UCU welcomes commons debate on higher education

A wide-ranging motion from the Tories picks up on the recent shambles over university places and student loan payments. It also welcomes the idea of a cross-party student finance review; something UCU says political parties must not hide behind in the run up to the election.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The fact that the first Opposition Day debate is on higher education bodes well in this general election year. Recent polling shows that the general public still has very strong feelings on university fees. It is not good enough for the parties to hide behind the student finance review before setting their policies out. Voters have the right to know how the different parties intend to fix the current failings of the university funding system so they can make an informed choice at the ballot box.
 
'We welcome the chance for a proper debate on how to ensure we do not have a repeat of the summer's problems that left more students than ever before without a university place. We are unconvinced by the Tories' plan to ask wealthier students to pay their loans back earlier, but welcome any move towards finding a better system. There is no point in consigning thousands of students to the dole queue when they could be benefiting from a university education.'
 
The text of the motion for debate this afternoon is:

'That this House congratulates those who have secured a higher education place for 2009/10 and wishes them well in their studies; regrets the increase in the number of applicants unable to secure a place this year; further regrets the financial difficulties faced by up to 175,000 students who started term without the loans and grants to which they are entitled; believes it is unacceptable that three-quarters of a million phone calls to the Student Loans Company went unanswered in three months and that an avoidable contact policy was adopted; notes with regret that warnings about the problems in Student Finance England appear to have been ignored; asks the Government to clarify the treatment of emergency loans made by higher education institutions; regrets the problems faced by international students as a result of the poor implementation of the new visa system; notes the need for additional, fully-funded higher education places in 2010/11; calls on the Government to consider new ways to improve access to university for 2010/11; further calls on the Government to provide more information on its planned sale of the student-loan book; and welcomes the idea of a cross-party student finance review to look at the long-term sustainability of the higher education sector, a fairer deal for part-time students and links with further education.'