Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(11 years, 9 months ago)
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Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)
5. What support his Department is providing to start-up businesses expanding in developing areas of industry.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We aim to make the UK the best place in the world to start and run a business. That is why we are reintroducing the Smart awards for innovative new businesses, creating 24 new enterprise zones and committing a further £200 million to enterprise capital funds.
Graham Jones
CN Creative in Accrington in my constituency is a growing company that designs and manufactures the best electronic cigarettes in the world. It is planning to move its entire production from China back to the UK, to my constituency, but the banks will not lend it the money it needs, which is preventing the move and jobs coming to Britain. Does the Minister realise how damaging it is to start-up companies when they cannot access credit?
Mr Willetts
We agree; it is very important that banks are encouraged to lend to successful businesses. That is what the coalition is doing. Incidentally, the old pessimism that manufacturing will always go east is clearly now being reversed. We are optimistic about the prospects of manufacturing in this country.
Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)
Following today’s fantastic announcement of a further £267 million investment programme in the Honda plant in my constituency, what measures will the Minister take to help start-up businesses to take advantage of the potential opportunities in the supply chains of Honda and the UK automotive industry?
Mr Willetts
Immediately after these questions my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is going to Swindon to join Honda in this very welcome announcement. The Department absolutely understands the importance of the supply chains behind these large companies. Of course, the commitment to the supply chain is one of the many reasons why Britain is moving up the competitiveness league table.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
7. What recent assessment he has made of the employment outcomes of graduates.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
University remains a great route to a rewarding career: 90% of full-time, first degree leavers are in work or further study six months after graduating, and graduates earn on average £100,000 more over their working lives. We recognise the need to do all we can to help universities and businesses to prepare students for the labour market.
Steve Brine
The Minister might be interested to know that in 2010-11 the university of Winchester recorded that 96% of its full-time teacher training graduates had gone into teaching jobs, but is he satisfied that higher education institutions are doing enough to focus prospective students on the employment prospects they can expect if they choose to study and spend significant sums of money at their institutions?
Mr Willetts
I congratulate the university of Winchester on that excellent achievement. That is why this month we are introducing, for the first time, a requirement that universities release the information on the percentage of their leavers who are in work after six months, course by course, so that prospective students can assess their performance on that crucial measure.
Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)
The Minister is well aware that going to university improves employability, but he will also be well aware that tuition fees are acting as a disincentive for many students. Specifically, I have been approached over the summer by Muslim students who are concerned about sharia-compliant financing for their tuition fees? I know that the Department is looking at this, so will he update us on progress towards achieving a model for those students?
Mr Willetts
The encouraging evidence from the UCAS application data is that people from poorer backgrounds are not being put off going to university. There is no evidence that changes in patterns of university applications are affecting poorer students in particular. I have been considering the issue of sharia-compliant student loans, and we continue to do so.
Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)
8. What steps he is taking to increase levels of employee ownership.
Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)
14. What recent discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on the UK Border Agency’s decision to revoke the licence held by London Metropolitan university to teach international students.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I am in regular contact with colleagues in the Home Office. The decision to revoke the licence was a matter for the UK Border Agency.
Our priority now is to ensure that the university’s legitimate overseas students are given the help and advice they need to continue their studies. To deliver this, I set up a taskforce within hours of UKBA’s decision, which has already started work.
Heidi Alexander
I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. He mentions the taskforce, but the direct experience of one of my constituents is that it is anything but useful. She went as far as saying that it told her nothing that could not be found on the UKBA website. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that the help and advice given by the taskforce really enable legitimate students to access alternative courses?
Mr Willetts
The crucial task in which the taskforce is now engaged is preparing a kind of mini-clearing system in which there will be firm information about places available at specific universities and on specific courses that would have been available for suitably qualified overseas students at London Met. I can tell the hon. Lady and the House that that matching process will open and start on 17 September. We also know that the UKBA will not send out any letters about their 60-day limit to apply to the overseas students affected until 1 October.
Mr David Blunkett (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)
I have a registered interest.
I put it to Ministers that although enforcement is critical, the message that needs to go out from the Government is that Britain is open for business in higher education, and that we care greatly about it for students, universities and our economy. What message is being sent by this Department to ensure that the world knows that we welcome higher education students and are proud of our record?
Mr Willetts
I very much agree with the right hon. Gentleman, as do the Government. Of course Britain is open for business. That includes being open to attract students from around the world who have a legitimate entitlement to study here. There is no cap on the number of overseas students who can come to study in Britain. Through our Foreign Office posts around the world, we have re-emphasised that message in the light of the experience of London Met.
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)
The attitude of the Minister and his Government to the international reputation of the UK’s higher education sector and its importance to our economic growth is shockingly complacent. May I press the Minister on the legitimate international students at London Met who are partway through their studies? Will he guarantee that no such student will be financially worse off as a result of the licence revocation? If that is not possible, will he reconsider with his colleagues in the Home Office alternative routes by which legitimate international students may complete their studies at London Met?
Mr Willetts
I understand that one feature of the offers of places in the matching process that will be launched in 10 days’ time is that many of the universities will offer courses at the same or lower fees than the students would have experienced at London Met.
John Pugh (Southport) (LD)
15. What support his Department is providing to the port of Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.
Harriett Baldwin
The whole new ministerial team will already be aware that Malvern is the capital of cyber-valley owing to the cluster of private cyber-security firms that are located there, close to GCHQ. Will the Minister update me and the rest of the House on the steps that the Department is taking to encourage growth in that important sector, and will he visit Malvern?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the strength of the cyber-cluster in Malvern. Yesterday evening we held a major conference at the Foreign Office, at which I and colleagues briefed representatives of FTSE 100 companies on the threat to cyber-security, the practical steps that they could take to ensure it and the strength of the British cyber-security industry.
Mr Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)
May I first welcome the Secretary of State’s new team of minders to their positions on the Front Bench? I note that he is so irrepressible that he needs not one but three minders to keep him in check. His new minder of state, the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon), told the Financial Times yesterday that he would
“make sure business feels it has a senior champion in the department.”
Does the Secretary of State not feel that he himself has been a sufficient champion of business across Government of late?
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)
T2. How much does the UK earn from overseas students, and what assessment has the Minister for Universities and Science made of the potential for further export growth from that sector?
Mr Willetts
We estimate that overseas students in higher education bring £8 billion to the British economy, which shows what a major export industry it is. We can be very proud of the success of our higher education sector, and that is why Britain has no limit on the number of suitably qualified overseas students who can come here to study.
Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
T3. This morning the OECD predicted that the British economy will shrink by 0.7% this year. When will the Secretary of State get on and set up a proper British investment bank, and follow the example of institutions in Germany and Brazil that between them invested nearly £100 billion last year?
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)
Business investment in research and development is absolutely essential for growth, and yet UK business invests less in R and D than our international competitors. What can the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills do with the Treasury to encourage more investment in R and D in our businesses?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the importance of R and D. We are improving the tax reliefs available to businesses, and especially to small businesses, when they invest in R and D to encourage them to do so.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
The Secretary of State mentioned the importance of growth in his Department’s mission, and yet, as we have heard, the OECD has this morning revised its growth forecast for the UK economy from plus 0.5% to minus 0.7%. Does he not see the need to change course?
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
I am pleased that the Minister of State has had the opportunity to spell out the importance of international students to the UK economy, and his Department has estimated that the contribution could double. I am sure that he will share my frustration at the way those prospects are being undermined by the Home Office. What is he going to do about it?
Mr Willetts
We completely understand the importance of the Home Office maintaining the integrity of our immigration controls, but BIS—and the whole Government—believe that legitimate students who have a visa entitlement to come and study in Britain should be welcome. There is no cap on those numbers and we are making every effort through UKTI and British embassies abroad to continue to communicate the message that Britain is a great place to come and study at our colleges and universities.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
There has been a series of positive announcements from the aerospace industry in the last few months, especially from companies such as Rolls-Royce, which employs more than 1,000 people in my constituency. Will my right hon. Friend say more about what he is doing to support the aerospace sector?
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
Further to the Minister of State’s comments about overseas students, can he explain why there has been such a substantial decrease in applications, given the consequent substantial impact that will have on the British economy?
Mr Willetts
The evidence from UCAS—admittedly it is imperfect—does not show a fall in overseas applications. Indeed, more students are either coming to Britain to study or remaining overseas and studying for British degrees. That adds up to more than 1 million people who want to come and study for British university qualifications. That is a fantastic effort, and we can increase that number.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(12 years ago)
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Mr David Hamilton (Midlothian) (Lab)
2. What recent assessment he has made of the effect on business confidence of the economy entering recession.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Business confidence has held up so far this year, and is well above its 2008-09 lows. The CBI business confidence index came in at plus 22 in April, one of its highest readings in the past five years.
Mr Hamilton
Does the Minister accept that consumer confidence is extremely important? If Beecroft’s fire-at-will measure is implemented, as proposed by some Members on the Government Benches, that confidence will sharply decline. I say that as someone who was unemployed for two and a half years; people cannot plan ahead or do anything, and it brings added jeopardy to families. This is therefore extremely important: if we want confidence, we must get rid of the Beecroft report.
Mr Willetts
It is very important to maintain confidence in the British economy, and people can take confidence from the fact that employment is up, and that inflation is down so their living standards are protected. They can take confidence from the fact that exports are up, and they can take confidence from the fact that public borrowing is down so interest rates are down. Those are the reasons why we are confident in the British economy.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
May I tell the Minister that the chief executive of Northamptonshire chamber of commerce has said that
“the news the economy was in recession paints an “unduly pessimistic picture”
as far as Northamptonshire is concerned? Mr Griffiths says the news is contrary to what he is hearing from his members, and his local quarterly economic survey shows a far “more positive picture”. He believes that that gives a
“more accurate indication of the underlying trends in the economy.”
Mr Willetts
There are great examples of business success across Britain, in both small and large companies. The coalition is committed to ensuring that we deliver growth and prosperity in the future.
Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)
Back in the real world, has the Minister seen this week’s report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, showing that more than half of manufacturers have no confidence in the Government and think the Government are performing badly, and only 14% think the Government are doing well? In the same week, the CBI said manufacturing output will fall sharply in the next quarter because of contracting demand, producing a double-dip recession made in Downing street. Does the Minister believe the manufacturers, who wish to engage with Government to create a long-term industrial strategy, or does he side with his Cabinet colleagues, who believe business should merely stop whingeing and work harder?
Mr Willetts
I agree with what the director general of the CBI said the other day. I thought he put it very well:
“We have always said that the path back to sustainable economic growth will be a long and difficult one, with many bumps along the way. To re-balance our economy towards exports and investment will take time and patience.”
We are absolutely committed to rebalancing towards exports and investment, and in my conversations with engineering businesses and others across the country it is clear they understand that that is exactly what the Government are doing.
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
Will the Minister join me in congratulating businesses across North Wiltshire, who are reporting extremely good conditions? Honda has just announced a new line, the excellent automatic hand dryer I used a short time ago in a House of Commons lavatory was made by none other than Dyson of Malmesbury, and a number of enterprise awards have been given to firms in the constituency. The picture is actually not bad at all. Will the Minister congratulate those companies?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is a spirit of innovation in our country of which we can be proud. It is one of the reasons that our exports to the emerging economies of India, China and Brazil—which are the most competitive and important economies of the future—are shooting up, even while, sadly, we are held back by the economic problems of the eurozone, brought on by membership of the euro, a policy advocated by the Labour party.
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
3. What steps he is taking further to develop the motor and components industry.
Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)
7. What recent assessment he has made of the Government’s relationship with the business community.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The Department has an honest, constructive and positive relationship with business based on the shared belief that enterprise and Government working together can get us out of recession—not more taxation, regulation and borrowing. Ministers also have one-to-one strategic relationships with key international companies.
Susan Elan Jones
I am grateful to the Minister for that answer. Will he tell us why he does not agree with the chair of GKN, Mr Mike Turner, who is calling for a more active “industrial strategy”? Why does he not listen to him? Surely Mr Turner knows something about business.
Mr Willetts
I have great respect for Mike Turner of GKN. We do believe in the importance of an active industrial strategy, and we have seen the fruits of our approach in the announcement only the other day of the new investment by General Motors. We have also seen it in the announcement of investment by GlaxoSmithKline. We are up for working with business to deliver the industrial strategy and that is what we are doing.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
May I inform my right hon. Friend that relations with business in rural north Yorkshire are excellent but could always be improved? In particular, what can we do to promote the local enterprise partnership in rural north Yorkshire, east Yorkshire and York?
Mr Willetts
I am sure that there is always more we can do to promote LEPs, but they are already playing a crucial role in the allocation of the regional growth fund. I very much look forward to visiting Norfolk later today when I will have the opportunity of announcing further investment in that important county.
Mr John Denham (Southampton, Itchen) (Lab)
In the time that Ministers in this Government had dozens of meetings with Google, one of the few British IT companies to achieve global status, Autonomy, has been taken over and today tragically destroyed. May I suggest to Ministers that instead of spending so much time cosying up to American giants that just want to protect their monopolies, they should talk to people such as Mike Lynch, the founder of Autonomy, to understand why it is so difficult for British innovative companies to get the long-term finance on their own account that they need to become global leaders?
Mr Willetts
Let us make it absolutely clear. My fellow Ministers and I talk on an even and equitable basis with Autonomy and Mike Lynch, of course, and with HP and Google. Indeed, we have set up a council to plan our strategy for e-infrastructure and high-performance computing in which their advice is greatly valued. Yes, it is very important that we invest in high-technology companies, but I cannot believe that a former Secretary of State is actually saying that we should have direct controls to stop a company such as Autonomy being taken over.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
8. What recent assessment he has made of the employment circumstances of apprentices on completion of their placement.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
11. When he last met representatives of the Russell group; and what matters were discussed.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I met vice-chancellors from the Russell group on 8 March at an event at Nottingham university. We discussed university access, research and international issues.
Mr Kennedy
I thank the Minister for that reply. On access, particularly for international students, he must be aware of how loudly alarm bells are now ringing in the Russell group and the tertiary education sector right across the UK because of the plummeting number of applications from international students as a result of the Home Office’s net migration targets. As this is worth nearly £8 billion a year to UK plc, can he not put pressure on his Home Office colleagues to see sense?
Mr Willetts
The latest evidence from UCAS shows that applications to British universities from outside the EU are going up, but it is absolutely right that we should back our very successful higher education sector. It is not a business, but it does have a lot of exports and the 400,000 students who come here from abroad to study can be regarded as an export success. That is why there is no limit on the number of genuine students who can come to the UK to study. There is no cap on their numbers.
Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)
I want to reinforce the point that the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr Kennedy) just put to the Minister. The new visa regime is causing huge instability and sending a very discouraging signal internationally. Given how important the HE sector and the Russell group are to trade, and given that it is such an important exporter, will the Minister speak to the Immigration Minister and urge him to change these rules?
Mr Willetts
Of course we are in close contact with the Home Office on the implementation of these rules, but the key point is that there is no cap on the number of overseas students who can come to Britain. I take every opportunity on trade missions abroad, as do the Prime Minister and other members of the Government, to communicate very clearly in crucial counties such as India that there is no limit on the number of legitimate students with the appropriate qualifications who would be very welcome to come here and study at British universities.
Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex) (Con)
12. What steps he is taking to promote exports to the far east; and if he will make a statement.
Norman Lamb
I will rise above it, absolutely.
Exports to the far east are growing very significantly. UK exports to China have grown by 15% over the past year, for example, and we are working hard to secure a free trade agreement with Japan, which would deliver significant benefits to the UK.
Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)
20. What recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the higher education sector to economic growth.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Higher education contributes to growth. We have just had universities week, celebrating our universities’ contribution to the Olympics, to the economy and to national life, and estimates by Universities UK indicate that higher education contributes more than £31 billion to our GDP. University education is of course, however, also worth while in itself—in ways that cannot be measured by economists.
Paul Blomfield
The Minister acknowledges the importance of higher education as a major export earner. Does he therefore agree with his hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Joseph Johnson), who wrote an excellent piece in the Financial Times last week, arguing that we should catch up with our competitors and stop classifying students as migrants, as part of a strategy to win a bigger market share for our world-class university system?
Mr Willetts
I absolutely support the objective in that statement of winning a greater market share for our higher education sector, and we can be very proud of the international demand from students wanting to study at our higher education institutions. There is no cap on the number who come here, and we will do everything possible to correct any misunderstandings around the world that may be inhibiting people from applying.
Mr Thomas
At a time when many mainstream universities are extremely worried about where sufficient funding for research, which is vital to Britain’s long-term economic growth, will come from, why does the Minister think that a multi-million pound VAT cut for commercial universities is a good use of public funds?
Mr Willetts
One reason why we have protected the science and research budget and, for the first time, included the research funding going to universities via the Higher Education Funding Council for England is so that our universities can be confident that they have secure and protected research funding for the life of this Parliament.
Mr Jones
Durham university is not only world-class but, along with the other four universities in the north-east, a key driver of the regional economy. What assessment has the Minister made of the visa changes and the capacity of Durham, and those other four universities, to attract overseas students, especially when we read in the press that students from India and other countries are choosing Canada and the United States, rather than the UK?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear about what the Government have done. We have tackled abuse in bogus colleges and the issue of overseas students who, sadly, did not have the necessary academic qualifications to benefit from coming into higher education in this country. That abuse had to be tackled. We now have a clear message that legitimate students are welcome, with no cap on numbers, to come from anywhere in the world to study at British universities. I work very closely with our universities, including the university of Durham, on trade missions to get that very positive message out across the world.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
16. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the potential effect on process manufacturing of the Government’s policy on energy pricing.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
My Department has a key role in supporting the rebalancing of the economy and businesses to deliver growth while increasing skills and learning. May I repeat, Mr Speaker, that the Secretary of State has a long-standing commitment to be in Berlin and Düsseldorf and therefore regrets not being able to be with us today?
George Freeman
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UK’s life sciences in areas such as biomedicine, clean energy and agriculture offer a huge potential opportunity for us to drive a sustainable recovery here in the UK by supporting sustainable development in the developing world, and that our science base, not least in Norwich research park in my county of Norfolk, has a key part to play in that revolution?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, I will be visiting Norwich research park later today and will be able to announce £250 million of research funding going into life sciences across the country. Alongside the commitment to human health that we have already made, this will be a commitment to research in animal health, plant breeding and the agricultural industries of the future.
Mr Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)
This Government inherited an economy that was growing, with unemployment falling and a recovery settling in. The revised GDP estimate for the first quarter of this year, far from being revised up, as some expected, has just been revised down. With the country in a double-dip recession created by this Government, 50 businesses going under every single day, and over 2.6 million people out of work, this shambolic Government have been squabbling over a report produced by a millionaire Tory donor that suggests that all would be well were it not for people’s rights at work. Why on earth are they going along with this nonsense instead of, for example, implementing the active industrial strategy that we need?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear: this coalition Government also inherited an economy that had been hit by a major financial crisis because of Labour’s failure to regulate financial services, and unsustainable levels of Government borrowing which the head of the International Monetary Fund said earlier this week caused her to shiver when she thought what would have happened if they had not been tackled. We are committed, rightly, to reducing the burden of red tape and regulation on the economy, and alongside that we are constructively investing in and supporting the industries of the future.
Mr Umunna
This is a no-growth Government with their head in the sand. They blame businesses, they blame the people who work in them, and now they blame the eurozone, when countries such as Germany and France are not in recession and we are. They said that they would increase lending to small businesses, but there has been a net contraction in lending to small businesses in every single month of this Government. They said that they would support different industries, from defence to renewables, but they have failed to do so. They boasted that their regional growth fund would create more than half a million jobs, but the National Audit Office tells us that it has created less than a tenth of that. We have always known that Tory-led Governments are heartless. Do today’s figures not demonstrate that they are hopeless too?
Mr Willetts
That pre-prepared speech had nothing to do with the reality of the industrial strategy being pursued by this coalition, which is delivering big increases in exports to the big markets of the future. Exports to China are up 18%, exports to India are up 29% and exports to Brazil are up 11%. Employment is up, inflation is down and public borrowing is down. [Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) is usually such a measured and emollient fellow. He must calm himself.
Mr Willetts
We are committed to working with all our partners across the British economy, including business, to ensure that there is investment in the high-tech businesses of the future. The recent announcements of investments in General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover and GlaxoSmithKline show that the strategy is bearing fruit.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
T6. Last week, UK Trade & Investment put on an extremely useful event for businesses in my constituency and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey). Subsequently, my constituent, Simon Chater, has expressed concern about the cost to small and medium-sized enterprises of using the overseas market introduction service. Will the Minister confirm that UKTI is doing all it can to support SMEs that are seeking to export, including working with other Departments to identify new markets?
Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)
When it comes to growth in small businesses, I commend the Minister for Universities and Science for the energy and intelligence with which he has enacted high-tech policies for high-growth industries. However, we must be careful not to pick individual winners within those sectors. Does he agree that backing Britain’s successful high-tech sectors is the key to releasing economic growth and securing the jobs and competitive international advantage that we should enjoy?
Mr Willetts
I agree with my hon. Friend. It is important that we act on the advice that we get about the big, general-purpose technologies of the future and do not randomly hand out grants to particular businesses, as happened all too often in the past.
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
T5. Will the Minister for Universities and Science reassure the House that the introduction of any student premium to offset the impact of tuition fee increases, as proposed earlier this week by the Deputy Prime Minister, will not be at the expense of the funding that is provided for the widening participation premium and currently allocated to universities by the Higher Education Funding Council for England?
Mr Willetts
I have just written to the Office for Fair Access and HEFCE to ask them to assess the effectiveness of the very large amount of money that is now used for that purpose through the widening participation premium and universities’ access funding. We fully recognise that the different strands of money have different purposes, and that some of it is there to meet universities’ particular needs through WPP funding.
Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)
As someone who benefited from a similar scheme in the 1990s, may I ask the Minister to update the House on the progress of the new enterprise allowance scheme? Will he ensure that it is yet another flagship programme, like the new apprenticeship schemes?
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)
The Million+ group of universities has concluded that the new fees regime to be imposed on mature students will deter many thousands of them from going to university. That will damage their life chances, and it could damage the universities, but it will also restrict the talent available in our economy. Will the Government think again about fees for mature students?
Mr Willetts
Many mature students are part-time students, to whom this Government have for the first time extended loans to cover the cost of fees. That is one of the many features of our higher education reforms of which we are very proud.
Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) (Con)
I am sure the House will join me in celebrating the fact that SMS Electronics in Beeston in Broxtowe has been a lucky recipient of a Queen’s award for enterprise. Many small businesses tell me and others that they need less regulation and oppressive red tape if they are to grow. Will a Minister please confirm something that I was told today: that under the previous Government, there were six new regulations every working day?
Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)
Sixty redundancies have been announced today at the open-cast mine at Kirkconnel. It is in the constituency of the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, but it will affect my constituency in east Ayrshire. What are the Government doing to support the coal industry?
Mr Willetts
Earlier this week we produced our energy strategy, which involves ensuring not just a fair deal for consumers, but sustaining investment in energy in Britain.
Mr Speaker
Order. I do not want the Minister to lose his handkerchief. It is about to fall out, but I am sure he can rescue it.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
From today’s answers about regulation, it appears that, in the Government’s eyes, progress has already been made. Why, then, has growth slowed so far that we are now back in recession? Does that not show that all this deregulation is not working and that we need measures to increase demand?
Mr Willetts
Growth has slowed because of the problems in the eurozone driven partly by levels of regulation much greater than those in Britain.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(12 years, 4 months ago)
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Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)
14. What steps his Department is taking to promote business growth.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The plan for growth commits the coalition to creating the most competitive tax system in the G20. We will make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business and we will create a more educated work force who will be the most flexible in Europe.
Thomas Docherty
I am most grateful for that answer. Given the vital role of exports in trying to grow our economy and yesterday’s disastrous news about Typhoon not being take up by the Indians, will the Minister meet me and other BAE Systems MPs to find out what his Department can do to get behind BAE Systems?
Mr Willetts
Let us be absolutely clear that the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State and I have all been on trade missions to India because we recognise its importance as an export market. British exports are growing by 10% and we will continue to argue the case for Typhoon as an excellent and cost-effective deal for the Indian Government. Of course, Ministers would be very happy to meet employees.
Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)
Economic growth has been greatly enhanced in east Kent by the huge amount of work done by BIS for the enterprise zone and the regional growth fund. What more can be done through UK Trade & Investment to promote life sciences internationally and to get inward investment into east Kent?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, this week is the first anniversary of the announcement by Pfizer that it was planning to close completely its facility at Sandwich. That will now be transformed into a research and business park, not least thanks to the excellent efforts of my hon. Friend. Indeed, Pfizer will be an anchor tenant employing, we believe, 750 Pfizer staff. That shows we can fight back and we can maintain life sciences activity in this country. Through the proposals we set out in December, we aim to increase that.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
If we are to get business growth in our country, we must provide finance. Does not the report that the Minister has just made on the green bank show the truth that we want that sort of bank in each region, particularly in Yorkshire and the Humber? We want a bank for every region that knows the local circumstances and will invest in our regions.
Mr Willetts
I have a lot of sympathy with the argument that overall we need to see much greater diversity in British banking. Indeed, one reason why the Government are implementing the proposals from the Vickers commission is precisely to make it possible to have once more local banks that understand the needs of the local business community and local individuals, but our position on the green investment bank has been made clear by the Secretary of State.
Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)
15. What recent assessment he has made of the strength of the construction industry.
Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
16. What assessment he has made of the effect of higher tuition fees on the level of university admissions in the next academic year.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
UCAS published figures on 30 January 2012 covering applications to higher education institutions by its main deadline. That independent information shows that the proportion of English school leavers applying to university is the second-highest on record and is higher than in any year under the previous Labour Government. It is also encouraging that applications from people from some of the most disadvantaged backgrounds remain strong. We will continue to monitor closely the data on applications.
Tristram Hunt
I thank the Minister for his answer and draw attention to my interest in this matter, as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Since this Government’s punitive and regressive £27,000 tuition fees have been introduced, university applications for design are down more than 16%, applications for history are down more than 7%, applications for classics are down more than 8% and applications for non-European languages are down more than 21%. Britain has long had a world-class reputation for the humanities; why are this Government so determined to kill it off?
Mr Willetts
I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman could refer to an arrangement under which graduates pay for their higher education only if they are earning more than £21,000 a year as a regressive policy. It is a progressive and fair way of maintaining higher education. Because, unlike him, young people across the country understand that, we have had a very healthy level of applications to universities this year—down only 1% on last year’s peak.
Mr Rob Wilson (Reading East) (Con)
What assessment has my right hon. Friend undertaken of the impact on admissions of university access agreements supervised, and indeed enforced, by the Office for Fair Access?
Mr Willetts
It is very encouraging that when we look behind the 1% fall in applications overall, it looks as though the fall in applications from prospective students in the most disadvantaged areas is actually only 0.2%. That tells us that the message is getting across, and I pay particular tribute to the efforts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) and the advice we have had from him, and to the work done by OFFA to get that crucial message across.
Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)
Higher education applications have collapsed. In teaching, we have a simple way of measuring whether children are learning by rote or are actually learning and understanding: we ask them what would happen next. When the Minister tripled tuition fees and abolished education maintenance allowances, what did he think was going to happen next?
Mr Willetts
I thank the hon. Lady for the advance notice of her question. Contrary to the stories of collapse and disaster, we believe that the fact that applications have fallen only by 1% is evidence that the message that students do not have to pay is getting across, and this summer I shall once more sadly be in the position of having to explain why young people applying to go to university do not have a place. In other words, we have succeeded in explaining the truth about our proposals, contrary to the misleading allegations of the Opposition.
Mr Speaker
I know that the Minister will not be suggesting that any Opposition Member has misled the House. I am sure he is referring to activity outside the House.
Mr Speaker
I am extremely grateful for that ministerial head-nod, if I can put it that way.
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend the Minister join me in reassuring my constituents that, unlike the views of the Opposition, under our scheme a top-quality university degree will actually cost them only £30 a month when they are earning £25,000 a year?
Mr Willetts
I entirely agree. Indeed, that figure on earnings of £25,000 a year contrasts with payments of £75 a month under the arrangements we inherited from the Labour Government.
Gregg McClymont
A moment ago, the Minister for Universities and Science referred to student loan repayments, which the right hon. Gentleman will know are deducted at source, which is more than can be said for the extraordinary contract awarded to Mr Ed Lester of the Student Loans Company. Will the Minister explain why he signed off those extraordinary tax avoidance arrangements?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Let me be absolutely clear that this arrangement is set out very clearly in the Student Loans Company annual accounts. If Labour Members had cared to study the report, they would have seen on page 42 a completely transparent account of the arrangements for Mr Ed Lester’s reimbursement. It is set out very clearly there. The payments are to the recruitment consultancy company that found him, and he was appointed on an interim basis to tackle a disaster in the SLC that we inherited from the Labour Government. We of course recognise the importance of ensuring that proper arrangements are in place and will continue to monitor the situation, but I can inform the House that we have agreed that, for the remainder of the chief executive’s contract, the SLC will account for PAYE and national insurance at source.
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
T3. Last Sunday I attended Indian republic day at the Wellingborough Hindu Association, yet the same week we learn that a £20 billion fighter contract has been lost to, of all people, the French. We now know that the lead bidder was not the British Prime Minister or the British Government, but the Germans. What on earth do they know about cricket and curries? Why was the British Government not leading on that? How did the Secretary of State allow such a cock-up?
Mr Willetts
Our proposals for launching the catapult centres are proceeding. We have already announced five technology and innovation centres across the country and will announce the remaining two soon.
Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)
T2. The Secretary of State is aware of the imminent closure of the Rio Tinto Alcan plant in my constituency. Rio Tinto Alcan said recently that it puts the blame firmly on the Government because of the lack of investment. The £250 million for energy-intensive industries is too little, too late, and there are also the green taxes. Would he care to comment on those allegations?
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
T5. Somethin’ Else is a design and creation company on Silicon roundabout in my constituency. It employs 65 people and recently produced a film that was shown at the Conservative party conference. Recently, it has been battling with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over disproportionate fines for the alleged late payment of tax. That has led to a fine of more than £25,000. Given HMRC’s deals with large corporations and the Government’s professed support for small businesses, which the Secretary of State has reiterated today, what discussions is the Department having with HMRC and the Treasury to ensure that businesses are aware that it is on their side and that the Government are acting in a joined-up fashion so that punitive tax attacks are not made on small businesses?
Mr Willetts
That is, of course, a matter for the Treasury. The Department is on the side of small businesses. I have visited that business in Tech City and was very impressed with what it does. Tech City, which had about 100 small businesses when the coalition came to office, now has more than 600 small businesses because of our commitment to the area.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
T8. May I, on the eve of national apprenticeship week, congratulate the Minister and the Government on the steps they are taking to increase the number of apprenticeships? I invite him to support the Norfolk Way project, which is giving youngsters work experience and entrepreneurial mentoring. I also invite him to agree with the wonderful words of Galileo Galilei, “We cannot teach people things; we can only help them discover it within themselves.”
Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
British Aerospace has a 17% global share, and as such is No. 1 in Europe, but its future depends on not only exports but on investment in research and development. Given that many other Governments in Europe and around the world give more support to research and development than we do, what more can the Government do to help in that vital area?
Mr Willetts
That is why the Government have provided cash protection and ring-fenced the science and research budget, and why in the autumn statement we were able to announce significant increases in funding for the Technology Strategy Board.
Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)
With no pressure from the Secretary of State for a cut in the jobs tax, no meaningful roll-back of job-destroying red tape, no pressure from him for a cut in enterprise-sapping tax rates and his lauding as a good example the pillorying of people for fulfilling their Government contract, can he advise me of what he is doing to encourage enterprise rather than to discourage it?
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(12 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)
14. When he plans to publish his innovation and research strategy.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
With permission, Mr Speaker, I propose to answer this question with question 13—
Mr Speaker
I am reluctant to argue with Two Brains, but I think the link is with question 14.
Mr Willetts
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
I am pleased to announce that the Government have today published our innovation and research strategy for growth.
Dr Huppert
I thank the Minister for publishing that statement. In 2004 I was awarded a DTI Smart award for innovation. That excellent scheme supported small companies in developing risky innovative products, but over the years the financial support available was watered down and success rates fell. Will his strategy reverse that and support SMEs that have not been supported by the Technology Strategy Board?
Mr Willetts
Indeed, and I believe that my hon. Friend’s proposal was for a biotech company that collected virgin female fruit flies, which I am sure was an excellent example of curiosity-driven research. I can confirm that we are bringing back the Smart awards scheme on a nationwide basis, properly financed.
Graham Evans
Fostering research and innovation is absolutely essential to growth and to rebalancing our economy, and I am proud that the Government are doing so much to support Daresbury science innovation campus in my constituency, including the announcement of a new enterprise zone. Can the Minister outline what support will be provided for small and medium-sized businesses in this area?
Mr Willetts
I recognise the strong support that my hon. Friend gives Daresbury, which I visited with him only a couple of months ago. Indeed, we will put more funding into Daresbury because of its excellent role in national computing infrastructure, and we will support small businesses in particular through the infrastructure and innovation plan that we have launched today.
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
Does the Minister accept that we can have no research and innovation without UK postgraduates? His strategy says nothing about the decline in taught postgraduate courses or the implications of fees at postgraduate level in the UK.
Mr Willetts
We are committed to postgraduate education in the UK, and of course we will continue to review the implications for it as our higher education reforms come through, but at the moment we are seeing an increase in the number of postgraduate students in the UK—a record of which we can be proud.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
Eighteen months into a Government supposedly focused on growth, we finally have a paper focused on innovation—the engine of growth. We welcome it and will consider it carefully. However, we have seen that this Government’s fine words are not matched by action. The director of the CBI recently described their action on solar panels as the
“third smack about the head”
for investors in renewables. In China, the US, India, Germany and Finland Governments are taking action to create large-scale technological and market opportunities in renewables, ICT, pharma and nanotechnology. What real action will the Government take as a result of the report?
Mr Willetts
The report that we are publishing today is a list of the actions that we have already taken and the further actions that we are proposing to take. That includes technology innovation centres, including specific provision for renewables. It also includes the reintroduction of the Smart awards, which were run into the sand under the previous Government, and a research and development tax credit that will be worth more than £1 billion to companies large and small.
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Con)
4. What steps his Department is taking to help small and medium-sized businesses to access export markets.
Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)
5. What steps his Department is taking to support the commercialisation of new discoveries in life sciences.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The UK life sciences sector employs 170,000 people with a turnover of £50 billion, but it is facing enormous challenges, which is why the Prime Minister launched an ambitious new life sciences strategy on Monday. That includes a £180 million catalyst fund to aid commercialisation of new discoveries. We have also improved the regime for clinical trials in the interests of patients and opened up the NHS to innovation.
Margot James
I very much welcome the life sciences strategy published by the Government earlier this week. What plans does my right hon. Friend now have to support the development of geographic clusters that will foster collaboration between industry, the NHS and academia?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend has absolutely described what a cluster is; I congratulate her. We support them. They are important for innovation and growth. Indeed, in the proposals published today, we are talking about making it easier for groups of institutions to come together to bid for funding from research councils, and also our enlightened Treasury has agreed that in future there will not be VAT on cost-sharing arrangements in which groups of institutions come together to share services in the interests of efficiency.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister will know that in life sciences and many other areas of innovation there are lots of small companies, often in partnership with universities. Will he comment on the fact that many of those partnerships tell me that with the demise of the regional development agencies they have no access to a large amount of money held in Europe, essentially for innovation? There are billions of pounds that they cannot access.
Mr Willetts
The catalyst fund that I referred to in my previous answer is aimed specifically at getting financial support to new start-ups, and will help finance them through the so-called “valley of death” before they can get commercial funding. At the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on Tuesday, I argued that European research funding should be more easily accessible for small and medium-sized enterprises. The best way to achieve that is by cutting bureaucracy and the complexity in the current arrangements for accessing European funding. That is what I urged on the Commission.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)
6. What recent steps he has taken to ensure that the liquidation of Bank of Credit and Commerce International is complete.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
9. How he proposes that his Department’s investment in graphene will be spent. [R]
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Graphene is the thinnest, lightest, strongest and most conductive material known to man. Its discovery in Manchester in 2001 is testament to our strong science base and opens up a wide range of possibilities. That is why we have committed £50 million to create a new UK graphene hub to focus on its commercialisation. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board are now developing a detailed business case, which will be submitted to the Government shortly. We expect funding to start next year.
George Freeman
I welcome that announcement. Does the Minister agree that the investment of £50 million in a world-class hub is testament to the Government’s serious commitment to a rebalanced economy and a regional growth strategy? Will he agree to place a sample of graphene—like this—in the Library for the edification of us all?
Mr Speaker
The use of such props is on the whole discouraged, but we will let the hon. Gentleman off on this occasion.
Mr Willetts
I do not think that that is quite life science—nor is it supposed to be life-size, because it is one atom. I have some graphene in my office, and I would be very happy to show it to people who want to know what has been discovered. I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. As a result of the Chancellor’s announcement, we are now able to invest in labs that will ensure that researchers can develop and research the applications of this important material.
Mr Speaker
May I appeal to Members not to pass that rather unglamorous specimen around the Chamber? The hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman), to whom I have been generous, should secrete his graphene away, and behave with the tact and discretion for which he was previously renowned.
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)
I beg to disagree, Mr Speaker. Graphene is very glamorous, and it is a fantastic discovery, made in Manchester. The Minister will be aware from his appearances before the Science and Technology Committee that there is a huge imbalance between the public investment in science in the golden triangle between Oxford, Cambridge and London, and investment in the rest of the country. Is this not a great opportunity to invest the vast bulk of that £50 million in Manchester, where the two Nobel laureates discovered graphene?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Gentleman makes a clear case. Of course, the issue is now being investigated by the EPSRC and the TSB, but we recognise the crucial role that Manchester played in the discovery, and I am sure that its role will continue.
Mr Speaker
Of course I readily concede that something unglamorous can also be very important. I call Penny Mordaunt. [Laughter.] Order. I am delighted that the House is in such a good mood.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Yes, we have made an assessment of the benefits to business of investing in low-cost radar satellites. This is an important investment of £21 million, which we hope will enable business investment to follow on, including possibly in my hon. Friend’s constituency.
Mr Speaker
I was referring to the item, not to a human being. I call Penny Mordaunt.
Penny Mordaunt
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Earth observation satellites are critical in helping developing countries manage humanitarian and environmental crises. Does my right hon. Friend see merit in giving such countries British technology or satellite time—provided it is the best for the job, and it usually is—rather than having ring-fenced funding to purchase such services from a third country?
Mr Willetts
That is a very interesting idea. It is absolutely right that British satellite technology plays a greater role than is recognised in ensuring that we have information about the sites of disasters. Earlier this year we chaired the disaster monitoring committee, which ensured that satellite images were immediately available after the tsunami in Japan and after disasters elsewhere in the world. There are certainly imaginative ideas through which this role could be enhanced.
Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)
11. What steps he is taking to promote adult and community learning.
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab)
It is exactly one year on from the Government’s trebling of tuition fees to £9,000, and we can clearly see the disastrous impact of that decision. UCAS applications are down by 15%, and the Government have had to introduce the chaotic core and margin model to make up for the fact that they got their sums wrong. Is the Minister for Universities and Science aware that he has created a perfect storm for our world-class higher education sector, and why is he prepared to put our world-leading reputation at risk?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Our reforms will ensure that universities are well financed, and that there is more funding available for access than ever before. Perhaps the hon. Lady would explain to the House why she proposes to double fees and, at the same time, reduce the funding available for scholarships and access money.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)
T2. It is clear to me that the more young people and adults hear the actual facts about the funding for universities, the more likely they are to apply. Given that there are five weeks left before the conventional cut-off date for applications, will the Minister tell the House what the Government propose to do to make sure that young people and adults, whether full or part-time students, understand the benefits of applying to university.
Mr Willetts
I thank my right hon. Friend for the excellent work that he has done on this important subject. I can report to the House that 90% of schools and colleges have been visited by graduates explaining the facts of the system. In addition, they are reaching out to parents evenings. Every hon. Member has received a copy of the DVD that has gone to every school with the information that shows that no student has to pay up front to go to university.
Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
T4. When the Secretary of State was talking about the running down of British industry, he failed to mention that, in the 1980s, the Thatcher Government employed MacGregor to come over here and close large parts of the steel industry, and he almost destroyed the whole mining industry. Does the Secretary of State not realise that, surrounded by all those Tories, he is a mini-MacGregor of his day, carrying out the dirty work of the Tories and overseeing the demise of the rest of British industry? He does it not for the money that MacGregor got but for a ministerial car and a red box.
David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)
T3. Returning to 2011, what steps is my right hon. Friend taking to create the conditions for the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors in the United Kingdom, including AstraZeneca in Macclesfield, to be able to compete more strongly in the global marketplace?
Mr Willetts
The life sciences strategy we produced earlier this week aims to rise to the challenge my hon. Friend identifies. In particular, there is an imaginative proposal under which 20 compounds that have been identified by AstraZeneca but are not currently being commercialised will be open to research by others, with a view to using them to create the medicines of the future.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
T5. Bolton university is excellent at recruiting and retaining large numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is worried, however, about the future of the widening participation premium, which makes up 6.7% of its teaching grant. Can the Minister reassure them that that premium will be fully funded in 2012, 2013 and beyond?
Mr Willetts
We have to look at the Higher Education Funding Council for England teaching grant year by year, so no assurances can be given about the total teaching grant at this stage. That has never been possible under any Government. What I can tell the House is that the total amount of money going into access funding has increased significantly because of the increase in fees. It is now running at a higher level—£200 million higher—than ever before.
Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
T6. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning will agree with me not only about his own irrepressibility but also about the importance for economic growth of our meeting the training needs of businesses. What measures is he taking to reduce red tape and excessive micro-management in respect of further education colleges —a trend that so characterised the last Government—in order that they can respond to our economic needs?
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(12 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Lab)
3. What recent assessment he has made of the level of science funding over the comprehensive spending review period.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Funding for science and research programmes has been protected with a flat cash ring-fenced settlement of £4.6 billion for each of the next four years. We can be proud of our scientific research, and that is why the coalition is backing it.
Phil Wilson
Although I welcome the investment in the technology and innovation centres, one of which is in my constituency, will the Minister explain to the House why the Government have continued to cut the science budget by 12% overall when Germany, one of our main competitors, has increased its budget by 8%?
Mr Willetts
No party at the last election promised complete protection for the BIS budget. In fact, in its last economic statement in December 2009, the hon. Gentleman’s party committed itself to cutting £600 million from the higher education and science and research budgets. We, by contrast, are offering complete cash protection for that budget.
Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)
The scientists to whom I speak are concerned not only about the amount of money available now but about the levels of capital funding and the long-term security of funding running many years into the future. While I welcome the announcement of funding for companies such as Babraham, what assurances can the Minister provide that he will try to get more capital funding from the Treasury and to ensure good, long-term security so that scientists will know how much funding there will be for the next decade?
Mr Willetts
Of course, we have been able in the past year to fund six of the eight capital projects that the science community identified as the most important. We think that that has been a considerable achievement in tough times, and we will continue to try to secure financing for other capital programmes in the future.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
The Secretary of State recently said that all long-term economic growth was linked to innovation, yet one year after he claimed to have protected the science budget, the independent Campaign for Science and Engineering has revealed that its budget has been slashed by 12%, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) mentioned. The Minister’s own Department says that cuts to science will damage our world-leading position, yet businesses up and down the country are being denied the innovation support that they need, and the shambles in university funding makes it harder for universities to provide science places. If innovation is the engine of growth, why is the Secretary of State doing so much damage to it?
Mr Willetts
We in the coalition are absolutely committed to the importance of science and research, and we are strengthening the links between science and research and the business community. We are also offering cash protection for the science budget across all main current expenditure, which the hon. Lady’s party never did in government. The very source that she has just cited, the Campaign for Science and Engineering, only a fortnight ago
“welcomed Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that £195m of new investment will be spent on science and engineering.”
Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)
4. What steps he is taking to promote British exports.
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)
9. What steps he plans to take to protect stem cell research in the UK following the decision of the European Court of Justice to prohibit the patenting of inventions based on human stem cells; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We are—[Interruption.] We are carefully considering the impact of the ruling—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. I think we have had enough references to animals. Let us now experience the product of one of the brains of the Minister.
Mr Willetts
I will do my best, Mr Speaker.
As I was saying, we are carefully considering the impact of the ruling on current UK patent practice. The Technology Strategy Board currently funds 15 studies involving human stem cells, two of which use human embryonic stem cells. The TSB and the research councils will continue to support and fund research on stem cells from all sources, including embryonic.
Graham Stringer
That was an interesting reply, because leading scientists in the field have called the decision everything from “devastating” to “appalling”. They believe this work will move to South Korea and Canada, and that potential cures for people suffering from degenerative diseases will be developed later, if they are developed at all. I simply do not understand the Minister’s answer, and I would like more details on how he is going to stop this work going abroad.
Mr Willetts
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that this research is very important in tackling fundamental human illnesses such as Parkinson’s, and that is why we will continue to support it. We are assessing the implications of the ECJ ruling. It is important that stem cells can be derived in a variety of ways, and embryonic stem cells are only one source of stem cells. That is why we need more time to assess the implications of this judgment.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
I am sure the Minister agrees that stem cell science is one of Britain’s great strengths. The feeling within the industry is that this Government are putting their money where their mouth is. In contrast to the accusations and nonsense coming from Opposition Members that we are not investing in science, the recent £195 million investment in graphene and supercomputing and the protection of the science budget amounts to a real growth strategy.
Mr Willetts
We are totally committed to investing in life sciences in Britain, and let me give a practical example of how we can cut the burden of regulation to bring this industry forward: we have committed to reducing the time it takes to start a clinical trial from over 600 days—the period we inherited from the previous Government—to 70 days in future under us.
Dame Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)
My understanding is that the Court’s judgment does not stop research into embryonic stem cells, but that it does mean that scientists will not be able to patent anything worth while, and that therefore the intellectual property is likely to go abroad, as my hon. Friend the Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) said. What are the Government going to do to stop that happening, because this research is vital for people with degenerative diseases?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Lady is right: this is vital research. The crucial points, however, are that the research is taking place using stem cells from a range of sources, not just embryonic stem cells, and we are continuing to assess how much of the research and development that currently takes place in Britain would be affected by this judgment.
Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne) (LD)
10. What steps he is taking to encourage entrepreneurship.
Jane Ellison (Battersea) (Con)
12. How much capital expenditure for scientific research his Department has allocated in 2011-12 to date.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I have recently announced that the Department will be investing an additional £145 million in high-performance computing. That brings the Department’s total capital spend in science and research to £793 million for 2011-12.
Jane Ellison
I thank the Minister for that reply. Britain has always been great at discovering and inventing things, but we need to address how to commercialise some of that cutting-edge research. Will he therefore comment on what the Government are doing to ensure that we bring that research, and those discoveries and inventions, to market in the future?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why we are setting up the network of six technology and innovation centres. It is why we are particularly backing the campuses in Norwich, Babraham, Harwell and Daresbury, which bring together scientific research and business applications. It was also the reason for the investment of £50 million in the application of graphene to business purposes, which was announced only a few weeks ago.
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
Does the Minister recognise the deep concern in our universities at the cutting back of their capital programme, in contrast with what is happening in other countries, which will put us at a significant competitive disadvantage?
Mr Willetts
The figure that I just gave the House for capital spending on science and research is comparable with the figures for capital spending under the ring-fenced science budget under the previous Government. So, even in tough times, we are absolutely maintaining our commitment to investing in science.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
16. If he will consider changing the MPharm qualification from level 6 to level 7.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The Government do not determine the academic levels of higher education qualifications. The Higher Education Funding Council funds the MPharm as an undergraduate master's degree, to the benefit of 10,000 students a year who are entitled to teaching grants and student support.
Charlie Elphicke
I thank the Minister for that answer. My constituent Louis Leir has done an undergraduate degree and wants to do a MPharm, but unfortunately it is classified as an undergraduate-level degree. He is therefore caught by the equivalent or lower qualifications —ELQ—policy and is unable to get help with tuition fees. Will Ministers give further considerations to the issues relating to master's level qualifications? The MPharm truly is one of those, as most of the House probably recognises.
Mr Willetts
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his ingenuity in pursuing that constituency case, about which we have corresponded. Just as he was with the Pfizer case at Sandwich, he is a persistent hon. Member and I congratulate him on that. However, we believe that if we were to take the ingenious approach he proposes, it might mean that the 10,000 undergraduates currently benefiting from financial support lose it.
Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
18. What assessment he has made of the difficulties faced by apprentices aged 19 and over in obtaining adequate funding for level 3 qualifications.
Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)
T6. My right hon. Friend will be aware of the Wilson review on the collaboration between industry and universities. I am currently working on a project in the west midlands with local business leaders and universities. Will he meet industrialists and me when the report is competed next year?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend, because she is absolutely right that one of our priorities is to ensure that the strength of our research base is fed through into stronger support for business and greater business investment, and we look forward to Sir Tim Wilson’s report.
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)
Having withdrawn funding from the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, will the Secretary of State tell us which women’s organisations he has contacted to encourage women back into those under-represented areas?
Mr Willetts
It is important that women are properly represented in engineering and science, and I discuss that issue with a range of groups, so I hope the hon. Lady will be encouraged by the fact that we have 26,000 STEMNET ambassadors. Already, we have 40% who are female, but obviously we need to be better.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
Next month should at last see meaningfully democratic elections in Egypt, but a new democratic Egypt faces a future hamstrung by debts from the Mubarak era. Will my right hon. Friend ask his officials to conduct an audit of the £100 million owed by Egypt to the Export Credits Guarantee Department?
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)
19. By how much on average he expects fees for part-time university courses to change between 2011-12 and 2012-13.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
The majority of institutions have not yet set their fees for part-time courses for 2012-13, so it is too early to tell what average fees will be. From September 2012, eligible new part-time students will have access to loans to cover the cost of their tuition—extra support for part-time students that has been widely welcomed.
Kate Green
I welcome the introduction of loans for part-time students, but for lone parents that often means the loss of income support as a result. Moreover, they will be required to begin repaying those loans before they have completed their academic studies. Will the Minister look again at the proposals, to ensure that no lone parent is financially disadvantaged and put in the position of being unable to complete their course?
Mr Willetts
Our proposal has been widely welcomed. We believe that the number of people who will benefit from support while they are engaged in part-time study will increase from 60,000 to 175,000. Of course, people will repay their loans only when they are earning more than £21,000 a year.
Mr Rob Wilson (Reading East) (Con)
Can my right hon. Friend tell the House whether the Office for Fair Access has the power to block fee levels set by universities if they do not agree to access targets?
Mr Willetts
The Office for Fair Access has the power to refuse to permit fees higher than £6,000 if it believes that a university is not doing everything possible to broaden access and if it is not satisfied with its access agreement.
Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
Fees for part-time students are set to rise significantly, and there is growing concern that the quality of higher education in our universities will suffer as Government cuts begin to bite. The Public Accounts Committee has confirmed this week that the Government’s sums no longer add up, and a considerable number of would-be students are likely to be turned away from university this summer because of Government cuts in student places. The Government are chaotic, incoherent and incompetent. Are we not now watching “Fawlty Towers” in Whitehall, with the Minister and his boss the Basil and Manuel of the Government?
Mr Willetts
Let us be clear: the previous Government were planning cuts in higher education support. Under our plans, there will be extra cash going into universities by the end of the public spending period, compared with the amount going in now, and it will be going into the universities based on the choices of students and the courses that they wish to study. That is the right way for money to reach the universities. The hon. Gentleman should recognise the importance of a vision of universities that provides extra cash and respects student choice and the autonomy of the universities.
Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)
T2. The Minister will be aware of the outstanding Truro and Penwith college, which is based in my constituency. In recognising the new opportunities to expand its provision of higher education, he will also be aware of the constraints on the ability of further education colleges to award degrees. At the moment, they need a university partner. What support can he offer to excellent FE colleges to enable them to award high-quality degrees?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I support the excellent work of FE colleges in providing higher education in Cornwall and elsewhere. I am concerned, as is the Secretary of State, by reports that some universities might be threatening to end their partnerships with FE colleges without good reason, but I reassure my hon. Friend that FE colleges are indeed eligible to apply for their own degree-awarding powers. In addition, our White Paper will propose making it easier for FE colleges to access a wider range of external degrees.
Mr John Denham (Southampton, Itchen) (Lab)
I welcome the good news from Nissan and BMW, which, despite the Secretary of State’s curmudgeonly response, built on Labour’s support for those companies’ investment in the UK. In 2006, he was very clear when he said:
“The DTI, and its army of Sir Humphreys, should be scrapped.”
Then he was offered the job of running it, and said that it would be the Department for growth. How is the Department for growth getting on?
Mr Willetts
I will undertake to discuss the matter with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education, because my hon. Friend is absolutely right. We do wish to encourage young people to study science at school, college and university.
Mr Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley) (Lab)
Growth, which was mentioned earlier, does not seem to be happening in the north-east of England. Workers at the H A Interiors factory in my constituency have not been paid for nine weeks— although I understand that they were paid their April wages yesterday; I will have to check that. Can the Minister help the company in any way? At least under Labour the workers got their pay.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
I noted the Business Secretary’s earlier answer citing the STEMNET project. I hope he is also aware of the work of I’mascientist.org.uk, whose events reach over 10,000 students, with funding of less than £9 per student drawn from charitable and business sponsors. Will he learn from the success of this initiative as a model for the online engagement of students with the futures they could realise through science, technology, engineering and maths?
Mr Willetts
That is a very imaginative suggestion which I certainly undertake to pursue—and will, perhaps, discuss at the Cheltenham science festival this weekend.
Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)
One in 10 people in the north-west of England works in manufacturing, whereas just 3% in London work in manufacturing. The sharp fall in the purchasing managers index last month showed that all may not be well with UK manufacturing. Will the Secretary of State or the Minister therefore confirm that UK Trade & Investment will publish annually the regional impact of its work, so that we can be sure that Government policy works for all economies in Britain?
Higher Education Policy
Lord Willetts Excerpts(13 years, 1 month ago)
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The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
I welcome this opportunity for us to set before the House the Government’s approach to higher education and to clear away the farrago of confusion, misplaced speculation and plain old-fashioned errors that we have just heard from the shadow Secretary of State.
I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on one thing: his sheer audacity in standing in the Chamber and denouncing cuts and financial black holes, when he was in the Cabinet of a previous Government who got our finances into the crisis that the coalition inherited. So yes, we are having to take some tough and difficult measures, but that is because, as always, Labour left behind a mess and then denounced us for clearing it up.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
Some months ago the Minister indicated in the House, in response to a question from me, that his proposals were not to do with the deficit, but were to do with a new way of providing for the financing of higher education, yet he introduces his speech by referring to the deficit.
Mr Willetts
I will turn to that point as I develop my argument. I hope the hon. Lady will accept that the Government whom she supported left behind a fiscal crisis. We were borrowing £120 million a day and were heading for the largest budget deficit in the G20. In fact, the position was so bad that the previous Chancellor had set out proposals for bringing down the deficit by reducing public spending. It is an irony that the Opposition called this debate in the very month when the previous Government’s spending cuts would have started to take effect—£14 billion of cuts planned for this financial year by the previous Chancellor, £16 billion of cuts that we are implementing.
As the shadow Secretary of State knows because he was in the Government at the time, it is clear from the pre-Budget report of December 2009 that there was a commitment to £600 million of cuts from the higher education and science and research budget. It was never explained what those were to be. As we know from the work done by the Institute for Fiscal Studies when it tried to assess Labour’s plans when the previous Government left office, there were to be reductions in public expenditure that the IFS estimated as a 25% reduction in the budget of the Department where the Secretary of State and I serve. So we inherited a mess that we have to sort out.
Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab)
The question is not whether the deficit needs to be reduced, but whether the decision to impose cuts of 80% on universities is the right way to do it. How will students benefit when they pay three times as much in fees but get less spent on the quality of their education in our universities?
Mr Willetts
Let us turn to that. Given that we face a crisis in the public finances, and given that even the previous Government had planned £14 billion of saving, how does one best deliver those in a departmental budget which I do not think any of the three parties represented in the House said could be exempted from reductions? Fortunately, the previous Government set in train an exercise that helped tackle precisely that problem. In November 2009 they commissioned Lord Browne to review the financing of higher education, and they made perfectly clear the wide range of options that they wanted him to look at.
Mr Willetts
I will give way in a moment to the right hon. Gentleman, not least because of his role as a Minister in the previous Government, but I hope he will accept that Lord Browne’s report was commissioned precisely so that when public expenditure had to be saved, the finances of higher education would be examined.
Mr Willetts
It was made perfectly clear—[Interruption.] Let me quote from the very first sentence of the terms of reference of Lord Browne’s report. It was to
“analyse the challenges and opportunities facing higher education and their implications for student financing and support. It will examine the balance of contributions to higher education funding by taxpayers, students, graduates and employers.”
So, the previous Government left us a deficit, recognised that they needed to make £14 billion of savings and set up an inquiry under Lord Browne to look at how universities should be financed in those circumstances—almost in the same month, incidentally, that we had the plan from the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling) for large reductions in public spending.
After considering Lord Browne’s report, which took him a year to produce and in which time he took a large amount of evidence, the coalition has adopted a strategy that, although not in every respect his strategy—[Hon. Members: “Ah!”] I do not know why Opposition Members react with such glee; in many ways, we have improved on the strategy that Lord Browne put forward. The fundamental proposal in the report that the previous Government commissioned is the one that we are now implementing in order to put the finances of higher education on a stable footing.
Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Willetts
Let me just develop this point, because crucially the best way to save money is not to go for reductions in the teaching grant per student, as that simply means a lower-quality experience for students in our universities; instead, the aim is to provide universities, as the teaching grant is reduced, with an alternative source of income from fees and loans which does not involve students paying any money up front.
Mr Willetts
I am just going to carry on explaining the basic finances of the measure, because they are so important and the Opposition clearly do not understand them. The point is about lending students money to pay fees. For example, if we lend them £1,000, we can reasonably expect, on the basis of outside forecasts, about £700 of that to be repaid, so we account for the £300 of the loan that is written off—that will not be repaid—but know that we will get approximately £700 back. That is the financing model in Lord Browne’s report, which the Labour party commissioned, and that is what enables this coalition to save money for the Exchequer, to continue with high levels of finances and to ensure that students do not have to pay any money up front. That is an excellent combination of policies at a time when money is tight.
Tristram Hunt
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way as he digs himself ever deeper and reveals the fallacy of the sums involved. The whole point of the Browne review was that it would introduce a market in higher education, but, if we strip away the teaching grant and everyone charges £9,000, we do not have a market. That is why the policy is such a car crash.
Mr Willetts
I will move on to that stage of the argument in a moment, but let me just explain to the hon. Gentleman why this measure, which is not mine but that of the report commissioned by the Government whom he supported, is very straightforward, simple and absolutely the right way to tackle the challenge of financing higher education at a time of fiscal crisis. It enables us to save money for the Exchequer, because the money that goes into universities is lent to students and is not a grant, and at the same time we ensure that universities are well financed.
The shadow Secretary of State sounded as if he was willing to contemplate large reductions in the amount of resource going to universities, but that would affect the quality of students’ education. On our estimates, the cash going to universities rises from about £9.2 billion in 2010-11 to £10 billion in 2014-15, so we save money, there is more resource going into universities and, crucially, at the same time the money is accompanied by reform.
Mr Willetts
I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart).
Mr Graham Stuart
Will my right hon. Friend nail the misinformation, peddled not least by Opposition Front Benchers, about the increase in fees putting people from lower-income backgrounds off going to university? The truth is that the payments per month will be lower under the new system, that those who earn lower amounts will pay less, that the new system is more progressive and that Opposition Front Benchers, who cry crocodile tears for caring about those from the lowest incomes having access to a university, are scaremongering and providing misinformation. Will he please put them right?
Mr Willetts
That was an excellent intervention. After this debate, I hope that Members on both sides will agree to commit ourselves to visit, between now and the summer, the secondary schools and colleges in our constituencies and explain to them that not a single young person is going to have to pay up front for their higher education. They will repay only if they are earning more than £21,000 a year and that means that their monthly repayments under our proposals will be lower than under the system we inherited from the previous Government.
Mr Willetts
I will accept the hon. Lady’s intervention, especially if she makes that commitment.
Dr Whiteford
Last month, the BBC published figures from the accountants Baker Tilly. They suggested that a student who borrowed £39,000 to complete their higher education would end up paying back something in the region of £83,000. What does the right hon. Gentleman make of those figures?
Mr Willetts
I am afraid that I do not recognise those specific figures. We are talking about a system whose powerful logic is simple—no student pays up front, a point that my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness correctly made.
Mr Willetts
I need to make some progress because this is not simply a matter of finances, important though they are. It is essential that the measures be accompanied by reform. Above all, that means a focus on the quality of the teaching experience for students. Many students, and their parents, come away from university not convinced that they had the teaching that they needed during their time in higher education. The third challenge, therefore—as well as saving money for the public finances and ensuring that proper financing gets into our universities—is to focus on improving the quality of the teaching experience. We do not achieve that by—
Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
Will the Minister give way?
Mr Willetts
I am responding to the point made by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt); it is an important stage in the argument. The money must be accompanied by reform that puts teaching up front and enables students, for the first time, to choose the course and university that they believe will best meet their needs. That is why the Secretary of State and I are absolutely committed to ensuring that it is easier for universities to escape from the shackles of the detailed quotas and restrictions set, university by university, in the system that we inherited from the previous Government. One of our highest priorities is to ensure that our reforms also improve the quality of the student experience. That will be at the heart of our White Paper.
Graham Stringer
Will the Minister explain how the quality of education will improve? Due to his miscalculations about the number of universities charging £9,000 and the structure of the students who will be going, there will be a huge deficit. That will lead to cuts in universities or in the number of students going to universities.
Mr Willetts
Let me deal briefly with that point. A fortnight ago, the Labour party was claiming that there was a £1 billion shortfall; last week, apparently, the shortfall was £450 million. We simply do not recognise those figures. We will see in autumn next year exactly what students are paying and how much they choose to borrow; they do not necessarily even need to borrow the full amount of fees that they face. That will be a decision for them. At that point, we will assess the financial situation that we face, but we see no reason to amend the broad estimate that we put before the House last autumn.
Angela Smith
Given what the Minister has just said, will he guarantee that there will be no cuts in quality or numbers in higher education?
Mr Willetts
We have a set of proposals that ensures that increasing resources will go to our universities, so, absolutely, I see no reason why quality should suffer. Indeed, I believe that as we liberalise the system in the way that the Secretary of State and I wish to, we will see improvements in the quality of the student experience. I do not see any need for a reduction in student numbers; on the figures that we have in front of us, I do not believe that that will be necessary.
I want to deal with another point made by Labour Members. There is so much confusion and misapprehension on their part that there is a large amount to sweep away.
Mr Willetts
I wanted to move on to the improvements that we have made to the Browne plan, but of course I give way to the shadow Minister.
Mr Willetts
We will obviously have to keep a very close eye on the situation. When one looks behind the headline figure of the £9,000 fee, there are so many waivers and special arrangements that the average fee will be significantly lower than that. Given the evidence that has so far come through, we do not recognise the so-called figures for fiscal black holes that are being perpetrated by Labour Members. I suggest that they calm down and wait until the autumn of 2012 when we see what students are actually paying in fees when they arrive at their universities.
Mr Thomas
The right hon. Gentleman was asked a very straight question—does he, or does he not, agree with his Secretary of State, who clearly threatened universities at the HEFCE conference with either further cuts in teaching grant or further cuts in student numbers? Does he agree with him—yes or no?
Mr Willetts
I am always in agreement with the Secretary of State. The position that he was describing related to options that would be necessary if the financial position was very different from the one that we estimated last autumn. On the basis of the evidence that we have, we do not believe that that will be the case.
Margot James
Does my right hon. Friend agree that university costs should be looked at very closely, just as with every other kind of public sector institution? Lord Browne found that the average fee was £6,000 if one took into account efficiencies that universities could make in relation to what would be the break-even point compared with what they currently enjoy in terms of funding.
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We look forward to the report that Ian Diamond is preparing on precisely how we can improve efficiency in our universities.
Mr Willetts
No, I am going to make some progress because Members in all parts of the House wish to speak and I have a lot more ground to cover.
We have not only taken on Lord Browne’s proposals in the report commissioned by the previous Government as their way of reforming the finances of our education system, but tried to improve on those proposals. The crucial way in which we have done that is by improving the repayment terms for graduates. A very important feature of the new system is that instead of the repayment threshold of £15,000 that was left to us by the previous Government, we propose a threshold of £21,000. The only way in which people pay for higher education is as graduates repaying their loans, so the level of threshold and the amount of the repayment that they make is crucial. Under our scheme, a care worker graduating in 2016 with a £20,000 starting salary would repay nothing. Under Labour’s £15,000 repayment threshold, that care worker would have been repaying £37.50 a month. Under our scheme, an accountant graduating in 2016 with a £25,000 starting salary would repay £30 a month. If the repayment threshold had remained at £15,000, that accountant would have been repaying £75 a month.
The crucial figure that matters for young people thinking about the cost of their higher education is how much they will have to repay. Under our scheme, their monthly repayments will be significantly lower. That is why the Secretary of State and I are confident that these reforms are the right way forward and are genuinely progressive. We are discharging our obligation to future generations in exactly the way the shadow Secretary of State set out at the beginning of his speech. That is the crucial challenge and we believe that our reforms rise to it.
That is not just my view or that of the Secretary of State, but the view of bodies that have scrutinised our financing proposals. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that
“the Government’s proposals are more progressive than the current system or that proposed by Lord Browne.”
The OECD endorsed the coalition’s policy:
“The increase in the tuition fee ceiling is reasonable and should pave the way for higher participation in tertiary education”.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Can the Minister quote any vice-chancellor of any reputable higher education institution in this country who has said that the Government’s record in their first year of office has been good for higher education in this country?
Mr Willetts
I have been at many events with university vice-chancellors at which they have all accepted that, given the circumstances that we inherited and faced with the policy options of reducing teaching grant, reducing student numbers or implementing Lord Browne’s proposed changes in student finance, we took the right decision. I am confident that we have improved on Lord Browne’s proposals by making the repayment threshold more progressive.
Let me quote someone who is not a vice-chancellor, but who is perhaps still treated with a degree of respect by some Opposition Members, namely Lord Mandelson. The new postscript to his excellent memoirs, which I commend to Opposition Members, states:
“When the university fee debate came up before the Lords, for example, there was a large part of me that felt I should weigh in.”
I am sure that there was. It goes on:
“It was I, after all, who had set up the Browne Review”—
the Labour party seems to have forgotten that—
“into what future changes were necessary to ensure proper funding for universities in the best and fairest way, for both them and their students. When I did so in November 2009 I 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 in order to offset the deficit-reduction measures that we too would have implemented had we won the election. The alternative would be a disastrous contraction of higher education.”
Those are the words of the previous Secretary of State, and I take them as an accurate account of what was in the minds of Labour Ministers when they set up the Browne review.
Andrew Bridgen
I remind the Minister of the words of Professor Steve Smith, the president of Universities UK, who said that the coalition Government’s higher education policies
“will bring in the resource needed to allow students to go to university regardless of their financial circumstances, provide financial sustainability for universities, and ensure that we can maintain the UK’s international competitiveness in terms of undergraduate education.”
Mr Willetts
Absolutely. That is the view of Universities UK, and, as I have explained to the House, it holds that view because in the difficult circumstances that we inherited from the previous Government, we have taken the correct strategic decisions.
I have set out our approach to higher education. What was striking in the speech of the shadow Secretary of State was the complete absence of how he believes higher education should be financed in tough times. What was particularly noticeable was the absence of any reference to what we understand to be the preferred policy of his party leader, namely a graduate tax. We are still waiting to see the move to the graduate tax, which we understand is now the view of the shadow Secretary of State. Of course, the last Labour Government produced a helpful document on the subject entitled, “Why not a Pure Graduate Tax?”, which sets out clearly some of the issues surrounding a graduate tax. We are still waiting to hear whether the shadow Secretary of State advocates it.
Of course, our proposals involve a capped graduate tax, which has a threshold of £21,000 and a rate of 9%, is linked to the university that one went to, and is extinguished when one has discharged the cost of one’s higher education. That is the right way of delivering a graduate tax to pay for higher education. I would be very interested to hear from the shadow Secretary of State whether he believes that that system should be improved in some way. Does he prefer a model of graduate tax with, perhaps, a lower threshold and a lower rate?
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Willetts
No, I am going to make some progress on this important point.
Would the shadow Secretary of State prefer a model with a 3% tax for graduates? That is one possibility, but of course it would bring low earners into the burden of graduate tax, whereas they will be exempt from it under our proposals. It would have another significant defect, because whereas we can collect student fees from people across Europe, there is no way in which a graduate tax could be collected from a graduate who has been educated in Britain and then goes to live abroad.
Once again, the memoirs of Peter Mandelson are very clear on this point, and we now know where the Labour party’s policy comes from. He writes:
“To be fair to Ed”—
he is referring to the current Labour leader”—
“from his days in the Treasury when we were first introducing the top-up-fees scheme in government, he shared Gordon’s preference for an alternative graduate tax”.
So it was Gordon who wanted a graduate tax—that is where this bold, new Labour idea comes from. The memoirs continue that the current Labour leader held that view
“even when our research concluded that it was simply unworkable.”
That is what Peter Mandelson says. Labour’s research showed the defects of a graduate tax, and we are still waiting to hear from the shadow Secretary of State what his policy is on such a tax.
The position is clear: the Government have a plan for financing higher education in tough times. We are financing it in a way that continues healthy support for our universities and enables us to save funding for the Exchequer at the same time. We are doing that without any cuts to student numbers or to the teaching resources going to universities, without any burden on students when they are at university and while improving the regime for graduate repayments after they have left university. That is why our plan is realistic, sober, reformist and progressive. We believe it is the right way forward, and in the absence of any constructive proposals from the Labour party, we remain convinced that ours is the correct strategy.
Mr Wilson
Indeed I do agree with that. There are some fabulous FE colleges that could easily deliver high quality higher education degrees.
Thirdly, if we are to have a Treasury-imposed affordability limit on student numbers, we need to think more creatively about how we tease the best out of a more limited market system. As I have said, we need to encourage the best high-quality, sought-after courses that students actually want to take. We have to design a system that allows good universities with good courses to expand, and poorly performing universities with poor quality courses to decline, or at least take action to improve their offering.
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is focusing on the crucial issues of how we get more competition and choice into the system. I assure him that these are absolutely the issues that we will focus on in the White Paper.
Mr Wilson
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reassurance.
Let me turn quickly to my other point about the Office for Fair Access. As Professor Eastwood rightly argued, more higher education places should mean more social mobility. Although I welcome any constructive suggestion to increase social mobility and opportunities in this country, I am concerned that a heavy-handed attempt to do so would risk another cornerstone of our university system, which is academic freedom.
In a commendable feature of the Higher Education Act 2004, OFFA was given a legal duty
“to protect academic freedom including, in particular, the freedom of institutions…to determine the criteria for the admission of students and apply those criteria in particular cases.”
The first guidance letter issued by the Labour Secretary of State in October 2004 confirmed that the Government’s priority was financial support for the poorest students, and noted that
“institutions that generally attract a narrower range of students may want to put more money into outreach activity to raise aspirations”.
The guidance also made it clear that institutions’ admissions policies and procedures were outside OFFA’s remit.
This Government’s new guidance to the director of fair access is much more aggressive, and I believe that it has clear and serious implications for universities’ admissions policies. It instructs OFFA that it
“will want to ensure that each institution is making sustained and meaningful progress towards a more balanced and representative student body, reflected year on year in its own benchmarks, measures and targets.”
Under the February 2011 guidance letter, if an institution is deemed to have seriously or wilfully breached its access agreement, OFFA can decide not to approve or renew the agreement. That would remove the institution’s right to charge its students above a basic fee level. I understand that a fine of up to £500,000 is also available.
The message to universities, via OFFA, appears to be that unless they make progress each year towards achieving a “more balanced and representative” student body, they can expect OFFA to set much more onerous obligations and require them to devote more of their resources to outreach and financial support. In addition, they could be fined. So, while the Opposition call for new powers for OFFA, will the Minister confirm that the Government remain committed to protecting the academic freedom of universities, and that they have no plans to interfere with university admissions policies through access agreements?
Mr Willetts
I can give that assurance. We have no plans to change the legal framework guaranteeing the freedom of universities to run their own admissions procedures.
Mr Wilson
I thank my right hon. Friend for that assurance, but the legal framework is slightly different from the access agreement. I do not have time to go into that now, however.
I agree with the Russell group when it argues that too few poorer pupils are getting the right grades and that the achievement gap according to socio-economic background is getting even wider. It also argues that the most effective way to get low income students into the best universities is to help them to improve their academic performance at an early stage. It is in the schools that we should be looking to change things, not in the universities. As I have said, I am passionately committed to raising aspirations and spreading opportunities more widely in our society, but it would be far better to tackle the real cause of unfair access to higher education—too few poorer children achieving the right grades at school—than to bring the Government into conflict with the legal duty to protect university independence and academic freedom.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(13 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley) (LD)
20. What his policy is on widening access to higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
This Government are committed to social mobility. That is why our higher education reforms have no payments up-front, more generous maintenance support and the extension of loans to part-time students. Last week we gave updated guidance to the director of fair access about access agreements and outlined details of our £150 million national scholarship programme.
Mr Wilson
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer and for the additional support to disadvantaged students. In a report, the Sutton Trust has described university entrance quotas as
“a punitive measure against talent and effort”
and argued that no child should be denied a university place because of their social or educational background. Does he agree with that view and will he clearly rule out any move towards the social engineering of university admissions?
Mr Willetts
We in the coalition Government do not believe in quotas, for the reasons that my hon. Friend rightly sets out. They would be not only undesirable but illegal because the autonomy of universities in running their own admissions arrangements has legal protection.
Gordon Birtwistle
Will my right hon. Friend congratulate Burnley college, which is operating in a disadvantaged area, on its event last Friday, when dozens of companies met scores of young people who wish to take up apprenticeships in engineering? Does he agree that that is the right way to go and that the coalition Government are repairing the damage following the destruction of manufacturing engineering by the previous Government?
Mr Willetts
As we heard so eloquently from the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, the coalition Government are absolutely committed to apprenticeships. It would be a mistake to hold the view that apprenticeships and places in higher education are in conflict. Indeed some apprentices may subsequently go on to university and benefit from a university course, too.
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
Can the Minister give an estimate of the likely shortage of funded places at university in the next academic year? Can he square that estimate with his desire to get young people from deprived backgrounds into university?
Mr Willetts
We have committed to repeat the initiative this year with 10,000 extra places at university. Current indications are that applications are running perhaps about 5% higher than at a similar point last year, but we will have to see what the eventual figure is. As the right hon. Gentleman used to say when he was in government, application to university has always been a competitive process. No individual place can be guaranteed but we are committed to broadening access to university.
Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
In the last month, the Secretary of State’s Department has confirmed that another 10,000 student places are set to be axed. We now know that his national scholarship programme will help under 2% of students. The logic of his rhetoric on access would have us all believe that Oxford and Cambridge are to be the last universities in England allowed to charge the full £9,000, which nobody thinks is credible. In his mind, the Secretary of State may well still be “St Vince”, but with Corporal Jones from Havant and Private Pike from Southwark and Bermondsey by his side is he not really just Captain Mainwaring, bumbling along out of his depth with all his best moments long since past?
Mr Willetts
We’re not panicking; we’re not panicking. In fact, it is Labour Members who left us with a situation whereby access to our leading, most research-intensive universities for people from the poorest backgrounds was declining. That is the challenge that we are tackling. I do not recognise the hon. Gentleman’s figure of 10,000 fewer places, as there are extra places. That is perhaps why the National Union of Students, in a leaked e-mail this morning, apparently described our reforms as “relatively progressive”.
Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)
The university centre Hastings is doing some excellent work with children from poorer families who want to go on to higher education. It is very concerned about the future of higher education for them and asked me to inquire about the national scholarship fund and what more can be done to help children on free school meals when they leave school and might need some assistance.
Mr Willetts
Absolutely. When the national scholarship programme is mature, it will be worth £150 million a year. With match funding, which we expect the universities to provide, it could offer—contrary to the assertions of Labour Members—extra financial support to up to 100,000 students. It could work in various ways, providing help with accommodation costs, fee waivers and extra direct financial assistance, which we think is a very practical way of helping students from poorer backgrounds.
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)
Does the Minister plan to switch higher education numbers to low-cost courses in further education colleges, as recently reported in the Financial Times, and, if so, what modelling has his Department done on the effect on student choice and possible increased social segregation?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
There are further education colleges across the country that are keen to deliver more higher education, and the coalition Government believe that that is an opportunity that they should be able to take up, provided they meet the necessary standards.
Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)
T6. Do the Government agree that universities should be free to admit students on the basis of academic merit without interference from the Government, and, if so, why are they intent on more regulation and meddling in the freedom of university admissions?
Mr Willetts
As I explained earlier, universities are of course free to control their own admissions and must have that freedom. Universities have always assessed students not only by what they have already achieved, but by their potential to achieve in future. They have often made that judgment informally and we support them in continuing to do so.
Mr Mike Weir (Angus) (SNP)
In answer to an earlier question, the Minister talked about the development of electric vehicles. Is the Department looking at encouraging the development and take-up of a hybrid version with a petrol back-up, rather than a traditional hybrid, to deal with the problem of range in rural areas?
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)
T9. I have mentioned in the House before my constituency’s excellent Daresbury science and innovation campus, which really is a world-class centre for hi-tech entrepreneurship. Daresbury recently bid for a share of the £1.4 million regional growth fund. Can the Minister assure me that that bid will be looked upon favourably?
Mr Willetts
I am aware of the strengths of that excellent campus, and I am sorry that business in the House meant that I was not able to visit the other day, as I had hoped. I will visit very soon. Of course, there have been many bids for the regional growth fund, but in that way or in others I hope that we can continue to support my hon. Friend’s facility.
Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)
Government Front Benchers have today stated their intention to extend from one year to two a worker’s right to claim unfair dismissal, but, in industries such as construction, where tens of thousands of workers who have worked for many years for the same employer do not even have a written contract, what is the Secretary of State doing to enforce such basic employment rights before he starts taking workers’ other rights away?
Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)
Will the Minister explain how the Government can possibly hope to promote access by cutting the teaching budget for universities by 80%? As a result, universities will have to charge £7,500 simply to stand still. Rather than attacking the autonomy of universities with Whitehall over-interference, why do the Government not invest the requisite public resources in our great universities?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Gentleman cites a figure that even the NUS no longer accepts as viable. He seems to have failed to understand the fundamental feature of our reforms, which is that the money will continue to reach universities but via the choices of students. That is the right way in which to finance them.
Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con)
Sixteen months ago, the Office of Fair Trading declined to investigate ferry services to the Isle of Wight. Many islanders feel that the ferry operators view the OFT’s decision as carte blanche to cut services and to change their pricing structure. Will the Minister agree to meet me and a small group of my constituents to discuss those matters?
Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)
I thank the Department and the Minister for all the work they are doing to secure jobs on the Pfizer site in Sandwich. What is his vision in securing those jobs and a future for the site in the science area?
Mr Willetts
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. This is a very serious challenge that we face, and we are doing our best to tackle it. Yesterday I met the leader of Kent county council and other members of his taskforce, and last week I visited and met members of the work force. We are absolutely committed to the future of that site and believe that it should be possible for a range of different research organisations to be active on it. The site should have a great future.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
I recently met representatives from the Union of Jewish Students at the university of Nottingham, who tell me that they are concerned about increasing incidents of anti-Semitism and racial incitement by guest speakers at university campuses. Will the Minister take steps to support the implementation of speaker policy guidelines in universities across the UK to help student unions and vice-chancellors to deal effectively with guest speaker invitations and prevent incidents of hate speech and intimidation?
Mr Willetts
I have discussed this with representatives of Jewish students. It is a challenge for universities, and the hon. Lady is right to raise it. We will continue to be absolutely emphatic on the rights of individual students to enjoy freedom without facing harassment and abuse, which, sadly, has been occurring.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
Perhaps, like me, Ministers can recall how it felt to be among one of the last to be picked for a team in a game of schoolyard football. The experience is very similar for some areas wishing to join local enterprise partnerships. Can the Minister reassure residual LEPs in smaller areas that they will still have fair access to regionally administered skills funding?
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Performance)
Lord Willetts Excerpts(13 years, 4 months ago)
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The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
What a dismal picture of the business of government the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas) has just painted. He thinks that all we should ever do is wage war with our own colleagues in order to raise the growth rate. That might be how the Labour Government functioned, with everyone having to fight their own corner against all the other Departments, but it is not how the coalition Government function. We all work together on an agenda to sort out the mess we were left by the previous Labour Government and the only way we can sort out a mess that big is if all the Departments share the same agenda—and we absolutely do. That agenda has business and being pro-business and pro-growth at its heart.
Let me take hon. Members through the measures we are introducing that are aimed absolutely at backing British business and raising our growth rate. For a start, we are reforming corporation tax, bringing the main rate down from 28% to 24%, making it one of the lowest rates in the advanced western world. We have already eased the burden of national insurance on British business by £3 billion and we are specifically helping small businesses. Several colleagues, including my hon. Friends the Members for Brighton, Kemptown (Simon Kirby), for Northampton South (Mr Binley) and for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson), have raised the issue of small businesses, to which we are committed. There is the scheme that the hon. Member for Wrexham mentioned, which we inherited from Labour—the enterprise finance guarantee scheme—which helps small businesses. We have put an extra £600 million into it so that there is extra lending to small businesses. In addition, we have created the new enterprise allowance scheme, aimed at helping unemployed people to get work as self-employed. Of course, we know that one of the biggest problems that small businesses face is the burden of employment regulation, which is why we are committed to reforming employment tribunals—to give small businesses confidence to take on new staff.
Of course we are committed to bringing down the burden of red tape. We are absolutely committed to the one-in, one-out rule, and we are also ending the gold-plating of regulations from Brussels that add completely unnecessary burdens to British business. We are committed to well-balanced regional growth, which is why we already have 28 local enterprise partnerships going. They already represent two thirds of all businesses across the country. There is a regional growth fund with £1.4 billion to invest on excellent projects across our regions.
Yes, we are absolutely backing growth and we are tackling the fundamental weaknesses that we inherited from the Labour Government, such as insufficient investment in infrastructure. That is why we have produced a national infrastructure plan, with a green investment bank and £1 billion for energy-efficient investment, with more to come as asset sales come through.
We are committed to trade and to ensuring that Britain is open for business. I can tell my hon. Friend the Member for The Cotswolds (Geoffrey Clifton-Brown) that we absolutely understand that and we will be setting out in our trade policy White Paper, which is due very soon, the overall framework of trade policy. We do not believe that LEPs should automatically be held responsible for trade policy. Inward investment will be a responsibility of UK Trade & Investment, but if LEPs wish to work with UKTI on that, they are welcome to do so.
Mr Willetts
No, I shall try to make progress.
We have taken a deliberate decision to focus our trade activity on the big, growing economies of the future—Brazil, Russia, India and China. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has already personally led trade missions to all four of those growing economies—crucial markets for the future. So yes, we are absolutely battling for Britain in trade talks.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
I made this point in my speech: we should be concentrating not only on the BRIC countries, but on other fast-growing markets such as Indonesia and Turkey, and I seek the Minister’s assurance that we will do that.
Mr Willetts
I intend, time permitting, to go to Indonesia, where we have some specific trade objectives, and I think the Secretary of State plans to be in Turkey, so we recognise those countries’ importance. All of us, working with Lord Green in the other House, have trade promotion at the top of our agenda for this Government.
I have referred to the burden of tax, the burden of regulation, our support for small businesses, infrastructure and trade. There is also the crucial investment in the skills that we need for the future. Again, we inherited a mess from Labour. Many Members on both sides of the House will remember the disappointment when further education colleges, having had their hopes raised that there would be billions of pounds for capital projects, found that the money ran out. Labour’s problem with further education was that the money ran out even before the election, so Labour Members were holding the baby. They know the situation they left us.
Mr Harris
The Minister has outlined the impressive growth strategy being pursued by this Conservative-led Government, which has resulted in a 0.5% contraction in the economy. What would that have looked like without his growth strategy? What would have been the result if we had been deprived of that strategy?
Mr Willetts
We do not know what would have happened to the British economy if the Labour party had been in office, but I tell the House that if Labour had carried on borrowing in the way it was, we could well have faced a crisis of the kind that happened in Ireland, Greece and Portugal. We will never let Labour Members forget that they were taking Britain to the brink of that type of financial crisis. We have taken our country away from it.
I was about to refer to the investment that we are also making in skills, with support through the capital renewal fund for our FE colleges, steered by my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, and a commitment to 75,000 extra apprenticeships. We can already see the impact of our commitment on apprenticeships: in the first quarter of the year, we had 120,000 new apprenticeship starts, while a year ago, at the same moment, the figure was 100,000. Extra apprenticeships are already coming through because of our practical commitment to vocational training.
Alongside vocational training, of course we recognise the continuing pressure on our universities. That is why we had to reform their financing. Had we not done so, we would have faced reductions in the number of university places or reductions in the financial support for each student at university. Instead, we have been able to maintain our commitment to 10,000 extra places at university and urge universities, with requirements to back this up, to focus on the employability skills of their students. When people emerge from university, they should have had practical experience of the world of work already, so we are focusing on skills and universities as well.
We are protecting the budget for science and research and enabling important capital projects to go ahead, such as the UK centre for medical research and innovation at King’s Cross. We are taking practical steps to ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of our excellent research effort—speeding up the process of getting a patent and intellectual property protection, which can be too slow. Yes, we are backing research and development, and we are backing the technological application of that by encouraging our new technology innovation centres.
It was a great disappointment when we had the news from Pfizer. I met the global chief executive officer and the UK chief executive of Pfizer on Monday 24 January, when they informed us in strict confidence of their intention to close the Sandwich plant. We did, of course, press them on their decision. They made it clear that it was a decision based on global strategic considerations by the company as a whole, as it moved away from some of the lines of research in which Sandwich specialised. They made it clear that it was not because of any disagreement that they had with this Government’s economic policies.
Since then we have been in close contact with Pfizer. I have asked Paul Carter, the leader of Kent county council, to lead a local task force on the matter. The Secretary of State and I will be working hard to try to find innovative alternative uses for that excellent research facility and to back the very skilled people there.
We are doing all this against the background of a serious financial crisis left for us by the previous Labour Government. The shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr Denham), said, “There are no deficit deniers” on the Opposition Front Bench. He was able to say that only because the shadow Chancellor was not sitting beside him at the time. We know that deficit denial is one of the fundamental problems that the Labour Opposition face if they are ever to become a credible party of government again.
Although the shadow Secretary of State said that he was not a deficit denier, he went on to say that the large deficit had arisen because of the banking crisis. Britain was running one of the worst structural deficits of any advanced western country before the banking crisis. One of the tests of whether people recognise the seriousness of the challenge that they face is their willingness to accept that that was the problem. If they do not accept that that is the problem, they are deficit deniers. It is as simple as that.
Then the right hon. Gentleman seemed to fail to recognise the wide range of business leaders in Britain and elsewhere who have backed our policy to tackle the deficit. He went on to say that we just blamed the snow for the economic problems that we faced. Okay, I will do a deal with the shadow Secretary of State. We do not just blame the snow; we blame the last Labour Government.
It was the last Labour Government who got us into this mess. They left us an economy with the worst deficit, unsustainable spending, the most leveraged banks, the biggest housing boom, unsustainable levels of personal debt and personal saving negative—almost unprecedented in any advanced western country. That is the mess that they left us. That is what we have to sort out. Already, working with the Secretary of State, we are putting in place a growth strategy to emerge from the mess.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was one of the most eloquent and effective people in warning about the mess that Labour was making of our economic situation. He warned about the level of debt. He was quite right to do so. Now, the present Government must tackle it. It was those on the Labour Benches who left the patient dangerously ill. Now they complain as we, sadly, have to deliver the treatment.
Question put.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lord Willetts Excerpts(13 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
4. How many universities he expects to charge £9,000 in tuition fees in 2012-13.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
Universities have not yet set their level of graduate contribution for 2012-13. Any institution in England wishing to charge above £6,000 must have an access agreement approved by the director of fair access. The Office for Fair Access will shortly begin discussions with individual institutions that intend to submit an access agreement under our demanding new requirements. We have always made it clear that £9,000 should be charged only in exceptional circumstances.
Sheila Gilmore
The Minister will be aware of the discussion within the university sector; many universities, especially Russell group universities, have already said that they are likely to charge at the higher level. Even some other universities are saying that to break even, they would need to charge more than £7,000. What modelling did the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills do when presenting its financial calculations to the Treasury, if it does not know the answers to questions that the universities appear to know?
Mr Willetts
We are waiting for universities to approach OFFA; they will have to submit a request to OFFA if they wish to go above £6,000. In our financial modelling, which we shared with the House, we made it clear that on average, replicating the income that universities are getting at the moment would involve fees of around £7,000. Of course, we are expecting universities, just like every other organisation in Britain, to make significant efficiency savings and hold down their costs.
Mr Rob Wilson (Reading East) (Con)
My right hon. Friend will remember that under the previous Government a number of higher education institutions were categorised as being at risk of financial failure. In the light of the funding changes taking place, has he updated his risk assessment of the HE institutions at risk?
Mr Willetts
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has always kept an eye on the financial position of universities. As a result of the new revenues that universities will get from graduate contributions, we estimate that it is very possible that at the end of this Parliament universities could well have a higher combined cash income in total from the Exchequer than they do at the moment; that is a sign of our commitment to the strength of British universities.
Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
Like the Minister for Universities and Science, the Secretary of State says that universities charging the full £9,000 in tuition fees will be the exception. No one independent thinks that that is credible. The Secretary of State also says that university leaders support his plans, yet not one university vice-chancellor supports the 80% cut in university teaching grants. He cannot even organise a scholarship fund without creating perverse incentives for universities to turn away students from the very poorest backgrounds, so just to get back to being Mr Bean the Secretary of State has quite a long journey ahead of him. Is it not clearer now that the trebling of tuition fees was not fair or necessary, and still has not been properly thought through?
Mr Willetts
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely wrong. It was made clear when the House debated the issue last month that more than half of all vice-chancellors support our proposals, because, given the tough decisions that we have had to take on public expenditure, we have provided them with an alternative source of income, coming not through a quango but through the choices of students, who can be confident that they will have to pay for their higher education only after they have graduated and are earning more than £21,000 a year.
Mr Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (LD)
I know that the Minister recognises the force of the point made by the Glasgow university principal, Anton Muscatelli, in his recent article in The Sunday Times, about the fact that the decisions in England will inevitably create a funding shortfall for Scottish universities. Will the Minister again undertake to stay closely in touch, on behalf of the UK Parliament, with the Scottish Parliament, which has reconvened the all-party technical working group to look at the matter ahead of the all-important May elections?
Mr Willetts
I have ministerial responsibility for the financing of universities in England only, but the right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and we do keep in close contact with the devolved Administrations, because there are significant connections between decisions that we take in England and decisions that they take affecting Scotland and Wales.
Grahame M. Morris (Easington) (Lab)
6. What assessment he has made of the prospects of establishing a single local enterprise partnership in the north-east; and if he will make a statement.
Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) (Con)
15. What progress he has made on preparations for the higher education White Paper; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
We are consulting students, universities and other experts and will publish a White Paper in the early part of this year. It will set out how we will sustain our world-class universities, encourage them to deliver high-quality teaching and improve social mobility.
Mr Evennett
I thank my right hon. Friend. As he knows, a significant number of higher education courses are now being provided at further education colleges. Can he advise me whether the White Paper will build upon that?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend was, of course, a lecturer in a further education college, and it is only right that he should remind us of the contribution that FE colleges can make. He is absolutely right, and we do hope to encourage higher education in further education institutions as part of our White Paper.
Justin Tomlinson
In an ever more complex financial world, does the Minister agree that offering additional financial education will give universities a unique selling point in providing quality student support on post-study matters, and therefore should be considered as part of higher education pastoral support in the forthcoming White Paper?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of people having access to good financial advice. Of course, one thing that students can be advised is that in future, under the coalition’s proposals, their monthly repayments on their student loans will be lower than under the current scheme.
Nicola Blackwood
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that socio-economic disadvantage has already had an impact on academic outcomes by the age of 11, and that disadvantage explains a significant proportion of the gap in HE participation at 19 or 20. Does the Minister agree that simply expecting universities to bridge educational inequalities once they have become entrenched will not work? If so, how does he intend to work with relevant Departments, such as the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education, and with universities as they develop their access programmes, to try to break the link between socio-economic disadvantage in the early years and HE participation once and for all?
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that that problem needs to be tackled at all stages of the educational process, in early years, at school and at university. I am pleased to inform the House today of a new initiative, an excellent collaboration between KPMG and the university of Durham, whereby school leavers will go straight into employment with KPMG while also studying at the university, with their fees paid by KPMG. That is an excellent example of the type of initiative that we want to see.
Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)
What assessment has the Minister made of the disconnect between the cuts in higher education funding, particularly in the arts and humanities, and the delayed implementation of the education White Paper, which contains the new funding arrangements? Universities will have cuts before they get the new funding arrangements following that White Paper.
Mr Willetts
As I said earlier, it was clear in the grant letter that we sent to the Higher Education Funding Council for England that over the next few years, as the teaching grant income of universities falls, there will be increased income through the graduate contribution scheme. We believe that by the end of this Parliament, universities could well have a higher total income than they have at the moment.
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
On graduate contributions, can it be right that we are asking students to pay more when some universities have clearly not sorted out their inefficiencies? For example, is it right for Oxford fellows to get a free lunch on the taxpayer?
Mr Willetts
I think that we in the House have to be careful about free lunches. I do not know about the specific arrangements at Oxford, but I agree with the right hon. Gentleman’s wider point and appreciate his experience as a Minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. We are entitled to expect universities to make efficiency savings. There should be more contracting out; they should hold down their pensions costs—there is a lot that universities should do to hold down their costs. They should not simply pass them on to students in higher fees.
David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP)
Further to the point on universities, how many children of servicemen and women killed on active duty are expected to be eligible for the new university scholarship scheme?
Mr Willetts
We obviously do not know, as the years progress, how many children in those tragic circumstances can benefit. I think some estimates suggest that the figure could be 100 a year at the peak of the scheme. Our commitment to the education of the children of servicemen who sadly lost their lives is an important sign of our commitment to maintaining the military covenant.
Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con)
16. What representations he has received on his Department’s policy on the future of the post office network; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)
The cuts in higher education funding will begin at the beginning of the next financial year, in April 2011. The university year will not end until the summer, and the new income streams from tuition fees will not arrive until some indeterminate time in the future. There is a disconnection in the cash flow to higher education. What is the Minister doing to prevent it from damaging higher education?
The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)
As I explained earlier, we are of course providing an alternative source of income for universities as graduate contributions come in. There will be a reduction in the teaching grant in the coming year, just as there will be public expenditure savings across many Departments, but universities will be able to go through that period, and we expect that at the end of the current Parliament, they will have a higher total income than they have at present.