and institutions—much more actively than the previous Government. That will ensure both the financial strength and the quality of provision in courses at alternative providers. There are still differences in the regulatory regime and it cuts both ways—FOI legislation cuts one way, equalities cuts the other, but that is the power we are using.
Mr Thomas
I say gently to the Minister that it is interesting that he and his colleagues in the Treasury are examining whether commercial, for-profit universities should be exempt from VAT in order to create a level playing field, but other sensible regulations, such as the requirement to be answerable to FOI legislation, as mainstream universities are, do not apply. Our collective experience of banking regulation and its failings, about which hon. Members across the House have uncomfortable memories, ought to encourage Ministers to be wary of market failure. As I have said, surely commercial universities that want exemptions should be properly held to account.
In her excellent opening speech, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) set out clearly how this policy of higher tuition fees exemplifies the Government’s failures in a series of other areas. Our motion outlines a clear, sensible alternative, and on that basis, I commend it to the House.
Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)
I begin by commending all speakers for the Opposition. My right hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) was forensic on debt, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) was impassioned about participation. My hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Bailey) was sharp on upskilling as was my hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Pat Glass) when she spoke about the chaos in the FE sector. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt) spoke about teaching, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) about social mobility, and my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Mr Thomas) about the problems of private providers.
We move from one fee fiasco in higher education to another in further education. In her opening remarks, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) spelt out the uncertain future that faces the nearly 400,000 adult learners affected by the proposals. That situation came about as a direct result of the blood offering made by Ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to the Chancellor’s cuts in late 2010. As if appalled by the implications of what they had done, they then sat on the issue and dithered for over a year before commissioning any surveys or discussing its practical consequences with stakeholders. Those consequences are now putting huge pressures on the FE sector.
FE colleges, which are key drivers of social mobility and hubs within our communities, are being hit left, right and centre by Government policy. First they were saddled with the 25% cut in resource grants, then the abolition of the education maintenance allowance put a strain on their budgets and, for the first time in many years, they have seen a fall in the number of enrolments of 16-to-18 years olds. They are now confronted with an FE loans policy that operates on a base assumption that student numbers will drop by 20%. In fact, the Department expects as many as 45% of learners—up to 150,000 people based on current numbers—to drop out, and that will hit learners old and young alike as the viability of college courses is affected.
The system is inevitably more complex than HE loans because of the varying start dates, course durations and the costs of FE courses, and no central administration similar to that of UCAS has been entrusted to the Student Loans Company. I say no more. Many hon. Members bare the casework scars from that organisation, and there are no pilots in place to trial the new system.
Mr Marsden
You have not. With their ability to offer a second chance, FE colleges are at the vanguard of promoting social mobility and loans could be a huge barrier to that. Four thousand pounds is a huge amount of money during the recession and could be a major deterrent for learners, restricting the social mobility that I thought the Business Secretary was keen to promote. He should not just take my word for that, but should listen to his party’s immensely respected former spokeswoman on education in the Lords, Baroness Sharp. In May this year she said:
“I cannot understand why we, as a government, why on earth we are pushing forward with loans for level 3…I really think that if we are concerned about social mobility, it’s very important that we try to overturn it.”
She speaks for women, with whom level 3 FE courses are popular. The Departments statistics show that women make up roughly two thirds of the cohort who will be hit by FE loans. For many women—those doing low-paid jobs or juggling family and caring commitments—a £4,000 a year loan is not a realistic proposition.
My discussions with women learners around the country reminded me of the outlook of many of my women students when I was an Open university tutor. They wanted to broaden their horizons and welcomed what their completed qualifications could offer them. However, none felt they would be able to do those things under a loans system. The Government, and not least the Minister, have told us that we should forgo Government activity in favour of nudge theory. The jury may be out on the latest intellectual fad, but Ministers need to be reminded that people can be nudged away from things as well as towards them.
HE access courses are a popular route for female learners, so I am glad that, after a long campaign, the former Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning announced a series of concessions before the summer recess. That was a welcome first step, but his successor needs to ensure that those commitments are implemented rapidly and effectively. Even so, Million+ warns us in the briefing for today’s debate that the net result of the overall changes will, in the long term, be fewer mature learners, and that progression by those who want to study later in life will be undermined.
However, the Government have not budged an inch on scrapping direct financial support for level 3 and above apprenticeships and forcing apprentices to take on individual loans. In responding to the FE consultation, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills specifically counselled the Government that not just large employers are concerned and lukewarm about the proposals, but adult apprentices themselves. UKCES gave the Government at best an amber light, and at worst a red light, and yet they press ahead. If huge numbers of adults drop out, the Government’s much-vaunted drive to increase apprenticeships, which is heavily dependent on increases in post-25 apprenticeships, will be in tatters. The numbers will simply fall off a cliff. That might blow a hole in the Government’s hubris, but more importantly, it will deny the life chances of tens of thousands of adult learners.
At the other end of the age spectrum, grants are offered for small and medium-sized enterprises to take on 16 to 24-year-olds, but they are moving at a snail’s pace. That is why the Opposition proposed earlier this year to expand the number of apprenticeships, by buddying up with large employers and expanding group training associations. In the meantime, local authorities, including many Labour local authorities, must pick up the slack as the Government stall and flail around. Councils such as Liverpool, Wakefield, Barking and Dagenham, Knowsley, Dudley, Oldham, and my council, Blackpool, work with local colleges and providers to place young people in quality apprenticeships.
Many young people are still unable to access some of the most competitive apprenticeships without the necessary pre-apprenticeship training. The Government’s fiascos—they first allowed and then curtailed short-term apprenticeships—have wasted precious months and years, as the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said in its September newsletter. Young learners in further education face a double-whammy. Those not in education, employment or training and those just above have not had the training and support to allow them to access apprenticeships, while those in the middle must compete with young people who have stronger academic grades.
On top of that, Department for Education Ministers have failed to fulfil their part of the FE bargain by dropping work experience from the schools curriculum, dropping independent advice and guidance, and by failing to help young people to climb the FE or apprenticeship ladders. They do not say that that is what they are doing; they simply abdicate their responsibility for providing frameworks to make those things happen.
The classic example is the Government’s response to Jason Holt’s excellent review on how small and medium-sized enterprises could be given more support and encouragement to take on young people. The Department’s response to his plea to them on careers advice and guidance was this:
“Whilst we welcome the specific suggestions made by Mr Holt …we believe it should be up to schools, together with local partners including employers, to determine how best to address this challenge”.
I am therefore not surprised that, in this week’s issue of Further Education Week, Mr Holt states:
“I am disappointed the Government has not taken more notice of my proposal…I had hoped they would require schools actively to promote apprenticeships and to put a stronger emphasis on equipping pupils with…skills…there is still no obvious structure in the school system to encourage young people to think of apprenticeships…The Government’s decision to hand the baton to already hard-pressed and financially constrained schools will result in little actually happening.”
When I chided him on this last week in Question Time, the Secretary of State said that he did not regard the hands-off approach at the Department for Education as the last word on active Government. The new Under-Secretary of State for Skills, the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), has a golden opportunity. He is a Minister in the Department for Education as well as BIS. Will he take up the cause and address Jason Holt’s concerns? His predecessor would have done so.
At the same time, little or nothing has been done to respond to the pleas from business to get involved in such programmes—again, waffle but no action. This is a dithering Government. For all their talk of being joined-up, the chasms and conflicts between the Department for Education and BIS are widening. They have wasted the best part of two years, failing to use billions of pounds of public procurement to guarantee apprenticeships from companies bidding for large contracts.
While the Opposition have been working closely on policies to give young people a linked partnership of opportunities—from school days and college through to further education, including for older learners—the gap between the two Departments has become a chasm. While they want to erect barriers, we want to build bridges. As my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition said this week, we need a skills system that does not leave us a country where the 50% who do not go to university feel completely left out. We plan to build that new agenda with schools, young people, businesses and trade unions working to fashion new vocational training systems. My right hon. Friend has said it all: while the Government dither, we are stepping forward. I commend the motion.