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5.27 pm
Mr. Andrew Welsh (Angus): I agree with the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson) that intellectual need and educational attainment should be the guiding factors, but the heavy price now imposed on individual families militates against that. Listening to the Minister for School Standards, a Labour Member, it was almost as though I was listening to a Conservative Minister and the general election had never happened: it is the same voice, the same philosophy and exactly the same policy. I wonder whether the Minister for School Standards inherited his speech from his Tory predecessor and whether he has read the opinion poll in Scotland on Sunday, which showed that 75 per cent. of Scots want educational provision to be provided free, through taxpayers' money, and that they want it to be available to all, as of need and as of right. His policy is overwhelmingly opposed in Scotland because it jars against our national educational tradition.
The Bill is all about the technical means of achieving a policy to which my party is totally opposed. We prefer to remain faithful to the Scottish education tradition and to make the right to educational provision available to all, irrespective of background, ability to pay or other such reasons. The guiding factors should be intellect and the will of our society, rather than the short-termism of any one Government.
I intend to speak briefly in the debate because my party's position on the principle of the Bill is clear. We are opposed to the privatisation of student debt. It is clear that the devil in these proposals will be in the detail, as it affects each student and each family coping with the debts that are imposed by the loans.
A few simple principles underline my attitude to the legislation. First, if I had entered government on the cry, "Education, education, education", my first act would not have been to "Privatise, privatise, privatise". The student loans system is anathema to the SNP and we would seek to abolish it rather than hand it over to the private sector. It fails to meet the needs of the student population and it has created an overhang of debt for thousands of young people as they make the already precarious transition from study to the workplace.
The greatest irony is that the very people who now champion this privatised loan system benefited from universal student grants and were able to launch their careers with a clean financial slate, rather than a combination of debts, amounting for many to half their first income. I was one of my generation who benefited from access to university and I am ashamed to find that
that generation may be cutting off swathes of the current generation from the ability to enjoy such educational achievement. By so doing we are treating that generation shamefully.
The system hits at the tradition of Scottish education. Since 1995 alone, average student debt has leapt by a dramatic and unacceptable 40 per cent. to about £2,500, and the current average debt of those who are leaving university is almost £4,000. The Bill may help to reduce Government debt, but it will do nothing to tackle the mounting crisis of student poverty and debt. It is the people and the parents who will pay for this policy.
As we debate this measure, we are told that the Government are looking favourably on proposals to charge every student a £1,000-plus annual tuition fee. We shall not know about that until later this week, but leaks lead us to believe that that is in prospect. That is unacceptable. What twisted priorities and short-term proposals are these? I thought that Labour had been elected to stop that sort of Toryism, but instead the Government are implementing it. Apparently, a Scottish Assembly will soon be in charge of education. Perhaps it should be responsible for such decisions and should not be presented with a fait accompli. Has the Minister consulted his Scottish Office colleague with responsibility for education? If he has, what was the response?
The Bill and similar measures hit at the heart of the traditional Scottish four-year honours degree; by pursuing such students, the Government are throwing away a valuable asset. Perhaps in considering England and Wales, the Government have not thought about what they are doing in Scotland. I ask them to think again. The reality that the Government must recognise is that education is an investment in all our futures. They must realise that penalising students through loans and a fees system that are barriers to entering higher education is unacceptable in a country that needs to mobilise its most talented young people and not burden them unnecessarily.
Mr. Robert Jackson:
The hon. Gentleman says that the loans system is a barrier to entering higher education. That argument was put when, a few years ago, I was taking through the House the Bill that became the Education (Student Loans) Act l990. Has he noticed that there has been a huge expansion in higher education since the student loans system was introduced? Since that time, higher education has expanded faster than in any other period.
Mr. Welsh:
That shows the demand. There has been vast expansion at a time of contracting resources, and that is at the heart of the problem that the measure will not address. Instead of properly resourcing higher education, the Government are turning their guns on the students. The measure will be a deterrent: it will dissuade youngsters from undertaking higher education. As I have said, my generation benefited from the grants system. I was not lumbered with massive loans of the sort that we are inflicting on present and future generations of students. It is an unnecessary burden, and I repeat that it hits the traditional Scottish outlook on education, which is that it should be available to all irrespective of background. The intellect and not the purse should decide,
Mr. Jackson:
The hon. Gentleman was probably at university at about the same time I was. About 5 per cent. of 18-year-olds went to university at that time and had the huge privilege of the grants system. There is now 30 per cent. participation, which is one of the highest percentages in the world, and that is against the background of student loans.
Mr. Welsh:
I was an adult entrant to university and I could not have gone there without a Government grant. If there had been a loans scheme, I could have been deterred; but if I had gone ahead, a large burden would have been placed on me. I refer the hon. Gentleman and the Government to the effects within universities. Yes, there are more students, but there are restricted resources and, as a result, there is a massive increase in drop-outs and in student debt. Students and their families are paying the price for the policy.
Measures that pull the rug from under the feet of students who have signed agreements with the Student Loans Company are unacceptable. Their agreements must not be meddled with against their interests, and my party hopes that the Government will table amendments to guarantee such protection. We must not allow future generations of students to be offered an even more disadvantageous loan arrangement than the current one. The present measure is only the start--the door being kicked open. The system will advance and loans will gradually rise.
By introducing the profit motive into the provision of loans, there is a real risk that student need will be exploited and adequate protections will not be in place. My party opposes the measure, and I call on the Government to reconsider the whole sorry package of higher education measures which they seem set on forcing through against the interests and needs of our students. I urge the Government to raise their sights and to enter the new millennium guaranteeing free and equal access to higher education, rather than glorifying in an empty status symbol, a mere funfair dome on the Thames. The next generation of Scots will judge the Government by their priorities.
Mrs. Browning:
The speeches, and especially that by my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr. Jackson), have shown that the issues of higher education, students
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Dr. Kim Howells):
We have had a short but very interesting debate in which we have heard some interesting speeches. I should like to highlight especially the speech made by the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Welsh), who raised some points about which I, too, am very concerned. When I was pursuing my career in higher education, back in 1965--like the hon. Member for Angus, who is two years older than I am--[Interruption.] Yes, he has a good head of hair.
5.38 pm
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