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Milk
105. Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the implications of recent changes in the provision of milk in schools.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The statutory requirements related to the provision of milk in schools are set out in section 22 of the Education Act 1980 as amended by section 77 of the Social Security Act 1986. There have been no recent changes in these requirements. Under certain conditions children under five years old in maintained schools may be entitled to receive free milk
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provided under the Welfare Food Regulations 1988. These regulations are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.Student Statistics
106. Mr. Gerald Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many full-time students are enrolled with universities and polytechnics in the current academic year ; and what was the number 10 years ago.
Mr. Jackson : Information for academic year 1989-90 is not yet available centrally. In 1988-89 there were 318,000 full-time university students and, provisionally 310,000 polytechnic and college full-time students on higher education courses in Great Britain, compared with 293,000 and 217,000 such students, respectively in 1979-80.
Educational Performance
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what assessment he has made of the relative educational performance in different areas of the country ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what figures are published by his Department to show the comparative educational performance of each education authority in England and Wales.
Mrs. Rumbold : In its annually published statistics on school leavers the Department includes information on examination attainments in respect of maintained schools in each local education authority in England. Comparable statistics for Wales are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. These figures reflect in part the different abilities of pupils resident in local education authority areas.
Disabled Students
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many disabled students do not receive the disabled students allowance because (a) they are not in receipt of a mandatory award and (b) they have no additional disability-related costs.
Mr. Jackson : This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make particular arrangements for the repayment of loans by disabled students and people who become disabled after graduation.
Mr. Jackson : My right hon. Friend intends that disabled people with low incomes should be protected by the standard provision for deferment of repayments. Like other aspects of the loans scheme, these arrangements will be monitored.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures his Department is taking to publicise the disabled students allowance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : The availability of the disabled students allowance for mandatory award holders is publicised in
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the DES booklet "Grants for Students". Bulk supplies are sent each year by the Department to local education authorities for wide free distribution among schools, colleges and other establishments. Copies are available to the public on request.Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to ensure that disabled students are enabled to benefit fully from the access funds proposed in the White Paper "Top-Up Loans for Students".
Mr. Jackson : Each further or higher education institution will be responsible for assessing the needs of students, including any who are disabled, and will distribute its share of the access funds accordingly.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will begin consultation on reviewing the maximum level of the disabled students allowance.
Mr. Jackson : Comments on the disabled students' allowance for mandatory award holders have already been received from interested bodies. My right hon. Friend will take these and any other representations into account in the course of the annual review of the awards regulations, so that any changes made can take effect from 1 September 1990.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will begin consultation to revise guidelines to local education authorities on the administration of the disabled students allowance.
Mr. Jackson : Before making the awards regulations each year my right hon. Friend considers representations from a number of sources about the detail of the provisions made in them. This process is well under way for 1990. As in previous years, once the 1990 regulations have been made the Department is likely to issue guidance designed to help local authorities to put them into effect.
Capital Allocations
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he proposes to announce the 1990-91 capital allocations to local education authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Alan Howarth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston (Mr. Loyden) on 14 November at column 216 .
Goldsmith's College
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what arrangements were made by his Department for the funding of Goldsmith's college, university of London, during the transitional period towards entering the University Funding Committee ; what assumptions were made about the rate of inflation in such arrangements ; and what shortfalls have occurred since that arrangement was made ;
(2) what arrangements are being made to deal with the shortfall that has arisen within Goldsmith's college's finances before they enter the university funding system.
Mr. Jackson : Since Goldsmith's college formally became a school of the university of London on 1 August
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1988, funding has been the responsibility of London university with the assistance of public funds, now channelled through the Universities Funding Council. With the agreement of all the parties concerned, including Goldsmith's, there was an agreed level of funds transferred from the grant-aided sector to the university sector to provide basic funding for Goldsmith's over the period from 1 August 1988 to 31 July 1991. This reflected then current assumptions including the Treasury's forecast of the gross domestic product deflator. Subsequent additions to the public funding of universities have taken account of the transfer of Goldsmith's to the university sector. The actual distribution of such additional sums is a matter for the Universities Funding Council and the university of London.Student Grants
Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the rates of undergraduate student grants and parental contributions for 1990-91.
Mr. MacGregor : Subject to Parliament's approval of the necessary regulations, the main rates of mandatory grant for undergraduate students will be increased in the 1990-91 academic year by 5 per cent. for those studying outside London and for those who study from their parents' home. For those studying in London the main rate will be increased by 7.4 per cent. in recognition of their higher living costs. The new rates, which apply to students from England and Wales, and will be supplemented by the top-up loan facility subject to the enactment of the legislation now before Parliament, will be as follows (1989-90 rates are shown in brackets) :
|£ |£
-------------------------------------------
Halls or Lodgings
(i) London |2,845 |(2,650)
(ii) Elsewhere |2,265 |2,155
Parental home |1,795 |(1,710)
For most students, the 1990-91 main grant and full-year loan together will amount to some 25 per cent. more than the 1989-90 grant alone.
Rates of grant for supplementary allowances, and for postgraduates, will be announced later.
Residual income will be retained for the time being as the basis for assessing parental contributions. Consultations revealed divided views on the proposal in the White Paper "Top-Up Loans for Students" (Cm. 520), to move to a gross income basis, and further work would be needed to resolve some practical difficulties. The matter will be kept under review. Meanwhile, the threshold for parental contributions, and the points on the contribution scale at which the rate of contribution changes, will be uprated in 1990-91 to reflect the movement of earnings. Parents whose residual income is below £11, 500 will not be assessed for a contribution.
The full parental contribution scales for 1990-91 are as follows :
Residual income |Scale 1 |Scale 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From £11,500 to £14,700 |£1 in £7 |£1 in £9.33 From £14,701 to £21,600 |£1 in £5 |£1 in £6.66 From £21,601 |£1 in £4 |£1 in £5.33 <3> The maximum contribution, which applies to parents with more than one child holding an award, will rise from £5,300 to £5,800. The minimum contribution will remain at £60 on Scale 1 and £45 on Scale 2. <4> The contributions payable may be less than the amounts shown on the scale, particularly at its top end and where the contribution is in respect of one award holder only. This will depend on the amount of grant against which the contribution has to be set and whether any of the assessed contribution is offset by allowances for other dependant children.
Residual income |Scale 1 |Scale 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From £11,500 to £14,700 |£1 in £7 |£1 in £9.33 From £14,701 to £21,600 |£1 in £5 |£1 in £6.66 From £21,601 |£1 in £4 |£1 in £5.33 <3> The maximum contribution, which applies to parents with more than one child holding an award, will rise from £5,300 to £5,800. The minimum contribution will remain at £60 on Scale 1 and £45 on Scale 2. <4> The contributions payable may be less than the amounts shown on the scale, particularly at its top end and where the contribution is in respect of one award holder only. This will depend on the amount of grant against which the contribution has to be set and whether any of the assessed contribution is offset by allowances for other dependant children.
Adult Education
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what current national spending and monitoring of success levels have been achieved in relation
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to adult basic education programmes over the last 10 years, by year ; to increase funding and provision in this area ; what plans he has ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Jackson : Local education authorities are mainly responsible for providing basic literacy and numeracy tuition for adults. Central Government support is provided to the adult literacy and basic skills unit (ALBSU) which is funded by the Department of Education and Science and the Welsh Office to act as the central focus for adult literacy and related basic skills in England and Wales. Grants to ALBSU during the past 10 years are as follows :
|£
------------------------------
1980-81 |495,000
1981-82 |1,000,065
1982-83 |1,406,652
1983-84 |1,513,000
1984-85 |1,500,000
1985-86 |1,723,000
1986-87 |2,170,000
1987-88 |2,248,500
1988-89 |2,596,000
1989-90 |2,889,300
Local education authorities and voluntary organisations report that the provision of adult basic skills tuition has increased over the past 10 years. In November 1988, the latest year for which figures are available, they reported that 110,626 adults were receiving tuition. HMI monitor the quality of provision as part of their regular inspection programmes.
My right hon. Friend is not yet in the position to announce what funds will be made available to ALBSU in the future. The Department will continue to work closely with ALBSU to increase the opportunities for adults to improve their basic skills, through initiatives such as the provision of open learning centres in inner-city areas, open learning centres supported through the ESG programme and the development of workplace tuition. The Department will also continue to co-operate with ALBSU, the BBC and the Training Agency in the basic skills accreditation initiative.
Pupils (Per Capita Spending)
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the per capita spending for pupils at city technology colleges and for secondary school pupils in the last year for which figures are available ; and what is projected spending for the next year.
Mrs. Rumbold : In 1987-88 average recurrent spending per pupil in maintained secondary schools was some £1,520. The estimated average spending per pupil implied by the proposed total standard spending for 1990 -91 is of the order of £2,000. These figures do not include spending on central services such as administration. The recurrent per capita grant for pupils at city technology colleges for 1989-90 is based on a unit of funding of £1,825. This figure includes central administration costs, but excludes an allowance for diseconomies of scale during the start-up period, and specific grants for certain items. The comparable figure for 1990-91 will be determined by reference to LEA expenditure in 1988-89, updated to a 1990-91 base.
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