Grant-Aided Colleges

Mr. Bill Walker

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has determined the allocations of grant-in-aid for recurrent expenditure to grant-aided colleges in Scotland: and if he will make a statement.

The allocations are:

	Offer¹ 1992–93 financial year (£ million)
Craigie College of Education	1·416
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art	3·470
Dundee Institute of Technology	6·720
Edinburgh College of Art	3·167
Glasgow Polytechnic	15·827
Glasgow School of Art	3·112
Jordanhill College of Education	7·671
Moray House College of Education	6·161
Napier Polytechnic of Edinburgh	19·360
Northern College of Education	4·516
Paisley College of Technology	10·546
Queen's College, Glasgow	4·391
Queen Margaret College	4·606
Robert Gordon Institute of Technology	11·632
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama	2·160
St· Andrew's College of Education	2·968
Scottish College of Textiles	2·163
¹ The offers are conditional on parliamentary approval of the Supply Estimates and take account of the increases in the tuition fees which colleges will receive for undergraduate students.

These allocations reflect the very high priority which the Government are continuing to give to higher education, and will provide more opportunities for people wishing to enter higher education. The number of students for whom grant provision has been made has been increased by nearly 84½ per cent. in 1992–93 in recognition of the success of the sector in attracting additional students. After including the higher levels of tuition fees to be paid to colleges in 1992–93, the allocations represent an increase in Government funding of about £19 million: or about 12 per cent. compared with the current year if colleges achieve their funded student enrolments. Changes in the recurrent resourcing of individual colleges are shown below.

Year-on-year comparison of grant-in-aid and tuition fees
	Grant-in-aid¹ plus estimated
	1991–92 £ million	1992–93 £ million	Change Percentage
Craigie CE²	1·741	2·169	+24·6
Duncan of Jordanstone	5·797	6·495	+12·0
Dundee Institute	10·469	11·453	+9·4
Edinburgh College of Art	5·494	6·049	+10·1
Glasgow Polytechnic	22·276	25·296	+13·6
Glasgow School of Art	5·005	5·824	+16·4
Jordanhill CE	10·369	10·991	+6·0
Moray House CE	8·031	8·513	+6·0
Napier Polytechnic	27·251	30·868	+13·3
Northern CE	5·909	6·264	+6·0
Paisley College	15·611	17·907	+14·7
Queen's College, Glasgow	6·212	7·320	+17·8
Queen Margaret College	7·109	7·916	+11·4
Robert Gordon Institute	17·814	20·138	+13·0
RSAMD	3·100	3·286	+6·0
St· Andrews CE	4·024	4·286	+6·5
Scottish College of Textiles	3·363	3·673	+9·2
Total	159·575	178·448	+11·8
¹ Because of changes to the treatment and coverage of in-service provision, resources for in-service have been excluded from both years.

2. In 1992–93 Craigie College of Education will introduce courses in secondary postgraduate teacher training and will be funded for these. This is the main reason for the very high increase in resources for 1992–93: if this funding is excluded, the increase in resources is about

7 per cent.

The distribution of resources among colleges generally reflects the ability of individual colleges to enrol additional students, and in the case of teacher training it is based on the need for newly qualified teachers. The highest increase in resources on a like with like basis is 18 per cent. for Queen's college, Glasgow, reflecting particularly strong growth in student numbers. Twelve of the 17 colleges are estimated to receive increases in resources of over 9 per cent.—which is more than twice the projected rate of inflation.

For each college, the funding level will adequately cover cost increases, and will enable the colleges to continue to contribute to the rising participation in higher education in recent years.

Volume 202: debated on Tuesday 28 January 1992