Angela Smith
Main Page: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Mr Denham
I am very sorry that the Secretary of State did not give way to the hon. Gentleman, because I think anybody who is showing the integrity and courage he is displaying in standing out and being critical of his party’s policies deserves a hearing from his own side of the House. In what he says, the hon. Gentleman is in some very good company, as I will show in a moment.
We created ladders of opportunity for young people from low-income backgrounds, but they are now being knocked over. The Minister for Universities and Science was recently asked a parliamentary question about the impact of Aimhigher. He said that
“evidence from colleges, schools and academies showed that involvement in the activities provided through Aimhigher was associated with higher than predicted attainment at GCSE and greater confidence among learners that they were able to achieve.”—[Official Report, 29 November 2010; Vol. 519, c. 590W.]
I repeat:
“greater confidence among learners that they were able to achieve.”
So what is the Minister doing? He is closing it down.
Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
Figures from the Library show that the Labour Government put £230 million into widening participation. Aimhigher has gone and the rest of that money has not yet been confirmed by the new Government. If it goes, will it not mean that the £150 million made available is in fact a cut in terms of widening participation?
Mr Willetts
I was explaining how we have not rushed our proposals. They were based on a report that was introduced and commissioned by Labour a year ago. The changes will not come into force for the first generation of students until September 2012. It is necessary to take the financing decisions now so that universities can plan for them. If we do not take those decisions now, students and universities will find that universities have less grant, and that they are unable to replace it with income from students, which is what we are introducing—that is the key feature of our proposals.
We often hear Opposition Members talk about the loss of teaching grant, but they do not talk about the other side of the proposal—the extra money that can come to universities through the choices of students. We trust students. Taxpayers will provide students with the money to pay the fees. That will ensure that universities can continue to enjoy the levels of income that they enjoy at the moment. That money will not be handed out from Whitehall; it will come from the choices of students.
We believe that those students will continue to choose arts and humanities. There is no bias against arts and humanities—[Interruption.] Our proposals are equitable, and we believe that they will ensure that students can choose the courses that they wish.
Mr Willetts
Because our proposals—[Hon. Members: “Give way!”] I am not going to give way because I have three minutes remaining in which to report to the House that in the past few days 53 university leaders from across England have made it clear that they support the coalition shift towards a more progressive graduate contribution scheme as the way to provide a more sustainable higher education system.
Of course the Government care about participation in universities. That is why I can assure Members on both sides of the House that unlike the system we inherited from the previous Government, we expect universities to review access and report on how they are doing on broadening it under our proposals not every five years, but every year.
There will be no loss of income for universities. We believe that students will continue to apply. They will not have to pay up-front, and they will be enabled by funds from the taxpayer to choose the university courses that they wish.
We believe that the proposals are the right way forward for our universities. All the Opposition can offer is delay. They did not even dare propose their graduate tax today, because we know that although the leader of the Labour party wants it, his own shadow Chancellor does not agree. They have not even proposed a graduate tax.
Labour left a mess in the public finances, and the Government must tackle it. If we do not tackle it in the way we propose, and if we go for the delay that the Opposition advocate, it will simply mean less funding for universities or more Government borrowing. Who pays the Government debt? It is the younger generation whom the Opposition claim to care about.
That is why the Government commend the motions to the House. We believe that we have tackled the challenge—in a time of austerity—of proposing a policy that is fair and progressive, and one that puts power in the hands of students and universities on a solid financial footing for the future.
Question put.