1. Pre-budget Report 2009
The ‘Pre-Budget Report’ (PBR) - one of two wide-ranging economic reports presented to Parliament each year- was presented on Wednesday 9 December, and included the worrying announcement of plans for £600 million cuts in the higher education and science and research budgets and through "changes to student support". NUS President Wes Streeting has said following the announcement, that “it is hard to believe that students will not be detrimentally affected”, and argued that "any proposed savings from the higher education budget must be carefully thought through, and must not come at the expense of students."
The PBR did, however, accept NUS' recent proposals and will be offering financial support to 10,000 undergraduates from low-income families to allow them to undertake internships.
For young people out of work, the Chancellor has cut the length of time before those unemployed aged under 24 will be guaranteed education or training to 6 months, from the previous 12 months. And for those aged 16-17, the guarantee of either education or training has been extended for another year.
The prospects for the economy continue to be dire, with the Chancellor expecting the economy to shrink by 4.75% this year, greater than he had previously predicted. He expects the subsequent turn-around to be slow, with predicted growth of 1-1.5% next year to be followed by 3.5% growth in 2011/12.
The Chancellor announced that VAT will return to 17.5% from the New Year, while National Insurance will rise by 0.5% from April 2011, although the threshold for paying it will be raised to £20,000. Previous proposals to raise the threshold on inheritance tax have been shelved. A 1p rise in corporation tax will be postponed, but banker's bonuses over £25,000 will be subject to a one-off 50% tax.
The basic state pension will rise by 2.5% in 2010, while bingo duty will be cut by 2% to 20%.and the inheritance tax threshold will not be raised from £325,000 to £350,000. Free school meals will be extended to an extra 500,000 low income families.
2. EDM on NUS proposals for the fees review
An Early Day Motion was presented by Bob Spink MP on Thursday 3 December, recognising concerns about the effects of tuition fees and the spiralling debt students have to undertake as impediments to fair access to universities.
The EDM further notes the NUS request for greater student representation on the recently-announced fees-review panel (which currently includes only one student representative), as well calling on the Government to publish full details of alternative models of funding Higher Education which do not involve top-up fees, such that “proper, informed debate” around the issue may be allowed to occur.
Although EDMs are rarely debated, their formal submission can be a good way of bringing attention to the feelings of back-benchers about an issue, and so raising it’s profile.
3. EDM on education maintenance allowance (EMA)
John Robertson presented an Early Day Motion (EDM) on Wednesday 9 December, declaring support for the extension of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme to the over half a million young people who have signed up to receive the allowance since it’s national roll-out in 2004.
The EDM “calls on the Government to never waiver in its commitment to 16 to 19 year olds who wish to stay on in higher education”, and requests that the Government guarantees the future of the programme.
4. Parliamentary Questions
Evennett - Higher Education (Admissions)
4 December 2009 | House of Commons - Written Answer
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate degree starts were (i) men and (ii) women in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Willetts - Students (Disabled)
4 December 2009 | House of Commons - Written Answer
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many disabled students have (a) applied for and (b) received disabled students allowance for the academic year 2009-10.
Mr. Lammy: As at 22 November, 15,371 applications for disabled students' allowances had been received; 95 per cent. of those had passed the initial processing stage. 9,321 were awaiting further information, either from the specialists who assess the type and level of support to be provided to the student, or from the student themselves. 3,334 applications had been approved and the student informed; the remainder were either ineligible or under active consideration by Student Finance England.
Williams, S - Students (Loans)
4 December 2009 | House of Commons - Written Answer
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of eligible students took out (a) a maintenance loan only, (b) a tuition fees loan only and (c) loans for maintenance and tuition from the Student Loans Company in the most recent academic year for which figures are available.
Mr. Lammy: In Academic Year 2007-08 it is estimated that around 80 per cent. of eligible students took out a maintenance loan. No estimate is available for tuition fee loans.
Evennett - Further Education Colleges (Standards)
10 December 2009 | House of Commons - Written Answer
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many further education colleges were deemed to be (a) outstanding, (b) good, (c) satisfactory and (d) failing by Ofsted in the last 12 months.
Kevin Brennan: The annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2008-09 was published on 24 November. The data in this report shows that there were a total of 89 further education colleges inspected in 2008-09. Of these: 18 were judged to be outstanding; 38 were judged to be good; 29 were judged to be satisfactory; and four were judged to be inadequate.
Willetts - Young People (Economic inactivity)
10 December 2009 | House of Commons - Written Answer
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what percentage of people aged between 16 and 24 years old were not in education, employment or training in the third quarter of each of the last 10 years.
Kevin Brennan: The table gives the number and percentage of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the third quarter of each year from 2000 to 2009.
These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey and will include pregnant mothers, those caring for children or relatives, people with a disability or suffering from ill health, and those waiting for a course or job to start, including those on a gap year.
People aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training in England
Number Percentage of all 16 to 24-year-olds
2000 749,000 14.5
2001 766,000 14.6
2002 785,000 14.8
2003 815,000 14.9
2004 829,000 14.9
2005 877,000 15.2
2006 970,000 16.6
2007 909,000 15.4
2008 973,000 16.2
2009 1,082,000 18.0
It must be noted that a direct comparison between consecutive quarters cannot be made as quarterly NEET estimates from the LFS display a strong seasonal pattern. Estimates for quarter 3 are always considerably higher than in quarter 4 because of the number of young people who are either between courses or who have recently left education.
Estimates for every quarter since 2005 have been produced by the Department for Children Schools and Families and are available here.