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10 Jun 2008 : Column 202W—continued

Dementia: Research

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much the Medical Research Council plans to spend in 2008-09 on dementia research in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. [210127]

Ian Pearson: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. In 2006-07, the MRC spent approximately £6.4 million on research on dementias in the UK. The MRC is currently undertaking a strategic review on neurodegeneration. Recommendations from the review may help inform future levels of funding for dementias. The MRC does not have set budgets for specific illnesses and research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. The MRC welcomes applications for support into any aspect of human health and these are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals made.

Further Education Colleges

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many further education colleges have applied for degree awarding powers since 1 May 2008. [207550]

Bill Rammell: None. We are expecting a few of the larger ‘mixed economy group’ of further education colleges to apply for foundation degree awarding powers within the next few months. More from this group of colleges are expected to apply for foundation degree awarding powers during 2009.

10 Jun 2008 : Column 203W

Higher Education

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many colleges have applied for degree-awarding powers since 1 May 2008. [209787]

Bill Rammell: No colleges have so far applied for degree awarding powers since 1 May 2008, although we expect a number of applications to be made in due course. Our policy has always been to consider any applications on their merits and against the high standards we set in order to maintain the quality and reputation of higher education in this country.

Higher Education: Admissions

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of 18 and 19 year olds from each local authority area obtained a place at university in each year from 1995 to 2007. [209452]

Bill Rammell: HEFCEs ‘Young participation in Higher Education’ publication includes the proportion of young people who enter higher education at age 18 or 19 by local authority area, although this only covers the years up to 2000. Participation rates based on this work are given on the supporting POLAR website

www.hefce.ac.uk/polar

The proportion of young people from each local authority who entered higher education at age 18 or 19 is shown in the table. Figures are shown for the year in which the cohort turned 18.

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10 Jun 2008 : Column 205W

10 Jun 2008 : Column 206W

Proportion of young people who entered higher education at age 18 or 19, by local authority
	Year cohort aged 18
Local authority	1997	1998	1999	2000
Gateshead	24	21	22	22
Newcastle upon Tyne	24	25	25	26
North Tyneside	27	26	26	27
South Tyneside	21	19	20	21
Sunderland	20	18	19	19
Hartlepool	20	20	20	20
Middlesbrough	20	21	22	22
Redcar and Cleveland	23	21	23	21
Stockton-on-Tees	27	26	28	28
Darlington	22	24	27	25
Durham	24	23	24	22
Northumberland	33	32	30	31
Knowsley	15	17	18	18
Liverpool	20	21	22	21
St. Helens	29	28	29	27
Sefton	34	34	34	34
Wirral	33	32	30	32
Halton	20	18	19	19
Bolton	30	29	29	30
Bury	30	32	31	33
Manchester	17	18	19	19
Oldham	23	22	24	24
Rochdale	25	24	25	25
Salford	17	17	17	18
Stockport	33	35	34	35
Tameside	20	19	20	21
Trafford	37	37	37	38
Wigan	25	25	23	25
Cheshire	38	38	37	39
Warrington	29	29	30	29
Lancashire	31	30	30	31
Blackburn with Darwen	22	23	25	25
Blackpool	19	19	20	22
Cumbria	27	27	28	28
Barnsley	17	17	19	20
Doncaster	19	20	20	20
Rotherham	22	19	21	21
Sheffield	24	23	25	25
Bradford	24	24	23	24
Calderdale	26	26	26	27
Kirklees	29	28	28	28
Leeds	25	26	27	27
Wakefield	22	21	20	21
Kingston upon Hull	12	12	11	11
East Riding of Yorkshire	34	31	31	32
North East Lincolnshire	20	19	20	16
North Lincolnshire	28	24	26	27
North Yorkshire	38	35	36	37
York	33	30	32	33
Derbyshire	27	27	26	27
Derby	25	25	24	25
Leicestershire	34	32	33	33
Leicester	26	28	30	30
Rutland	47	46	39	47
Lincolnshire	29	28	27	28
Nottinghamshire	27	26	27	27
Nottingham	15	16	15	16
Northamptonshire	27	28	28	28
Birmingham	24	24	25	25
Solihull	36	35	36	35
Coventry	27	29	26	28
Warwickshire	35	32	33	33
Dudley	24	25	24	24
Sandwell	20	18	19	21
Walsall	22	22	23	23
Wolverhampton	28	25	27	28
Staffordshire	28	30	31	31
Stoke-on-Trent	16	16	17	17
Herefordshire	31	32	33	35
Worcestershire	33	32	32	32
Shropshire	37	35	35	36
Telford and Wrekin	22	22	24	24
Bedfordshire	33	33	31	33
Luton	25	25	23	26
Cambridgeshire	33	33	31	33
Peterborough	23	25	23	23
Essex	27	26	27	28
Southend on Sea	26	23	24	27
Thurrock	15	15	13	14
Hertfordshire	37	35	37	38
Norfolk	25	24	25	25
Suffolk	28	29	28	29
City of London	52	56	53	60
Greenwich	21	21	21	24
Hackney	19	23	23	22
Lewisham	24	23	25	27
Tower Hamlets	17	21	21	24
Barking and Dagenham	13	14	14	15
Bexley	23	24	23	26
Havering	22	20	21	23
Newham	26	27	29	31
Redbridge	43	41	43	48
Camden	38	41	41	44
Islington	24	29	31	30
Kensington and Chelsea	48	58	55	60
Lambeth	25	28	28	29
Southwark	22	24	28	27
Wandsworth	35	38	39	39
Westminster	43	51	50	48
Hammersmith and Fulham	33	36	38	38
Brent	44	45	48	48
Ealing	41	43	45	46
Harrow	51	51	55	54
Hillingdon	31	32	32	34
Hounslow	36	38	38	41
Barnet	51	52	49	52
Enfield	35	35	36	37
Haringey	31	34	34	33
Waltham Forest	29	28	30	32
Bromley	37	37	38	39
Croydon	33	33	34	36
Kingston upon Thames	43	45	45	47
Merton	36	40	39	41
Richmond upon Thames	55	52	51	56
Sutton	34	34	33	35
Buckinghamshire	42	41	43	43
Milton Keynes	23	23	24	26
Oxfordshire	36	34	36	35
East Sussex	31	29	29	31
Brighton and Hove	26	27	26	27
West Sussex	34	31	31	32
Hampshire	34	32	32	32
Portsmouth	18	20	21	20
Southampton	21	21	21	22
Isle of Wight	28	30	29	26
Bracknell Forest	27	27	28	29
Windsor and Maidenhead	43	45	43	43
West Berkshire	38	33	37	38
Reading	25	26	26	28
Slough	28	30	32	33
Wokingham	46	44	47	46
Kent	30	29	30	31
Medway	21	21	21	23
Surrey	43	43	42	42
Isles of Scilly	25	30	33	24
Devon	31	29	29	30
Plymouth	22	23	23	22
Torbay	28	25	25	26
Cornwall	31	29	29	30
Bath and North East Somerset	35	31	36	35
Bristol	22	23	22	22
North Somerset	36	32	30	32
South Gloucestershire	30	26	30	30
Dorset	31	30	30	32
Poole	27	30	26	29
Bournemouth	30	29	27	26
Wiltshire	36	34	34	34
Swindon	22	22	23	25
Gloucestershire	36	34	33	35
Somerset	32	31	30	31
England	29	29	29	30
Source: “Young Participation in Higher Education”, published by HEFCE http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/

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