To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the merits of creating a higher education facility in the Kent Thameside growth area; and if he will make a statement. (242568)

We said in our new “University Challenge” document published in March that locally-focused higher education not only has a role in reversing economic decline but can also be a major component of strategies of population growth, ensuring that new development has access to sources of skills and innovation. The Higher Education Funding Council for England is now looking at the responses to consultation on our new University Challenge policy but it is already clear that this is going to be a very successful policy, which has generated interest in all parts of the country. Decisions on which proposals should be supported will be exclusively for the Council.