Students: Cost of Living

(asked on 15th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support students in the context of the increase in the costs of living.


Answered by
Robert Halfon Portrait
Robert Halfon
This question was answered on 20th December 2022

The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students. Many higher education (HE) providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance. There is £261 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help. The department has worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure universities support students in hardship using both hardship funds and drawing on the student premium.

Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. The department plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation, whether the accommodation is managed by universities or by private sector organisations.

All households will save on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount. The Energy Prices Act passed on 25 October 2022 includes the provision to require landlords to pass benefits they receive from energy price support, as appropriate, onto end users. Further details of the requirements under this act are set out in the legislation.

Students whose bills are included in their rent, including energy charges, will typically have agreed their accommodation costs upfront when signing their contract for the current academic year. Businesses, including those that provide student accommodation, are covered by the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which provides energy bill relief for non-domestic customers in Great Britain.

A Treasury-led review will be launched to consider how to support households and businesses with energy bills after April 2023.

Decisions on student support for HE courses are taken on an annual basis, and changes for the 2022/23 academic year were made through Regulations laid in December 2021.

The government is currently considering options for changes to loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2023/24 academic year starting in August 2023 and an announcement will follow in due course.

As autonomous institutions, universities will decide whether to offer warm spaces for students to study 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The department does not hold data on the proportion of universities who are choosing to offer warm spaces. However, we are aware that a number of universities are doing so, in order to better support their staff and students. Many universities already have warm spaces available 24/7 as part of their standard operating procedures.

Reticulating Splines