Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day] — Higher Education — 14 Oct 2009 at 16:10

I beg to move,

That this House congratulates those who have secured a higher education place for 2009-10 and wishes them well in their studies; regrets the increase in the number of applicants unable to secure a place this year; further regrets the financial difficulties faced by up to 175,000 students who started term without the loans and grants to which they are entitled; believes it is unacceptable that three-quarters of a million telephone calls to the Student Loans Company went unanswered in three months and that an avoidable contact policy was adopted; notes with regret that warnings about the problems in Student Finance England appear to have been ignored; asks the Government to clarify the treatment of emergency loans made by higher education institutions; regrets the problems faced by international students as a result of the poor implementation of the new visa system; notes the need for additional, fully-funded, higher education places in 2010-11; calls on the Government to consider new ways to improve access to university for 2010-11; further calls on the Government to provide more information on its planned sale of the student loan book; and welcomes the idea of a cross-party student finance review to look at the long-term sustainability of the higher education sector, a fairer deal for part-time students and links with further education.

I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and add:

"welcomes the record number of students attending university or college this year meaning more students benefiting from higher education (HE) today than at any stage in UK history; commends the Government for its record levels of investment in HE, an increase of over 25 per cent. over the last decade compared to a 36 per cent. decline per student under the previous Government; recognises the Government's commitment to expanding opportunities to participate in HE, including an extra 10,000 opportunities this year in courses related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and 10,000 recently-allocated additional student numbers for 2010-11; commends the Government's generous student support package and regrets that this year the Student Loans Company (SLC) has been unable to provide the level of service students and their families have rightly come to expect; notes that 800,000 English-domiciled students have already had their applications for funds approved and that following additional Government support the SLC has allocated extra resources to deal with enquiries and processing; further notes that the vast majority of students who applied within the deadline will have received their money, that interim payments are available for students and the Government's Access to Learning fund provides help for students suffering financial hardship; further notes the significant contribution international students make to the UK, and believes that the new student immigration system is effective and fair; and further notes the Government's confidence in future economic growth which will enable a viable sale of the student loan book."

The House having divided: Ayes 220, Noes 284.

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