Paul Blomfield MP said he was delighted to be back at a million+ event and very pleased that the topic is becoming more mainstream. He also paid tribute to the way Liam Byrne has engaged with the sector, by putting Higher Education centre stage and developing the brief.
He said that walking around the University of Sheffield in his own constituency highlighted the legacy of the last Labour government in University development. He added that universities still have a uniquely important role in developing people’s potential and growing the economy.
He referred to a recent conversation with Siemens and that the key to further expansion in any country is commitment to skills and investment in research.
He added that reform of the funding system for undergraduate education is unavoidable for the next Labour government because the current system is ‘broken’. He added that earlier in the year he questioned David Willetts on 45% of uncollected student debt and that BIS estimates this could increase to 50%.
He thanked million+ for the work they have done with London Economics and added that they have begun to talk about priorities for an incoming Labour government.
He added that there were many alternative routes to post 18 learning and pathways that people can get on and off including learning in the workplace.
He said Labour had to ensure that government research funding is spread appropriately and fairly across the sector and the UK. He referred to the two tier university system and said that in his own city, Sheffield had two universities both offering excellent teaching and conducting crucial research.
He mentioned he had met a former Australian Higher Education minister at an event in parliament and the he had thanked the UK student visa issues for massively increasing international students studying in Australia. This highlighted the problem of including student numbers in immigration figures and in requiring students to complete a length visa process.
“We have increasingly won the argument with both sides but not yet convinced the government. Labour will take students out of immigration targets.”
He concluded by saying there is a real risk that students will fall off the electoral roll due to new changes to voter registration and that universities needed to take up that challenge and maintain an effective university voice in parliament from university towns and cities.
Toni Pearce President of the NUS addressed the huge numbers of people in the UK who still think HE or FE is not for them and called for “New deal for the people who aren’t students but should be”.
She said that in her school in Cornwall she received advice and support on writing a CV and going to job interviews but no preparation or encouragement to apply to university. She said she grew up with an idea that universities were like Hogwarts and that students wore mortar boards all day. Thousands more still have this distant view that universities aren’t for them she argued.
“Some of the things this government has done like scrapping Aim Higher and EMA will not encourage people to apply to university”
She stated that 47% of people in the most advantaged areas go to university with only 17% in the least advantaged areas.
She said the NUS was proud to have now begun a new holistic approach where people can mix options between technical and academic, but said that the current system which offered no financial support to postgraduate students would only put people off and added it was “potentially damaging” that only people with the funding to back themselves would be able to study for masters degrees.
She added that it was very disappointing that new HE minister Greg Clark has committed to keeping international students within UK immigration statistics and said this was totally against our national commitment to be a country with a globally recognised research and teaching sector.
She concluded that the lack of an HE Bill has led to absolute chaos with black holes in the funding system and students forced to pay three times with loans, loan interest and then having to pay their share of the black hole as taxpayers. The UK’s world leading HE sector was “dangerously at risk”. She hoped that the endless technical discussions about funding and the student loan book would cease and that politicians would be able to offer young people who are engaged and interested in politics something to vote for.
Prof Michael Gunn said that he hoped Labour has been listening to the HE sector now that Liam Byrne has been in post for one year and said Labour has questions to answer on HE funding.
He said universities have seen significant cuts in funding and capital investment, and that whilst research investment has been ring fenced by government, this in effect meant a £1 million cut after inflation. He stated: “This is not the best way of supporting a world class university system” and the UK desperately needed to retain and improve its HE system.
He highlighted the practical problem that if Labour committed to reduce student fees universities would have to prepare for an increase in students from 2015/16. Will Labour be able to support universities and prepare them for this potential spike in numbers?
“Labour must deliver a new stream of funding and ensure all universities are funded for research infrastructure assisting regional growth.”
Professor Gunn also stated that recent national polling showed most people were surprised that students were included in immigration statistics.
He stated the clear return on investment for the HE sector will every £1 spent on HE, the government getting £11 back and that of course graduates contribute massively to their families, society and through the tax system with higher earnings. He concluded: “That is why we want Labour to be passionate about promoting all our universities”.
Shadow Minister Liam Byrne MP began by saying it was a pleasure to share the stage with million+ and Toni Pearce as she concludes an outstanding year as NUS president.
He said he came to the event after a week on the street of Glasgow with the Better Together campaign and said this showed optimism is more important than anger.
He said it was important for Labour to show: “how we win and how we rebuild the knowledge economy”
He said his parents’ generation which had been to university in the 1960s were very lucky, and that in the 1960s and 1970s the universities got something right. It built knowledge economy. He said today’s knowledge economy is only a third of jobs and that these jobs offered a 40% pay rise compared with lower skilled jobs.
He was critical of the new HE minister: “Greg Clark is no David Willetts”
He added that his opposite number had: “nothing to say about the failure of this government to offer young people an answer about how they get to the top of education or fixing the skills gap”.
He added: “the man is delusional. Our challenge is to put forward an offer which is different”.
He suggested that many sixth formers will be put off HE altogether when they consider the prospect of £50,000 worth of debt and only a 50/50 chance of a graduate job.
He also suggested the idea of a technical university which offered students with credits from college to complete their course at a university. He added the Community College Partnership was a much slicker route for many young people in his own Birmingham constituency.
He also agreed that the lack of stable funding for postgraduate study was not acceptable:
“The decision to go forward to postgraduate study is in the hands of a few bank managers and Barclays and NatWest.
On HE funding however he was clear than no specific policy had been announced yet:
“I want to be very clear we are not going to make promises that we cannot afford or cannot keep” and added that this would be a big debate for the Labour party over the coming months.
He added that this year marked the 50th anniversary of Harold Wilson’s ‘White heat of technology’ speech and the 1964 General Election win for Labour. He said Labour only won because it understood Britain could win and that it had a different, more innovative future ahead.
Finally he added that students would be crucial to the outcome of the upcoming general election especially in key marginal seats currently held by Conservatives or Liberal Democrats in university towns and cities.
“I am determined that students help get Julian Huppert out of Cambridge, get Nicky Morgan out of Loughborough and get back seats in Lancaster and Portsmouth for Labour”.
He concluded that because government borrowing had spiralled over the last four years that he would not be able to make any policy announcement until after the Autumn Statement when he will get up to date government spending and borrowing figures.