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Mr. Alex Carlile
To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to ensure that universities are not permitted to charge top-up fees for undergraduate courses; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Boswell
The Government have given maximum independence to universities and colleges to manage their own affairs. To intervene in the setting of tuition fees would cut across that principle and would exceed my right hon. Friend's legal powers. Public funding for higher education is sufficient. It totals over £4 billion in England and over £270 million in Wales in 1993–94.