Mr. Lammy:
This Government remain fully committed to widening access to higher education for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Widening access requires long term investment and change across the higher education (HE) system. We have reformed student financial 3 Nov 2008 : Column 175W
support and continued to invest in the Aimhigher Programme, which helps to attract young people into HE from backgrounds which are currently under-represented. There is evidence that we are making steady progress: for example, the proportion of UK domiciled, young, full-time, first degree entrants to English higher 3 Nov 2008 : Column 176W
education institutions who were from lower socio-economic groups rose from 27.9 per cent. in 2002/03 to 29.8 per cent. in 2006/07.
Expenditure from 1999-2000 on widening participation is as follows:
Figures are £m
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
Aimhigher and predecessors(1, 2)
—
—
50
70
120
136
102
87
80
Additional HE summer schools
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Regional Projects and other early activity(3)
10
12
5
5
—
—
—
—
—
Student support(4)
1,761
1,507
1,213
1,096
1,084
1,410
1,411
1,634
1,962
Widening participation allocation(5 )(see breakdown in following table)
20
31
37
48
266
273
284
345
356
University bursaries and outreach(6)
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
96
(7)—
Total(8)
1,791
1,550
1,295
1,209
1,460
1,819
1,797
2,162
(7)—
(1) The unified Aimhigher programme was introduced in 2004. Predecessor programmes were Excellence Challenge, funded by the then Department for Education and Skills, and Partnerships for Progression, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Aimhigher is funded jointly by DIUS, HEFCE, the LSC and the Department for Health. Includes allocations for Aimhigher Associates (£3 million in 2008-09, £9 million in 2009-10, and £9 million in 2010-11). (2 )Excellence Challenge included Opportunity Bursaries. These were grants to eligible people from lower income families and were worth £2,000 over three years. From September 2001, 26,000 such bursaries were made available at a total cost of £37 million. With the wider reintroduction of grants in 2006, the Opportunity Bursary scheme was withdrawn. (3 )Funded by HEFCE. (4 )Includes student loans RAB charge, fee loans, student support grants, maintenance grant, HE grant, grants for vulnerable students, tuition fee grants, grants for part-time students and access funds and bursaries. The student loans RAB charge estimates the future cost to Government of subsidising and writing off the student loans issued in that year; it does not represent the amount of cash lent to students, which has risen each year since the introduction of student loans. Figures for 1997 to 2007 are outturn; that for 2007-08 is estimated outturn; and those for 2008 to 11 are plans. (5 )These figures also include the allocations for improving the retention of non-traditional students, and to widen access and improve provision for disabled students. The figure for 2008-09 is provisional. (6 )The Office for Fair Access forecasts that around £300 million annually will be spent by higher education providers on bursaries and scholarships benefiting students from low-income and other under-represented groups by the academic year 2008/09. (7 )Not yet available. (8 )In 2001 to 2004, Aimhigher contributed £10 million a year towards the widening participation allocation. The figure given as the total for each of these years is therefore less than the sum of the parts to avoid double counting.
Widening participation allocation breakdown
Amount
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
Outreach
n/a
24,260,750
28,321,872
37,953,557
37,662,067
49,603,560
51,053,366
92,269,312
97,330,636
Retention
n/a
—
—
—
78,325,250
213,236,862
220,924,080
239,891,585
245,934,377
Disability
n/a
7,015,514
8,694,761
9,699,450
10,043,420
10,520,776
12,329,861
12,911,354
13,044,347
Total
19,874,614
31,276,264
37,016,633
47,653,007
265,891,026
273,361,198
284,307,307
345,072,251
356,309,360
Higher Education: Finance
Stephen Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department spent on further education for those over 19 years of age in (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and (b) in each of the previous five years, broken down by main budget heading. [232394]
Mr. Simon:
Expenditure by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) on adult further education (FE) and skills from 2002-03 to 2007-08 is set out in the following table which is based on the figures in the 2008 Departmental Report. Within this funding some of the resource supports the wider FE sector including pre-19 education and training, in the role which DIUS has as sponsor of the FE service.
Expenditure on adult further education and skills
£ million
Outturn
Estimated outturn
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
Adult Further Education and Skills
3,863
4,180
4,269
4,385
4,235
4,642
Breakdown of total
Learning and Skills Council (Adult FE and Skills)(1)
3,447
3,798
3,852
3,989
3,853
4,192
3 Nov 2008 : Column 177W
3 Nov 2008 : Column 178W
Including:
LSC 19+ Further Education
1,726
1,882
1,902
2,011
1,915
1,874
LSC Ufi/Learnerdirect
115
194
169
201
171
156
LSC Apprenticeships and Work Based Learning
211
213
243
232
218
263
LSC Train to Gain
7
33
89
142
194
331
LSC Adult Safeguarded Learning
198
225
241
229
222
221
LSC Offender Learning and Skills Service
0
0
9
35
101
115
LSC DIUS Learner Support and Development
719
706
562
477
420
487
LSC 19+ Capital
217
279
393
376
397
465
Funding not routed through the LSC( 2)
Adult Education and Skills Strategy
245
172
182
191
168
176
Career Development Loans (non-LSC element)(3)
14
14
16
2
2
2
Union Learning Fund (non-LSC element)(3)
7
2
2
2
5
18
Ufi Learndirect (non-LSC element)(3)
50
45
13
0
0
0
Offenders' Learning and Skills (non-LSC element)(3)
59
101
105
92
36
21
FE Improvement (formerly Post-16 Standards)
13
21
53
73
127
158
Other miscellaneous programmes
27
27
46
36
45
75
(1 )This line covers funding which the LSC manages on DIUS policies for adult FE and skills. (2 )The majority of funding for FE and Skills is managed by the LSC. In addition the following funding is not routed through LSC, although the LSC also manages some funding on these programmes which is included in the LSC line. (3 )These lines do not show the full expenditure on these programmes as some expenditure is included in the LSC line above. In particular where funding reduces significantly, this is because funding has been transferred to LSC and expenditure is included in the LSC line above. Source: Annex 2 of the DIUS 2008 Departmental Report, Tables 11 and 12.
