To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what central Government funding was for vocational higher education in (a) Cornwall and (b) England in each year since 1979. (166708)

I have been asked to reply.

It is not possible to answer the question in precisely the way it has been asked. Total Government funding for higher education has risen from around £500 million in 1979 to some £10 billion today, but successive Governments have not allocated funding on the basis of particular areas or types of provision, but largely on the basis of supply and demand. We are keen to raise both the demand for and supply of sustainable higher education opportunities in Cornwall and will continue to work with a range of partners to try to achieve this.