Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Blomfield Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Prisk]

It will be launched next week.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)]

My Department has a key role in supporting the rebalancing of the economy and business to deliver growth while increasing skills and learning.

[Paul Blomfield]

As the Government have stumbled from the tuition fees debacle, through the uncertainty caused by core and margin and AAB, the reputational damage of international student visa policy, and the failure to develop policy on postgraduate education, will the Secretary of State admit—he has rightly identified this in other areas of Government policy—that the Government lack a compelling vision for UK higher education, and that that is behind today’s fall in our international reputational rankings?

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

We set out our approach to higher education in our White Paper. It shows how, even when public expenditure has to be reduced, we have been able to ensure that our universities remain well financed. It ensures that we still have more young people applying for university than in any year of the previous Labour Government. We are backing our universities.