Tuition fees vote (London Liberal Democrats)

London Liberal Democrats <info@libdems4london.org.uk>

Tuition fees vote

December 10, 2010 2:06 PM
Originally published by Tom Brake

I understand that people are worried about the changes in tuition fees and I have carefully read all your comments and messages on yesterday's vote.

Many of you have commented on the NUS pledge I signed prior to the election, confirming what I would do if a Lib Dem Government was elected.

Unfortunately a Lib Dem Government was not elected in May. We have a coalition government in which the Conservative party is by far the largest party. This has meant that, inevitably, we have not been successful in getting all of our policies adopted by the Coalition Government.

Whilst I deeply regret that we have not been able to deliver all of our commitments on higher education, I believe that the package that Vince Cable has constructed is a significant improvement, and more progressive than the current scheme.

For the first time no one has to pay up front, graduates will make monthly payments based on their earnings and only after they are earning £21k (up from £15k today). These monthly payments will be lower than they are today in every case.

Under the new proposals 25% of students, the most disadvantaged, will pay less, and part time students will pay no up-front fees at all. They represent 40% of all students, and this had been a major disincentive, when it came to taking up courses.

Universities that wish to charge between £6k and £9k will have to do far more to attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds and tough sanctions will be imposed on universities which fail to improve their access to students from poorer backgrounds

These proposals also represent a significant improvement on the proposals outlined in the Browne Review, which was supported by both Labour and the Conservatives. At the same time we are delivering on our commitment for a fully funded pupil premium - which will help improve social mobility.

My decision yesterday was not one I took lightly. Over the past few months I considered carefully the proposals and met with Ministers, university students and pupils before deciding which way to vote.

Whilst I was initially attracted to the idea of a graduate tax, as proposed by the NUS, I have become convinced that there are too many practical problems with such an approach. On that basis, I decided to vote for the new scheme.

You may find this article in the Guardian of interest: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/08/tuition-fees-student-support