Clause 22 - Power of Secretary of State to impose condition as to student fees, etc.
Higher Education Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
The Minister talks about loopholes. By the use of the word ''grant'', the Minister would clearly have the ability to impose a swingeing financial
penalty on the higher education institution as big as he could possibly wish for when dealing with a breach of plan.
I accept what the Minister says about the will of Parliament. We might not like it, and we will certainly challenge him over penalising research as opposed to teaching grants. However, another question is the appropriate penalty to be levied under the will of Parliament. The Minister suggests that in the case of a breach or dispute, or whatever else may cause the situation, a penalty will be levied as a result of instructions given by the Secretary of State.
The Minister described a set of other payments that, to my mind, are utterly illogical. I cannot see why allowing us to take account of the kind of circumstances that he described in relation to Anglia polytechnic university would create a loophole. It is like saying, ''We can fine you in court and take your house as well.'' The Minister has plenty of powers, and the clause refers specifically to the condition under section 23. I do not want to be unhelpful to the Minister, but surely he would accept that it would be odd to leave the Secretary of State with the power to remove the funding for this kind of project. He admitted that he raised the question with officials. Will he give an undertaking to the Committee that he will at least reconsider the amendment, whether it applies to this clause or a later one? What he must not do is leave an utterly blanket power on the statute book—a dangerous thing—where the imposition of the penalty, in the form that he describes, would be utterly inappropriate.