BUDGET 2010: More university places meet only fraction of demand

John Roberts

Education Correspondent

AN EXTRA 20,000 university places will be made available to cope with a surge in demand which has left Yorkshire universities set to turn away a record numbers of candidates.

Universities are now being invited to apply for a share of 270m which will mainly be used for maths, science, technology and engineering courses.

University and union leaders have welcomed the extra money but the new places will only cope with a fraction of the increased demand.

Figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post earlier this year showed there had been 168,582 applications for the region's 32,000 places in September – around five candidates for every place.

A cap on student numbers coupled with a national cut in teaching budgets of more than 200m means the higher education sector cannot accommodate the extra applications.

Last week it was revealed that seven of nine universities in the region have had their teaching budgets cut for the next academic year. Last month funding chiefs confirmed that there would be 6,000 fewer places available this year.

In his Budget speech, Alistair Darling said universities must make "efficiency savings" and focus their funds on "quality teaching and research." He said: "We are determined to achieve this without damaging key skills and our economic strengths.

"To help them do this, we are going to provide extra one-off funding of 270m in 2010-11, through a University Modernisation Fund."

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) said: "Extra places for students should be a cause for celebration, but with jobs at risk in both universities and colleges we will inevitably see larger class sizes and increased workloads for staff who survive the cull. Anyone who doesn't think this will lead to a drop in the quality of education is sadly misguided."

SAVINGS

Tom Palmer

Political Correspondent

A SAVINGS package worth 11bn across all Whitehall departments has been announced with more than one-third of the cuts coming from the Department of Health.

More than 4.3bn will be slashed from its budget, 1.1bn from the Children's Department, 700m from the Ministry of Defence and 350m from the Home Office.

Ministers said that the savings will come largely from back-office functions like IT, procurement, consultants and administration or by cutting costs such as staff sickness absence and energy bills.

But Conservatives challenged the sums, noting that without a Spending Review for the coming years, ministers have no baseline from which to measure any savings after 2011.

Tory sources calculated that, after the savings announced today, the Government needs to find a further 20-25bn in cuts to deliver the reductions in borrowing promised in last year's Pre-Budget Report.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the cuts in his department include 1.5bn from better procurement and up to 555m from cutting staff sickness absence in the NHS.

Mr Burnham said: "To go from good to great, the NHS must become more preventative, more people-centred and more productive."

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said his department's 1.1bn of efficiency savings will include 950m from schools and 150m from provision for 16 to 19-year-olds and children's centres. Some will come from reduced energy consumption.

The Ministry of Justice's promise to save 343m included merging the courts and tribunals services and reviewing the role of the Judicial Appointments Commission.

The Government also announced plans for regional development agencies, government offices and the Homes and Communities Agency to share legal services and other administration functions, saving 255m.

Regional Ministers will be given "enhanced" powers to help push for stronger growth and drive through public sector reform. Rosie Winterton, Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, said the moves would ensure regions had "a stronger voice in Westminster".

TRANSPORT

Rob Preece

MOTORISTS had been warned to expect pain at the pumps from April 1 – and plans to raise the price of fuel by 3p a litre will still go ahead.

But the Chancellor offered drivers a small crumb of comfort by revealing that the 3p rise would be introduced in three stages, a penny at a time.

With prices at the pumps approaching record levels, Mr Darling said he wanted to "ease the pressure on family incomes".

He told MPs the rise would be 1p in April, with a further 1p rise in October and the final 1p increase in January 2011.

He also announced that fuel duty would rise by 1p a litre in real terms on April 1 each year from 2011 to 2014.

AA president Edmund King said Mr Darling had avoided a "bad April Fuel's Day Fiasco" by deciding to phase in the price rise. "Perhaps the thought of 32 million fuming drivers and voters influenced Government thinking," Mr King added.

"Drivers' relief at the Chancellor not raising fuel duty by the full 3p can be measured by the tankfull.

"Had the full increase gone ahead, it would have added 1.50 to the typical cost of refilling a petrol or diesel car, or 37.50 a year."

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said over the past year the pump price of unleaded petrol had risen by 26.4p.

The Freight Transport Association's policy and communications managing director, James Hookham, said: "For companies struggling to stay afloat, a staggered approach to increasing fuel duty will provide some breathing space.

"However, any increase in fuel duty, which is an unavoidable business cost, is bad news for the economy in the long term."

Councils get help repairing roads

Councils will get 100m to repair roads left potholed after freezing weather, and an extra 285m is pledged for improving Britain's congested motorways.

The motorway plans will, however, include schemes to allow motorists to drive on the hard shoulder at peak times.

David Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association's transport and regeneration board, said: "It is important that road maintenance is sufficiently funded in coming years if we are to avoid lots of potholes in future, and (this money) is an important start," he said.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said that he would allocate the money to councils "as soon as possible".