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29 Oct 2007 : Column 786W—continued
Higher Education: Engineering
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of full-time undergraduates studying at universities in the UK is enrolled on courses leading to a degree in engineering. [158488]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is given in the table. Figures for the 2006/07 academic year will be available in January 2008.
| Number of full-time undergraduate enrolments by subject area UK higher education institutions—academic year 2005/06 | ||
| Subject area | Enrolments | Percentage |
| Note: Figures are based on a HESA Standard Registration Population and have been rounded to the nearest five. Figures cover all UK and overseas domiciles. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | ||
Higher Education: Fees and Charges
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what mechanism the Government will use to assess the impact of the introduction of differential fees for higher education degrees. [160428]
Bill Rammell: As we made clear during the passage of the legislation introducing the new fee and student support arrangements, there will be a review in 2009 conducted by a Commission which will work on the basis of evidence from the first three years' operation of the variable fee arrangements. The Commission will report to Parliament.
Higher Education: Finance
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much the Government spent on higher education, broken down by budget heading in each of the last 15 years; and how much is budgeted for 2007-08. [160173]
Bill Rammell:
The following figures provide a breakdown of Government expenditure on higher education for 10 years between 1998-99 and 2007-08.
The figures are taken from the DfES Departmental Annual Report 2007 Table 8.2. We are not able to
provide this breakdown before 1998 as the figures were not compiled on a like for like basis.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effect of withdrawing funding for students to take second degrees on institutions offering part-time courses; and if he will make a statement. [161645]
Bill Rammell: We took this decision as part of the comprehensive spending review in order to target resources on our top priorities and the country’s long-term needs. Our policy not only responds to the challenge in the Leitch report to increase the proportion of the work force with higher level skills from under 30 per cent. now to over 40 per cent. by 2020 but is also fairer to both taxpayers and students who have not yet entered higher education. The overall effect of these changes on the income of individual institutions will depend on how successful they are in attracting students who meet our priorities. Every institution will have an incentive to maximise its share of the £100 million which will be redistributed through this change and no complete assessment of these changes on any institution can be made until that £100 million has been re-distributed.
Higher Education: Student Numbers
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many students are enrolled in universities in England; and what percentage are from overseas. [154693]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is given in the table. Figures for the 2006/07 academic year will be available in January 2008.
| Enrolments at English higher education institutions 2005/06 academic year | ||
| Domicile | Enrolments | Percentage |
| Note: Figures are based on a HESA Standard Registration Population and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | ||
Natural Environment Research Council: Information Officers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many press officers are employed by the Natural Environment Research Council. [154424]
Ian Pearson: The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) employs five full-time press officers and one part-time press officer. The part-time and one full-time officer are employed at NERC’s administrative headquarters in Swindon, the others at NERC’s wholly-owned research centres.
Office of Science and Innovation
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans he has to maintain the Office of Science and Innovation. [151382]
Ian Pearson: The responsibilities of the former Office of Science and Innovation have been inherited by the Government Office for Science and the Science and Innovation Group, both of which form part of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
Overseas Students
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many overseas students studied in the UK in 2006; what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of those students on the UK economy; and if he will make a statement. [160709]
Bill Rammell: The latest available figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on the number of overseas students studying in the UK are for the academic year 2005/06. These showed that there were just over 330,000 international students studying at higher education institutions in the UK. About a third of these came from countries within the European Union, and the other two thirds came from other countries.
The Secretary of State has not had any meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this issue. However, a recent report by the British Council and Education UK estimated that the total value to the UK economy of all international students in the HE sector was over £5.6 billion in 2003/04.
Pirbright Laboratory: Disease Control
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) whether he had been informed that the drainage system at the Pirbright laboratory site posed a risk to biosecurity prior to the foot and mouth outbreak; whether he received any representations on the risk to biosecurity of the drainage system and effluent pipes at Pirbright; and if he will make a statement; [159532]
(2) what representations he received from (a) the Institute for Animal Health, (b) Merial, (c) the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council, (d) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (e) other sources on biosecurity at the Pirbright laboratory facility prior to the recent foot and mouth disease outbreak; [159535]
(3) what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the Pirbright laboratory facility; [159628]
(4) what his responsibilities are in relation to the Pirbright laboratory facility; and if he will make a statement. [159627]
Ian Pearson: Prior to the foot and mouth outbreak this summer, I was not informed of any risk to biosecurity posed by the drainage system at Pirbright and I did not receive any representations from the Institute for Animal Health, Merial, the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council or the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I met with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the Pirbright facility shortly before his announcement on 7 September.
The Pirbright laboratory is part of the independent Institute for Animal Health (IAH), a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. The trustees/non-executive directors of IAH have a range of relevant expertise. IAH is regulated directly by DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive. IAH is sponsored, as are six other research institutes, by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) a non-departmental public body whose parent Department is the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
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