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1 Feb 2010 : Column 135W—continued
Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been applied for in respect of (a) a student loan for maintenance, (b) a student loan for tuition fees, (c) a maintenance grant and (d) a special support
grant for the academic year 2009-10 which are still being processed; and if he will make a statement. [307155]
Mr. Lammy: The Student Loans Company (SLC) has provided information on how much was applied for in the 5,000 applications(1) which were still being processed as at 13 December 2009. These applications represent about 0.5 per cent. of those available for processing for the 2009/10 academic year. As processing has not been completed in these cases it is not possible to provide figures on how much was applied for in grants as applicants do not apply for a specific amount. The amount is calculated through the means testing part of processing.
I am advised that Student Finance England is now processing applications within normal timescales. It is still receiving around 1,000 new applications per week which will typically be processed within six weeks if all the required information and evidence has been provided.
The SLC regularly provides high level processing and payment figures on their website and I am advised it will continue to do so on a monthly basis.
(1) The figure of 5,000 applications in process does not include applications withdrawn by the applicant prior to approval, started online but never submitted to SLC, or those which SLC have processed as far as possible but are awaiting further information from students/sponsors.
| Table: Total amount applied for in loans of the 5,000 applications in process as at 13 December 2009 | ||
| Count of applications(rounded to nearest 100) | Amount requested (rounded to nearest £000) | |
| (1) The maximum Tuition Fee available in academic year 2009/10 was £3,225. However some Higher Education Institutions charge less. (2) These are applications at the very first workstage in the application processing cycle. Details of applicant, course and loans requested will not yet have been entered into the application assessment system. (3) The maximum Maintenance Loan available in academic year 2009/10 depends on cohort year of entry of the applicant and place of residence for applicant during term time. See Student Support for Higher Education England Awards Statistical First release for Academic Year 2009/10 (provisional), Table 1 'Student Support available', for further details: http://www.slc.co.uk/pdf/slcsfr062009.pdf (4) Note that the amount actually paid may be less than the amount requested depending on assessed entitlement. | ||
Higher Education: Radicalism
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when a Minister in his Department last met Professor Anthony Glees of Buckingham University to discuss extremism in universities. [311460]
Mr. Lammy: No Ministers in either the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills or the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills have met with Professor Anthony Glees of Buckingham University.
Higher Education: Vetting
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he bring forward proposals to prevent people with a conviction for a crime of incitement from being employed at a higher educational establishment. [311502]
Mr. Lammy:
Convictions for crimes of incitement or violence even if spent must be declared on UCAS forms and applications from non-UCAS students. Universities will assess the risk in consultation with the police and relevant agencies and make appropriate decisions on whether a place should be offered. Higher education
establishments are responsible for their own admissions policies and we do not centrally direct them. For international students, UKBA will assess prior convictions when making decisions on issuing visas.
Overseas Students: Admissions
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what supporting documents his Department requires from the Governments of overseas countries prior to the commencement of education in the UK of students who are foreign nationals. [311500]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
Overseas Governments are not routinely required to provide supporting documents for students wishing to study here. However, where a student is in receipt of financial sponsorship from their home Government, supporting documents are required to verify that a student meets the maintenance requirements specified in Tier 4 of the Points Based System.
Other documents issued by overseas Governments are required for applications, for example passports and birth certificates. While they are Government issued they are not required to be produced specifically for applications to UKBA.
Regional Development Agencies: Mining
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons (a) his Department's representatives and (b) representatives of regional development agencies did not attend the Department for Communities and Local Government's forum to co-ordinate cross-government working in coalfield areas as noted in National Audit Office's report on English Coalfields, HC 84, para 3.20. [311553]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Responsibility for taking forward the economic regeneration of the former coalfield areas rests with the appropriate regional development agency (RDAs) in each region. Therefore, it is more appropriate for representatives of the RDAs to participate in the forum, rather than central BIS officials.
The forum held five meetings between July 2007 and July 2009. Yorkshire Forward (YF) was the only RDA invitee to the meetings. YF was unable to attend three meetings due to diary commitments and an administrative error and they did not receive invitations for two meetings. The forum meetings held in September and December 2009 were attended by representatives from Yorkshire Forward.
Runshaw College
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many part-time students have registered for a higher education course at Runshaw College in each of the last five years. [314219]
Mr. Lammy: Information on the numbers of students studying higher education level courses at further education colleges is not published at institution level.
Small Businesses: Taxation
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small businesses in (a) Morecambe and (b) Lancashire have applied to defer their tax payments in 2009-10 under the Government's late payment scheme. [311558]
Mr. Timms: Since its introduction on 24 November 2008 HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) Business Payment Support Service (BPSS) has agreed over 270,000 time to pay arrangements to spread tax payments of about £4.7 billion over timetables businesses can afford.
From 24 November 2008 to 24 January 2010 HMRC agreed 5,270 time to pay arrangements, worth £78 million, under the BPSS with businesses in Lancashire. Data relating specifically to Morecambe, or just for small businesses are not available.
Students: Bankruptcy
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many undergraduate students resident in (a) Suffolk, (b) the East of England and (c) England have declared themselves bankrupt in each year since 1997. [314883]
Mr. Lammy: The number of undergraduate students who have declared themselves bankrupt is not held centrally.
The following table shows the number of undergraduate students in England who have student loans and who have notified the Student Loans Company (SLC) of their bankruptcy while studying. However, the table does not include students who have not applied for student finance and students who have student loans but who have not notified the SLC that they are bankrupt.
| Financial Year | Students( l) |
| (1) Figures rounded to the nearest five. (2) Since 2004 student loans are no longer written-off due to bankruptcy. From that time the number of students notifying the SLC of their bankruptcy has declined. Note: Figures for Suffolk and the East of England cannot be supplied as they are so small as to potentially identify individuals. Source: Student Loans Company | |
Students: Finance
Mr. Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of students in higher education who have not received student finance payments for the academic year 2009-10. [314691]
Mr. Lammy: Data on numbers of applications processed, paid and still to be paid are available on the SLC website at:
I am advised that Student Finance England is now processing applications within normal timescales. It is still receiving over 1,000 new applications per week which will typically be processed within six weeks, once all the required information and evidence has been provided.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of students who have left their course of study as a result of not receiving their student finance payments for the academic year 2009-10. [314692]
Mr. Lammy: The Department has not made an estimate of numbers of students who have withdrawn from a course in 2009/10 academic year due to delays in receiving student finance.
Many students whose means tested applications could not be processed before the start of term, for example
because of incomplete evidence, were given provisional non means tested maintenance awards and confirmation that their tuition fees would be paid.
Students whose application for student support was not approved by the start of term would have been able to apply for help through the Access to Learning Fund which is provided by the Government and administered by Higher Education Institutions, and can provide assistance to students in financial hardship.
Students: Loans
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many students resident in (a) each local authority area in the North West and (b) England had not received their first student loan payment for the academic year 2009-10 by 4 January 2010. [309869]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 12 January 2010]: The information in the following table has been provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and is a snapshot of the position at 3 January 2010 as regards payment of maintenance loans and grants for new and returning students studying in England and north-west England for academic year 2009-10.
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