Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to invest in higher education facilities in Surrey Heath constituency.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous and decide where to locate and establish their facilities, providing tangible benefits to their local areas and constituencies.

Providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) and in the Approved (fee cap) category of registration are allocated targeted grant funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant. The government provides this funding on an annual basis to support teaching and students in HE, including expensive-to-deliver subjects, such as science and engineering, and for students at risk of discontinuing their studies. Of the £1.4 billion recurrent funding distributed by the OfS for the 2024/25 academic year, more than two-thirds is being directed to support the provision of high-cost courses.

Providers in Surrey are in receipt of this funding, including the University of Surrey and Royal Holloway, University of London.