Stephen Mosley
Main Page: Stephen Mosley (Conservative - City of Chester)(14 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberThe Chancellor will announce his wider proposals on public spending, but as far as I know there is no intention to change the Barnett formula.
In many university towns, students play an important role in the local economy. Will the Secretary of State outline his proposals for how to support student living costs?
As I have indicated, student living costs and the maintenance to pay for them will be subject to a series of separate announcements. Once the spending review is announced, we will know how much it is possible to provide in the form of grants and maintenance loans. It is worth pointing out the base that we start from, which is that the current system of support for maintenance is probably the most generous in the world. As the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) pointed out a few moments ago, it is quite possible that we could move to a more sensible system whereby many students study in their home town.