Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support students with the cost of living.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for 7 years.
The government has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current 2023/24 academic year, with a further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25.
Students awarded a loan for living costs for the 2023/24 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2023/24 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students.
The department is making a further £10 million of one-off support available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
Further the department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high-quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.
That is why the department has asked the Office for Students (OfS) to maintain student premium and mental health funding for the 2023/24 financial year at the same levels as the previous year and to ensure providers are aware they can draw on the Student Premium to support students in financial hardship. The department will continue to liaise with the OfS on the impacts of cost-of-living pressures.
Between 2022/23 to 2024/25, government will have provided support worth £104 billion, an average of £3,700 per household, to help families throughout the UK with the cost-of-living including to meet increased household energy costs. This will have eased some of the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enabled many families to provide additional support to their children in HE to help them meet increased living costs.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to increase the (a) student loan and (b) postgraduate loan repayment thresholds in line with (i) inflation and (ii) the national living wage.
Answered by Robert Halfon
As education, including higher education and student finance, is a devolved matter, this department is responsible for student finance in England only.
The student finance and funding system must provide value for money for all of society at a time of rising costs. It is important that a sustainable student finance system is in place, that is fair to students and fair to taxpayers.
The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years.
The mechanism for setting repayment thresholds for student loans is set out and governed by the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 (as amended). This includes provision for annual adjustments, where applicable.
The department will continue to keep the terms of the student finance system under review to ensure that they keep delivering value for money for both students and taxpayers.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Colombian Government on the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024, to be held in that country in October-November 2024.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since 2011, Colombia has been one of the largest recipients of UK International Climate Finance and we regularly engage with the Colombian Government on environmental issues. In January, officials from our Embassy in Bogotá spoke with the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development to offer our support to ensure a successful UN Biodiversity Conference in 2024. We will continue to have discussions with the Colombian Government as they develop their plans for the conference.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of increasing maximum student loan amounts in line with inflation.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students, and to keep the cost of higher education (HE) under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
The government recognises the additional cost-of-living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The department has therefore already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students.
The government has increased loans for living costs each year for students in England, with a 2.8% increase for the current 2023/24 academic year, and a further 2.5% increase announced for the 2024/25 academic year. Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
Students awarded a loan for living costs for the 2023/24 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
The department is now making a further £10 million of one-off support available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the investigation launched by the Financial Conduct Authority on 11 January into the motor finance market, what long-term plans they have to ensure customers are charged fair and transparent prices in that market.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government believes it is vital that consumers have access to a healthy, competitive and sustainable motor finance market to enable them to spread the cost of a vehicle in a way that is manageable and affordable.
As the UK’s independent regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for regulating the motor finance market. It has robust powers to protect consumers in this market, and took action to ban discretionary commission models in 2021. The FCA has also confirmed that it will be taking steps to investigate historic practice in the motor finance sector, with a view to determining whether widespread misconduct has occurred and, if necessary, how redress can be delivered in an orderly and consistent way.
Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the FCA, and the government will continue to work closely with the FCA to ensure all customers are treated fairly.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a Basic Student Income.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government does not have plans to introduce a non-means tested basic income for students in England.
Decisions on student finance have to be taken to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of higher education (HE) are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
The devolved governments have responsibility for HE in their respective countries and determine the student finance arrangements and their sustainability for their students.
The partially means-tested loan for living costs is provided as a contribution towards a student’s living costs while attending university rather than necessarily covering those costs in full, with the highest levels of support paid to students from the lowest income families who need it most. Financial support may be provided by the student’s parents or partner, but there are several other sources of funding available for students such as part-time employment, university bursaries and scholarships and local authority support such as the HE bursary.
Students awarded a loan for living costs for the 2023/24 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
The government recognises the additional cost-of-living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The department has increased loans for living costs each year for students in England, with a 2.8% increase for the current academic year, 2023/24 and further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25.
The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students.
The department is now making a further £10 million of one-off support available to support student mental health and hardship funding. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
Over the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years, the government is providing support worth £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, to help families throughout the UK with the cost of living, including help to meet increased household energy costs. This will have eased the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enabled many families to provide additional support to their children in HE to help them meet increased living costs.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will next review the repayment threshold for repayment of (a) student tuition fee loans and (b) student maintenance loans; and if she will carry out a public consultation on this review.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Higher Education policy, including student finance, is devolved and this answer relates to England only.
The student finance and funding system must provide value for money for all of society at a time of rising costs. It is important that a sustainable student finance system is in place that is fair to students and fair to taxpayers. The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By the 2024/25 academic year, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years.
The mechanism for setting repayment thresholds for student loans is set out and governed by the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 (as amended). This includes provision for annual adjustments, where applicable, which do not require public consultation. The repayment threshold is the same for both tuition fee and maintenance loans.
The department will continue to keep the terms of the student finance system under review to ensure that they keep delivering value for money for both students and taxpayers.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that financial institutions (a) provide insurance for property owners using carbon-free cement in new buildings and (b) support the use of innovative low and zero carbon products and services.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is fully committed to delivering on our net zero legal obligations by 2050 and has set out a comprehensive range of measures to support investment into the transition in Powering Up Britain and the Green Finance Strategy. These will help leverage around £100 billion of private investment as we develop new industries and innovative low carbon technologies and support up to 480,000 jobs by 2030.
The package of measures recently set out at Autumn Statement 2023 will further build the enabling environment for investment, which will be vital to delivering net zero. This included making Full Expensing permanent, speeding up grid connections, and reforming the planning system. It also included £4.5bn in advanced manufacturing support, with £960m for a new Green Industries Growth Accelerator focused on clean energy sectors.
Insurers make commercial decisions about the types of products they will cover, as well as the terms and conditions they set, when offering insurance. While the Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers, it recognises the important role insurance plays in supporting the transition to more sustainable products and will continue to monitor the availability and affordability of relevant insurance products.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee on establishing a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation adopted on 22 November 2023, whether the Government plans to support this resolution.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK strongly supports developing countries' efforts to scale-up domestic resource mobilisation to finance sustainable development.
The UK engaged constructively in the negotiations on the UN tax resolution. However, the UK, alongside many other countries, is concerned that proceeding with a UN convention on international tax at this time would not be the most effective way to achieve these goals. An Explanation of Vote was published on GOV.UK on 22nd November. [LINK]
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support the implementation of the UN General Assembly’s resolution on the Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK strongly supports developing countries' efforts to scale-up domestic resource mobilisation to finance sustainable development.
The UK engaged constructively in the negotiations on the UN tax resolution. However, the UK, alongside many other countries, is concerned that proceeding with a UN convention on international tax at this time would not be the most effective way to achieve these goals. An Explanation of Vote was published on GOV.UK on 22nd November. [LINK]