Gavin Shuker
Main Page: Gavin Shuker (Independent - Luton South)(13 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Willetts
My hon. Friend is right. Some evaluations sadly show that bursaries, despite a large amount of money going into them, have not been very effective in broadening access to university. That is why we want to give universities much greater freedom to design schemes that actually work. A single £150 million national scholarship scheme is a great opportunity to communicate the fact that support will be available.
Gavin Shuker (Luton South) (Lab/Co-op)
Many Members will have heard about the tripling of tuition fees this morning on Radio 4, and the Minister has given further details from the Dispatch Box. Given that these are the biggest changes to student funding in a generation, why does he believe that the Business Secretary has been struck mute today?
Mr Willetts
The Secretary of State and I work so closely together that we are, for all practical purposes, interchangeable.