EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Lord McColl of Dulwich Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord McColl of Dulwich (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I too congratulate my noble friend Lord Wharton on his splendid maiden speech.

It is understandable that there have been serious doubts about the expensive Erasmus programme, which last year was reported as costing €3.3 billion and serving 940,000 participants—which means that each participant cost €3,600. The scheme involved twice as many people coming to the UK as going from it. Can the Minister assure us that the proposed UK Alan Turing scheme will be less bureaucratic than what we have seen in Brussels?

Our new scheme, unlike the parochial Erasmus, will enable students to go further afield to Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Some of our forward-thinking universities have already established exchange programmes beyond Europe and have the Government’s full support. Unlike Erasmus, the government scheme will explicitly target students from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas which did not have many candidates benefiting from Erasmus+, making life-changing opportunities accessible across the country. It will be backed by over £100 million for about 35,000 students in universities, colleges and schools, as well as students on apprenticeships, to go on placements and exchanges overseas. It will deliver greater value for money to the taxpayer.