Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on the mental health of students of the 11 per cent real-terms reduction to the student maintenance support loan by 2022-23.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous bodies independent from government and they have a responsibility to support students with mental health conditions, defined as a disability. As experts in their student population, HE providers are best placed to identify specific needs of their students.

The department considers changes to support arrangements for students in HE on an annual basis.

Maximum grants and loans for living costs were increased by 3.1% this academic year, and the department has announced that they will increase by a further 2.3% in the 2022/23 academic year.

As part of a package to support households with the rising cost of energy bills, the government is giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls. In addition, we are making available discretionary funding of £144 million to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes, including students, to support those who do not pay council tax. Each council is responsible for the design of their discretionary support scheme and will publish further details on their website.

Many HE providers have hardship funds that students can apply for. Assistance and budgeting advice is available from HE providers themselves as well as from online sources such as Student Space and the Money Advice Service.