Mark Field
Main Page: Mark Field (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)(12 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Vince Cable
Yes, he will. He has been given additional resources in order to do his job properly. The issue on which my hon. Friend focuses, under-representation of at least some ethnic groups, is a particular focus of the letter that I, together with the Universities Minister, sent to the previous director as something that he should work on.
Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)
Given that the Secretary of State feels that it is his role to intervene in these matters, will he tell us how many pupils who qualify for free school meals should be going to Oxbridge by the end of Professor Ebdon’s tenure? If that number is not reached, will he intervene yet again on Professor Ebdon?
Vince Cable
I have not intervened beyond making the appointment, and Professor Ebdon has clear terms of reference. But since the hon. Gentleman has set out a standard, let me remind him and other colleagues of the current position. Pupils from independent schools are 55 times more likely to go to Oxbridge than children with free school meals. That is the imbalance that we are trying to address.