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Student Debt

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will estimate the number of students in higher education from (a) south west Surrey, (b) Surrey and (c) England; and what the estimated (i) average and (ii) overall student debt (A) was in (1) 1997 and (2) the most recent period for which figures are available and (B) will be in 2011. [177369]

 
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Alan Johnson: The latest available figures for 2002/03 from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that there were 19,080 full-time undergraduates from Surrey and 793,895 from England; the number from south west Surrey is not held centrally.

The table shows the average student loan debt, at the point at which they entered repayment status, for UK borrowers in financial years 1997–98 and 2003–04. Data
 
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exclude any voluntary repayments made before a borrower enters repayment status, however included are both hardship loans and any interest accrued up to the point of the borrower being liable to repay.
Average student loan debt on entering repayment status (rounded to nearest £10)

	Financial year entered repayment status(39)
	1997–98	2003–04 2
Mortgage-Style loans	2,290	6,110
Income-Contingent loans	n/a	7,200
Part-time loans(41)	n/a	650
All loans(42)	n/a	7,110

⁽³⁹⁾ Borrowers may have accounts in more than one cohort year of entering repayment status.
⁽⁴⁰⁾ 2003–04 figures are slightly different to those given in a previous answer, due to revised information being provided by SLC.
⁽⁴¹⁾ Fixed-rate loans made to eligible part-time students/introduced in September 2000.
⁽⁴²⁾ Borrowers can have more than one type of loan—figures on all loan types are calculated from a count of individuals.
Source:
Student Loans Company (SLC)

Borrowers are liable to repay their loans from the April following graduation or otherwise leaving their course. Borrowers entering repayment status include those who attended shorter courses as well as those who have left higher education before completing their courses. Therefore the average level of debt will not be representative of the average debt experienced by those who complete their courses.

The latest Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2002/03, which covered young, single, childless, full-time undergraduate students in higher education institutions in England and Wales found that final year students' average anticipated total debt on graduation was £8,666 in 2002/03. This included student loans, overdrafts, credit cards, commercial loans and informal loans. Detailed projections for 2011 are not available. Figures provided by SLC show the total amount outstanding in respect of UK student loans at the end of financial year 1997–98 was £3,574 million. At the end of financial year 2002–03 the amount outstanding was £12,255 million, including £1,428 million repayable to the private sector following the sale of two tranches of student loans. The figures include interest and loans not due for repayment at that time. 2002–03 figures are provisional. Detailed projections for 2011 are not available.

Student Loans Company

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many erroneous letters the Student Loans Company Ltd. has sent to Miss Laura Morley of Chippenham, Wiltshire; how much each letter cost; and what steps he advises her to take to end the correspondence; [180308]

(2) when he last met Mr. Seymour-Jackson to discuss Miss Laura Morley; and if he will make a statement. [180310]

Alan Johnson: I have frequent meetings with Mr. Seymour-Jackson of the Student Loans Company (SLC). This case was not discussed specifically as it is an
 
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administrative issue that was dealt with internally at the SLC. I understand that around 40 system generated letters were issued wrongly at a total cost of £10. Miss Morley's data has been corrected to ensure no further incorrect letters are issued. The SLC have apologised to Miss Morley who does not need to take any further action to end the correspondence.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with Mr. Seymour-Jackson of the Student Loans Company Ltd. about its IT systems. [180309]

Alan Johnson: I have met with Mr. Seymour-Jackson of the Student Loans Company Ltd. over recent months to discuss the new IT system being introduced this year for the assessment of student finance applications in England and Wales. We last met on 9 June 2004 and have future meetings planned.

Summer Holiday Funding

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what level of funding is to be made available to support young people during the summer holiday period; and how the funding will be allocated. [180829]

Alan Johnson: There is a range of financial support for young people in further education, including the Education Maintenance Allowance and the Learner Support Fund, but these are not paid over the summer holiday period. The Department does provide for support for disadvantaged young people during academic holidays through activities funded under the Positive Activities for Young People Programme and the Neighbourhood Support Fund.

Young people who live independently may be eligible for a range of benefits through the Department of Work and Pensions, and these are likely to be paid throughout the academic year, including holidays. Young people who live at home are considered as dependent on parental support and will not be entitled to benefits during holidays.

Sure Start

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of families made contact with their local Sure Start programme within the first two months after a birth in the last year for which figures are available. [179421]

Margaret Hodge: In 2002–03, the latest full year for which data are available, fully operational Sure Start local programmes reported visiting 95 per cent. of babies within two months of their birth.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Administrative Costs

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the administrative costs of the Department and its predecessors were in each financial year since 1996–97. [180319]

 
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Mr. Lammy: Total administration costs (net) for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA Headquarters was as per the following table:

	£000
2003–04	756,475
2002–03	726,916
2001–02	605,004
2000–01	570,076
1999–2000	513,697
1998–99	454,170

Resource Accounting and systems to capture resource data were first introduced in 1998–99 and the 1999–2000 Departmental Resource Accounts were the first to be published.

Figures for financial years 1999–2000 to 2002–03 are in line with the published Resource Accounts. The total figure for 2003–04 is provisional, pending the final publication of the Resource Accounts for 2003–04.

There has been a steady increase in administration costs, which is mainly attributed to the increase in workload for the Department as a result of the additional funding that has been received since 2001–02 for the increasing criminal case workload. Also, additional funding has been received since 2002–03 for the roll-out of the Libra IT structure to the magistrate courts and the growth of asylum appeal cases.

Information on previous years is not readily available.

Lords Reform

Mr. Lyons: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what recent discussions the Department has had with the (a) Welsh Assembly and (b) Scottish Executive on Lords reform. [180724]

Mr. Leslie: None. The Government decided in March not to proceed with the planned House of Lords Reform Bill. They return to the issue in their manifesto.

MERIT Programme

John Mann: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many magistrates, judges and magistrates clerks have been sent to see at first hand the Australian MERIT programme and drugs courts. [180290]

Mr. Leslie: Statutory responsibility for the training of magistrates currently rests with the 42 independent Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs). There are no central data collected on the specific information requested. However, a survey undertaken by the Justices' Clerks' Society (JCS) last year, showed that most magistrates have had access to training on Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO). The survey also revealed a general desire from magistrates for more information to made available to them and as a consequence a video and pamphlet was produced by DrugScope on behalf of the Criminal Justice Intervention Programme (CJIP). These materials were distributed to all magistrates courts and the Judicial
 
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Studies Board is currently preparing further guidance materials for magistrates on drugs issues. The development of material has been informed by a wide variety of external sources, including the experience of the MERIT programme.

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