Post-18 Education and Funding

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Tuesday 4th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I pay tribute to the work that my hon. Friend has done and the thought leadership he has shown in some of his writings on these subjects. He is absolutely right to identify the increase in resource available to universities, but total HE financing has risen by £6 billion or so over the period through a combination of more students and higher resourcing. One thing that the report analyses in fine detail is exactly how we make sure that we properly reflect both the value and cost to serve of these courses. What he says is very apt.

[Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

It is good, I am sure, that we have agreement across the Chamber that more money should go into lifelong learning and further education, but we want to hear a guarantee from the Minister that those resources will not come from higher education. We also want a guarantee that if tuition fees are reduced, any shortfall of money going to universities will be made up by teaching grant from the Government not just for science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, but for arts and humanities subjects, because they are also very important for our economy. If these proposals will eventually see their way into legislation—it is not clear to any of us how that would happen—is the Minister going to consult the sector widely so that he does not destabilise it further? We need those guarantees so that universities have certainty if they are to compete globally.

[Damian Hinds]

The hon. Lady will shortly meet the universities Minister in her all-party group on universities and will have an opportunity to discuss some of these things further. She mentioned teaching grants. The Augar report recommends precisely that—that there should be top-ups, although not exactly the same for all subjects. Few people realise the extent of the teaching grant. It is £1.3 billion, with some 40%—two in five—of courses attracting some sort of teaching grant. What the report talks about is how we balance that correctly properly to reflect not only value but cost to serve, as I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien).

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 29th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

T6.   Can the Minister tell the House when the Augar review of post-18 education and student funding is likely to report? I hope he does not just say, “Soon.” Will he outline the steps the Department is taking to ensure that Augar’s proposals do not adversely affect or reduce university funding, or create a more uncertain financial environment for universities?

[Damian Hinds]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Philip Augar and his team for the very thorough piece of work they are doing, looking at post-18 education and its financing. Of course, that covers both the university route and others. It is an incredibly important piece of work. I do not have a date to give the hon. Lady today; I will avoid using the “s” word, but we will come back on this before too long. While I am on my feet, let me say that we have mentioned everybody else who ran the marathon and who has stood up today, but my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Chris Green) also put in a very creditable performance.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

The hon. Lady is entirely right to identify the importance of independent careers advice. That goes for applications to university, for subject choice and for considering technical and vocational—as well as academic—routes, and that is why we are putting so much focus on it.

[Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State must understand that if we are to achieve social mobility, our schools have to be adequately funded. Because of funding cuts, Durham County Council is closing a school—the only school—in a disadvantaged village in my constituency. The young people there will feel undervalued, as will the community, so what will the Secretary of State do to ensure that that school stays open and that those children are given a real chance in life?

[Damian Hinds]

I totally acknowledge that it can be very unsettling and upsetting when a school closes like that. Of course, I am happy to discuss the particular case with her, but it remains the case that across the system we are holding the core schools budget constant in real per pupil terms.

Post-18 Education

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Tuesday 20th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

The terms of reference that the Secretary of State published say that the review cannot make recommendations on tax policy and that it must make recommendations in keeping with the Government’s fiscal policies. Does that mean that there will be no new money for higher education regardless of the review’s recommendations?

[Damian Hinds]

As I said, we have a framework of fiscal responsibility, which we will stick to. The announcements on tax and spending are made at fiscal events, but the review has a wide remit to consider all the different aspects of the system and make recommendations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Tuesday 1st March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has said that the shale wealth fund could deliver up to £1 billion of benefits to communities hosting shale gas development. This is in addition to the existing industry scheme. My hon. Friend is entirely right that it is important that communities see those benefits and have the reassurance of additionality.

[Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on the economy of the UK leaving the EU.

Student Visas

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 6th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

Thank you.

All in all, about one fifth of the top 100 universities and about one fifth of the top 50 business schools in the world are ours, and of course we have that great asset, the English language.

The sector has other advantages. The first and most obvious is export earnings and the jobs it supports in this country, but it is also important in the battle for talent, in bringing into the country the people we need to help our economy succeed. It also helps with what people have called soft power—or, as I would prefer to describe it, the promotion of Britain abroad and the fostering of business and cultural links throughout the world.

The sector has several secondary advantages. For one, unusually among the key growth sectors, its employment and economic growth prospects are well distributed throughout the UK, not concentrated in one place, such as London. Secondly, university rankings depend on having a certain proportion of foreign students at a university, because international rankings consider that if a university is not good enough to attract foreign students, it is probably not very good. Thirdly, having a vibrant, cosmopolitan HE sector helps to reinforce several other growth strategy objectives, particularly to bring forward research and development in key sectors and to make this country the headquarters location of choice for multinationals.

As many hon. Members have said, this is a growing world market. In 1980, about 1 million students were enrolled in institutions outside their country of origin, but by 2010 that figure was 3.3 million. We know that more recently the compound annual growth rate trend—obviously it has moved a bit in the last couple of years—has been about 7%, which is a strong growth rate for an attractive industry. According to the McKinsey report on the seven long-term priorities for the UK, if we can hold our share—grow it as the market grows—and harvest just half of the benefit, it would be worth an additional 80,000 jobs in the country by 2030.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that holding that share is becoming more difficult, because of the challenge from countries such as Australia and Canada, and that the Government should be strengthening our universities’ ability to attract overseas students, not making it more difficult, as they are doing at present?

[Damian Hinds]

The hon. Lady brilliantly anticipates my next point. Of course, she is absolutely correct. As my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell) said, we are, to coin a phrase, in a global race, and we are not the only ones who have spotted that this is an attractive sector and who are doing things differently, as we will continue to do in order to protect and grow our own share. The most obvious competitive set are the Anglophone countries, led by the United States, but including Canada and Australia. Increasingly, however, non-English speaking countries are offering English-speaking courses. The third competitor is potentially the biggest, and that is the choice of staying at home. In China, India, Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, there is a big business opportunity in attracting students from those countries to stay in institutions there. So, yes, we have to redouble our efforts all the time in order not only to forge ahead, but just to hold our own.

We should be talking always about quality higher education, pre-higher education preparation and certified colleges. These institutions should not be selling visas; they must be selling education, and we know that there have been recent substantial abuses. The National Audit Office says that in 2009 up to 50,000 alleged students were here primarily to work, rather than study. We had this cadre of serial students who were forever renewing their visas without showing any substantial progress in their studies. Clearly, if we are serious about curbing immigration in what has become a chaotic situation and about reducing the numbers and getting rid of abuse, we have to tackle the student visa route.

Higher Education Fees

Debate between Damian Hinds and Roberta Blackman-Woods

Thursday 9th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

I am sorry, but because of the time I cannot.

It is sometimes difficult when people of our age have conversations with teenagers about university tuition, because it is startlingly obvious that we had an incredibly generous deal. That deal, however, was always based on such education being available to a relatively small number of people, and we were just the beneficiaries.

In the year I was born, 414,000 people were in full-time higher education; when I went to university, the number was 660,000; and now, it is 1.3 million. When we experience changes of that magnitude, we must fundamentally rethink how we pay for such things. Members from all parts of the House agree on that fundamental point, as they do on pension reform and on long-term care.

There has been another major change over those 40 years: real household income per head is 2.5 times what it was in 1970. That does not come from nothing; it comes from economic growth, an increased number of higher, value-added jobs and, most of all, growth in the professional and managerial classes, which is enabled by more people participating in higher education. We need those trends to continue, because never again will we make T-shirts cheaper than China. We need wider participation in higher education to thrive, and we need to excel in the necessary markets: advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, financial services and, indeed, education itself.

The global market for higher education is growing at 7% compound per annum. This country is uniquely well placed to take advantage of that, first, because of the gift—literally, the gift—of the English language, and, secondly, because of the marvellous higher education brand names in England and, I must say, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To thrive in that market, however, our universities need to be properly funded, and top universities have long complained that, even with the Government contribution—

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Damian Hinds]

I cannot, because of the time.

Top universities have long complained that, even with the Government’s contribution and the fees, they were underfunded and could not cover their costs. Incidentally, the cost also applies to EU students. There were 61,000 such enrolments last year, a number that is growing fast, and they are also partly subsidised by the British taxpayer. The right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr Denham) made light of the following point, but universities have used non-EU students as a cash cow to plug the funding gap, and that is not sustainable in a competitive, global market. Universities must be funded properly and sustainably.

It is true that, in higher education, there are what economists call both private returns and social returns— in other words, matters of social benefit—but all the studies say that the private returns outweigh the social returns, so it is fair that the students, over time, bear much of the cost.

With the package before us, with variable fees, requirements—rightly—to widen access and the higher £21,000 repayment threshold, we can continue to increase the number of young people accessing university, with all the benefits that that brings, and gear up the UK to take advantage of that key global growth market.