Higher Education: Funding

Lord Morgan Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, the way in which the repayment system is structured means that no student, when they complete their studies, should ever be at a financial disadvantage. No graduate has to pay back their loan until they achieve an earning of £21,000 a year. There should not be any fear of an inability to pay back for the postgraduate student.

[Lord Morgan (Lab)]

My Lords, is there not a serious imbalance in university funding in terms of research, which has not been covered so far? The biblical precept has been followed of “To him who hath, more”—much more—“shall be given”. The effect is that only a small number of large, highly endowed universities are able to conduct a full research programme and be research active. Is it not seriously damaging to higher education in this country that our financing of research should be based on this inbuilt inequality?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

The noble Lord is absolutely right that research is fundamental both to universities and to the economic future of the country. I refer him to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, in which the Chancellor announced a significant amount of new money for research.