East of England Labour

Working hard for you

East of England universities to lose £millions in fees vote

New figures from the Higher Education Funding Council show universities in the East of England are among the biggest losers from the Government’s plans to cut university teaching funding.

The top losers in the East of England have been named as the University of Hertfordshire, Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Essex, the University of Bedfordshire, the University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia.

The Government’s plan for cutting university funding by 80% and the consequent plan for a trebling of fees will be voted on in the House of Commons on Thursday 9th December.

Gareth Thomas MP said:

“The Government’s plans for cutting higher education funding and loading the vast majority of the cost of university teaching onto higher education students fees are not necessary, not fair, and not good for higher education.

“The UK has world class universities, built on public investment and strong professional academic leadership. These proposals put that at risk.

“Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs in the East of England need to join Labour on Thursday to force the Government to think again.”

He added:

“The short term need for deficit reduction doesn’t justify such a major long term change in higher education funding.

“Middle income graduates will be hit disproportionately hardest with the Government now acknowledging that part-time students (two-thirds of whom are women) may be put off going to university if fees for part-time study rise."