Higher Education Fees

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

In the debate since the Browne proposals were published, and so far today, many have found it easy to reject what is proposed, but there has been too little presentation of alternatives. I have attempted to bring constructive criticism and fresh ideas to bear on the Government’s proposals during the past few weeks. In the House, just over a month ago, the Prime Minister agreed with me that if graduates are to make a greater contribution to the cost of their education, contributions should be related to ability to pay.

Like the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), I find much in the Government’s proposals to welcome, and much that serves to make higher education funding fairer. I particularly welcome the end of up-front fees for the 40% of students who study part time. Retaining the cap on fees, albeit at the higher level, is indeed an improvement on Lord Browne’s report. The raising of the repayment threshold from £15,000 to £21,000 is also an improvement on the current system, as is the annual uprating of the threshold in line with earnings. However, I did not believe that it would be fair, come 2015, for today’s students to have to make payments from the substantially lower threshold of £15,000, while the most recent graduates would be able to earn up to £21,000 before beginning their contributions. I have made that point on the Floor of the House to the Minister for Universities and Science.

Therefore, I truly appreciate the movement that the Government showed yesterday in announcing the annual uprating of the repayment threshold for existing students and graduates, not just for those starting their studies from 2012 onwards. The measure should not be underestimated. It calls a halt to repayments for more than 100,000 graduates on modest salaries, and it cuts the contributions asked of 2.5 million graduates by hundreds of pounds each over the course of this Parliament. However, I hope that when the new system is in place, the gap between the existing repayment threshold and the £21,000 level can be closed entirely. At the very least, under the existing system recent graduates should be offered the option of transferring to the new system, with whatever outstanding contribution they have left at the time. In that way, they could indeed benefit from the increased threshold.

[Claire Perry (Devizes) (Con)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Duncan Hames]

I will give way to my constituency neighbour.

[Claire Perry]

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s reference to the progressive nature of the measures. Is it credible that the Labour party, which introduced the principle of graduates paying and voted for two increases in tuition fees, is able to drum up quite so much fake anger this afternoon?

[Duncan Hames]

What amazes me is that Labour Members were not prepared to raise the £15,000 threshold in any of the last six years.

There has been another failure since the Opposition introduced tuition fees, which has been inadequately addressed for too long—for 13 years, indeed.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Duncan Hames]

I will not take any more interventions.

Back in 1997, the Dearing report concluded that the cost of higher education should be shared among those who benefited from it: the student, the state and the employer. For the past 13 years, the Government have ignored the conclusion that employers should also contribute to the cost of higher education. Not only are graduate employers not required to make a direct contribution, but there appears to be no method of facilitating that, even on a discretionary basis. I invite the Government and industry to develop broader proposals to facilitate, and even encourage, direct employer contributions to graduates’ higher education. Such contributions would effectively reduce what is being asked of graduates themselves. They could even prove to be more tax-efficient for the enlightened employers who chose to make them.

In the weeks since the publication of the Browne review, I have persistently sought to persuade the Government to amend their proposals to make them fairer. The Government have responded constructively, and have listened while others have failed to set out a fair and affordable alternative. In this way, we are making things fairer; and although there is more to do, I am confident that Ministers will continue to engage with the issues. That is why I will join them in the Aye Lobby.

I promised my constituents that I would work towards a fairer system of higher education funding. That is indeed what I have done, and it is what I will continue to do.