Universities: Financial Sustainability

Debate between Chris Skidmore and Kevin Foster

Monday 11th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Skidmore]

I am happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, as a constituency Member of Parliament, at his request. However, the Government’s position is not to comment on the financial sustainability of individual institutions. I will arrange the meeting, but I urge him and Reading University to contact the OfS to begin discussions on any concerns they might have. The OfS is there to provide early signposting and pick up on issues, rather than to react to late decisions or financial circumstances.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The Minister will have seen the growth in the universities sector over the past few years, particularly as the student caps have been removed, and he will be aware that Torbay hopes at some point to have an institution of university status. Will he reassure me that we will not return to the era of caps, which would make that impossible?

[Chris Skidmore]

I entirely agree. I am proud to be a member of the Government who reduced the student number cap between 2012 and 2015, and eventually abolished it in 2016, allowing a record number of students to access higher education. We know that, going into the 2020s, we will need a knowledge-based economy, so it is right that we allow more people the opportunity to succeed in their ambition to achieve a degree. Abolishing student finance by looking at fee levels would simply give away a fee freeze to the children of millionaires while capping the number of students who could attend university.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Skidmore and Kevin Foster

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Skidmore]

Delivering an EU deal is the Government’s top priority, and we do not want a no-deal scenario. However, a responsible Government should prepare for every eventuality, including the possibility of no deal. We have already guaranteed the rights of EU residents in the UK by 29 March 2019, and we are calling on EU member states to do the same for UK nationals. For education, that will mean that they have broadly the same entitlements to work, study and access to public services and benefits as now. In addition, the Government have made an underwrite guarantee that will cover all committed payments to UK participants in programmes such as the European social fund and Erasmus Plus.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The Schools Minister will be aware of the concerns in Torbay schools around the consultation on the high needs funding formula, so we welcome the additional funding announced yesterday. Will he confirm whether the indicative amounts per council will be published?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Skidmore and Kevin Foster

Wednesday 14th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Chris Skidmore]

It is a shame that there were no SNP Members of the House of Lords taking part in that debate because that party refuses to engage in the democratic process and lets down the people of Scotland by not allowing them adequate representation. Talking about frustrating processes, there was a vote in 2014 in which 2 million people voted to remain as part of the UK, but that party over there continues to frustrate the will of the Scottish people.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

I am sure the Minister shares my disappointment that when there was an opportunity to reform the House of Lords in Government time in this Chamber, the main Opposition party decided to frustrate it. Does he agree that any reform of the size and composition of the Lords needs to be linked to wider reform that delivers a whole package, and should not just set a particular number on the membership?

[Chris Skidmore]

What is important is that reform of the House of Lords is led by the Lords themselves. As the debate last week showed, there is clearly an appetite for that. We have had significant reforms, including on the retirement of peers, which has seen about 50 peers retire. I welcome the fact that the Leader of the House of Lords said at the end of the debate that she would consider

“whether a more immediate, practical step could be taken in convening a small, Back Bench-led consultative group whose work could be overseen, for instance, by the Lord Speaker.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 5 December 2016; Vol. 777, c. 591.]

I look forward to hearing more about the development of those plans.