No written plan on shock uni funding announcement

Tuesday 05 December 2017

It's emerged the shock Budget 2018 announcement of free tuition fees for most Jersey uni students has not been confirmed by either a Ministerial decision or supported by a detailed written plan.

The idea came from a ministerial "workshop", which was then agreed by the Treasury, Education and Chief Ministers, and announced as part of the Budget - but there is no decision on how it is going to be paid for after 2019, or detail on how it might work.

It also emerged at a Scrutiny hearing yesterday that NatWest is to pull its current loan scheme, leaving students without the support of an additional £1,500 per year to help with the costs of a degree.

Under the new proposal put forward by the Treasury Minister during his Budget 2018 speech last week, the government would fully cover the tuition fees of undergraduates whose parents earn less than £150,000 a year. For those in households with income above this, the grant will be half.

Parents, politicians and political party Reform Jersey have all welcomed the plans, but so far very little detail has been forthcoming on how exactly the scheme would work. The proposals won't be firmed up until after a public consultation. 

It is known that 2018 and 2019 will be paid from department underspends and contingency funding, but the picture for 2020 and beyond remains unclear. Ministers will have to find an extra £4million each year, and have not yet agreed where that money should come from.

Pictured: Senator Alan Maclean's undergraduate tuition fee funding proposals did not address funding from 2020 onwards.

A spokesperson told Express that one option would be to cut the higher-rate child allowance to parents of students in higher education.

“The allowance is currently worth £3.5 million per annum and there are plans to announce the removal of this allowance in the 2019 Budget. This money will go directly towards funding student grants from 2021 onwards. Work on a range of other options available to the next Assembly is ongoing and will be considered by the Treasury once the public consultation is completed,” they said.

But whether that funding source can be agreed largely depends on whether the current Council of Ministers get voted back in. 

In fact, the Treasury Minister’s announcement is yet to be firmed up on paper altogether.

It was apparently agreed following a Council of Ministers workshop in which all “final options” for higher education funding were presented for consideration. The preferred option was then agreed by the Ministerial sub-group – Treasury, Education and the Chief Minister - but nothing has been finally signed off.

Pictured: Deputy Rod Bryans, the Minister for Education, said that consultation on the student funding plans will start next week.

Speaking during yesterday’s Scrutiny Hearing, Education Minister Deputy Rod Bryans said that this would be so that others could examine the proposals and share their views on them before anything was officially decided.

He said that a consultation is due to begin next Monday 11 December and end in early January. It will take the form of an online survey, while opinions will also be gathered from students during drop-in events at the library over the Christmas period.

Acknowledging the previous research done into the subject, a spokesperson for the Department claimed that Education would work as fast as possible to complete the review.

Despite announcing that they were to withdraw their current loan scheme, a NatWest International spokesperson said that the firm would continue to helping the island’s young people fund their higher education and would work with the Treasury on doing this.

They commented: “We notified the government that we wouldn’t be continuing with the current scheme earlier this year, but have offered alternative proposals which we understand are under review by the Treasury. We are waiting to hear how the States wish to proceed. We are committed to working with the States of Jersey to make sure that students from Jersey can access support if attending university in the UK.”