Funding Of Swansea Colleges

EDM number 669 in 1996-97, proposed by Alan Williams on 17/03/1997.

That this House recognises that University College Swansea, the Institute of Higher Education, the Swansea College and the Gorseinon College are important employers in the city of Swansea, that each provides facilities crucial to the development of the city's and the region's potential, and that they help people to develop their own abilities; regrets that, like similar colleges throughout Wales, they are under threat from savage cuts in Welsh Office funding; notes that support per student in Wales will be over ú200 less than in England and ú1,000 less than in Scotland; points out that further education in Wales faces additional cuts of ú2 million resulting from the withdrawal of the TECs Competitiveness Fund; notes that the higher and further education colleges also face major cut-backs in capital resources; regrets that the possible removal of the demand led element endangers the Swansea colleges' programme for the East Side Initiative, which is specially devised to meet the needs of severely deprived communities; and finds it incredible that this Government after 18 years in office and boasting of so-called success of its economic policies is so incapable of meeting the pre-requisites of future economic growth.

This motion has been signed by a total of 13 MPs.