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University Funding
7. Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Committee of Scottish Higher Education Principals on the funding of Scottish universities. [34176]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State discussed funding with Scottish higher education principals when he addressed their annual forum dinner late last month.
Mr. Ingram: Has not the Committee of Scottish Higher Education Principals warned the Government that there is a funding crisis in Scottish universities? Does the Minister agree that a strong science and research base in our universities is essential for a strong manufacturing economy? If so, why have the Government continued to underfund and undermine our university base to the extent that we now face a funding crisis, and 1,000 university staff are threatened with the sack?
Mr. Robertson: Of course I agree with the hon. Gentleman that a sound scientific base is essential for a strong manufacturing bases. That is why Scotland's work force has been transformed in recent years and why the proportion of 25 to 29-year-olds with higher education qualifications living in Scotland has nearly doubled in the past 10 years--from 12.6 per cent to 23 per cent.
Mr. Tracey: Will my hon. Friend confirm that there are record numbers of students in higher education in Scotland? Can he tell the House what effect a tax-raising Scottish parliament would have on education expenditure, which is currently subsidised by taxes raised in London and in the rest of England?
Mr. Robertson: My hon. Friend is absolutely right: more young Scots are in higher education than ever before in our nation's history. Spending on higher education per student in Scotland is 31 per cent. higher than it is in England. Those sums would not be available for our universities with a tax-raising Scottish Parliament.
Mr. Welsh: Is the Minister aware of rising student drop-out rates--currently 17 per cent.--while student debt, on average, is 50 per cent. up on last year? Why are the Government encouraging more people to go to universities while penalising them with spiralling debt and underfunded universities and now with talk of a £500 entrance fee?
Mr. Robertson: The Scotland that the hon. Gentleman lives in is not the Scotland that I or Scottish students live in. We have more young people at university than ever before, and a higher proportion of those are from less well-off backgrounds than ever before. That is a record to
be proud of, and the hon. Gentleman does his party and his country no good in trying to talk down what is happening.
Mr. Macdonald: Will the Minister join me in congratulating Lews Castle college in my constituency on developing a new university-status degree course, the first such course to be developed in the highlands and islands network? Will he welcome this important step towards achieving the goal of a highlands and islands university?
Mr. Robertson: Yes, absolutely. I commend the college and congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the way in which he has doggedly pursued the issue. We have lifted the capping on further education students in the highlands and islands as, we hope, a precursor to the establishment of a full university in the highlands and islands, which is being vigorously backed by my right hon. Friend.
Mrs. Liddell: Why is the Minister ignoring representations from Scotland's university principals, who have already made it clear that they envisage the possibility of top-up entry fees to universities? Is he not ashamed of the fact that Government policy could lead to a return to the situation in which only the children of the rich get the benefit of a university degree?
Mr. Robertson: As I said in reply to a previous question, more people from less well-off backgrounds are attending university than ever before. We will take no lectures from the hon. Lady. Since the Labour party was last in government, student numbers have doubled, spending has increased by 30 per cent. in real terms and, above all, spending is 31 per cent. higher in Scotland than in England. Does the hon. Lady really believe that that would be sustained if her party had its way?
Mr. Beggs: Does the Minister accept that the excellent reputation of Scottish universities attracts many students from Northern Ireland, which is why my right hon. and hon. Friends who represent Northern Ireland constituencies are concerned about any crisis in funding for Scottish universities? Will he consider meeting his counterparts who represent English, Welsh and Northern Irish universities and making a joint representation for additional funding, bearing in mind that all universities are crying out for additional funds?
Mr. Robertson: My right hon. Friend has considerable freedom with the block given to him by the Treasury. Last time around, local government--unfortunately, in my opinion--took a bigger share of it than higher education. However, my right hon. Friend has met principals in Scotland, and their representations will be fed in when we discuss the allocation of next year's block.
Temazepam
8. Mrs. Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact of the measures that he has introduced to control the use of temazepam. [34178]
- The Minister of State, Scottish Office (
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton): The measures introduced earlier this year have had the beneficial effect of reducing the illicit supply of temazepam.
Mrs. Adams: I am extremely grateful for the measures that were taken earlier this year and I have noticed a significant reduction in the use of temazepam in my constituency, but there has been no significant reduction in the overall use of drugs. When will the Government recognise that only by tackling bad housing, high unemployment and the lack of hope among young people will we be able to tackle the drugs problem?
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The hon. Lady raises a general issue that we have been tackling through our urban regeneration and urban aid programme, which will provide more than £86 million this year. Her constituency benefits substantially from that assistance. We want not only an integrated approach for the various services in areas of deprivation but to take every reasonable measure possible against the scourge of drug abuse.
Mr. Connarty: I share the concern about the use of class A drugs, but is the Minister aware that the retail industry, whose representatives gathered at a conference two weeks ago to be addressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Dumbarton (Mr. McFall), is worried about drunkenness in the streets, which leads to massive retail crime, the abuse of shop assistants and trouble in neighbourhoods? When will the Minister make a proposal to ban drinking in the street before the summer turns once again into a wild west show as people wander around Scotland's communities and high streets, drinking spirits and causing mayhem among the general public?
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The hon. Gentleman will be aware that we are encouraging local authorities to propose byelaws but, in addition, the White Paper specifies that we favour the proposal to confiscate drink in public places from those who are under age.
East of Scotland Water Authority
9. Mr. Eric Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money from the Government has been allocated for capital projects to the East of Scotland water authority. [34179]
Mr. Kynoch: No specific allocation is made for capital expenditure. The external financing limit for 1996-97 has been set at £87 million.
Mr. Clarke: I thank the Minister for that answer. Is he aware that the delay in upgrading the Esk valley sewer is delaying developments in Midlothian? Will he, with others, provide cash to the East of Scotland water authority to allow it to upgrade that sewer?
Mr. Kynoch: I understand the hon. Gentleman's concern about delays on the Esk valley sewer. He should, of course, have addressed his comments to the former Labour-controlled Lothian regional council. The new East of Scotland water authority, within weeks of taking over responsibility, has initiated a private finance initiative scheme for the sewer. It is hoped that tender documents
will be issued this month, and I hope very much that work will commence by July 1998. The project is going ahead, utilising the private finance initiative, very much more quickly than it would have done under the former Lothian regional council.
Mr. George Robertson: May I remind the Minister that the East of Scotland water authority, the super-quango that has taken water functions in the east of Scotland from locally elected local government, was created in the face of a referendum in Strathclyde that showed that 97 per cent. of people opposed handing water over to the new super-quango? Will the Government recognise that they cannot demand that referendums are held on major issues and then, with the cavalier, arrogant attitude for which they have become famous, dismiss out of hand the views of the people who have had the chance to express their view through that vote?
Mr. Kynoch: The hon. Gentleman, I know, is a recent convert to referendums--at the instigation, I understand, of those in his party from further south. What he has not yet fully understood is that he is talking about a referendum in Strathclyde on privatisation of the water authority. We now have three manageable water authorities, which are tackling the difficult problems of providing adequate facilities for water treatment and sewage.
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