Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Education and Employment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 February 2000.
Evan Harris
Liberal Democrat, Oxford West and Abingdon
12:00,
17 February 2000
Is the Minister aware of his Department's research, which is now available in the Library, showing that mature students are deterred by tuition fees from accessing higher education and, indeed, that the Department knew that in advance? Does he not recognise that they and other disadvantaged students will be even more deterred by the threat of ever-increasing tuition fees, or, indeed, top-up fees?
The two universities in Oxford need to increase access to those groups, not just to restrict access to clever students who happen to be rich. At a time when Scotland is abolishing tuition fees as a discredited policy, should not the Minister explore that option, instead of considering new ways of imposing or increasing such fees?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
