Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to re-allocate the £5 million uplift to the Strategic Priorities Grant which his predecessor removed on 31 March 2022.

The Strategic Priorities Grant budget is £1,397 million for the 2022/23 financial year, which is 5% higher than last year. The March 2022 guidance to the Office for Students confirms universities will continue to be able to support students in hardship through use of the Student Premium, for which up to £261 million is available in the 2022/23 academic year.

Additional student hardship funding of £85 million in the 2020/21 academic year and £5 million in the 2021/22 academic year were made in the context of the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department will continue to keep the situation under review, and we do not anticipate the need for further hardship support to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important that higher education providers continue to factor in contingency as part of their forward planning. Universities already have their own hardship funds, and we expect providers to continue to support students most in need.