Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of the Minister of State for Universities in Hansard, Official Report, 11 February 2019, Volume 654, Column 637, what the evidenial basis is for his claim that universities financed entirely by taxation would result in an increased burden of £12 billion on the taxpayer.

My answer on 11 February 2019 was based on an observation of Labour’s Higher Education Proposals published by the Institute for Fiscal studies (IFS) in 2017. The observation can be found at: https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/9217.

My statement, that to return to a stage where universities are financed entirely by taxation would increase the burden on the taxpayer by £12 billion, is based on IFS modelling that shows that the total long run contribution of the government to remove tuition fees would be £12.5 billion, rounded down to the nearest billion. Of that £12.5 billion, the IFS estimate that around £11.6 billion would be in the form of teaching grants.