Vince Cable

He may well have had doubtful presentation skills on this particular occasion, but he is the spokesman for a substantial group of universities, million+, and I do not think that it underestimates his ability to present his case.

Yes, we will do that. As I understand it, this does not require legislation, and we are looking at the feasibility of doing that and how to get the best advantage from it.

The hon. Lady is quite right that that is one of the major problems. As I recall, under the last Government, a report was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills from Professor Smith, which looked specifically at mathematics teaching in schools, as a result of which I think that there has been a significant increase in the recruitment of maths teachers and the level at which maths is now taught.

Yes, indeed. Despite the considerable cuts that the Government have had to make as part of fiscal consolidation, we have made commitments to increase the resources available to OFFA and substantially to increase the scholarship programme, of which my hon. Friend is aware and, I think, was one of the architects.

Actually, one of the main purposes of OFFA will be to promote those outreach programmes and to draw from the lessons and experience of different outreach programmes, which as far as I am aware have not been systematically evaluated. That will be one of Professor Ebdon's tasks.

I have not intervened beyond making the appointment, and Professor Ebdon has clear terms of reference. But since the hon. Gentleman has set out a standard, let me remind him and other colleagues of the current position. Pupils from independent schools are 55 times more likely to go to Oxbridge than children with free school meals. That is the imbalance that we are trying to address.

Yes, he will. He has been given additional resources in order to do his job properly. The issue on which my hon. Friend focuses, under-representation of at least some ethnic groups, is a particular focus of the letter that I, together with the Universities Minister, sent to the previous director as something that he should work on.

What is different is that the Executive are not ignoring Parliament. We are aware of the criticisms that were made of Professor Ebdon's interview and we

have asked him to appear on a regular basis before the Select Committee to demonstrate that he has its full confidence. That is what is different.

As far as I am aware, Professor Ebdon has never advocated the use of quotas. He is certainly not on record that I have seen.

Yes, of course I agree, and I repeat what I have said several times in the past. Indeed, the ultimate assurance that the hon. Lady has are the terms of the legislation under which OFFA operates, the Higher Education Act 2004, which said that the director of OFFA

"has a duty to protect academic freedom",

including determining

"the criteria for the admission of students".

That is absolute.

I think that universities will be greatly reassured that they have an excellent man to lead OFFA in future, as Sir Martin Harris has done in the past. It has been a good process, we have a good outcome, and universities have absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

Yes, that is a very good summary of the conclusions that the Minister for Universities and Science and I reached after interviewing Professor Ebdon and the other candidates.

I am among the people who paid tribute to that report, and I acknowledge that there is a lot of good material in it. One of the things that it emphasised was the importance of helping with aspirations in schools, changing the expectation that many people have that they have no prospect of going to university, and working at the level of individual schools. I think we will continue to see OFFA concentrating on that, and not on penalties of various kinds, about which some hon. Members appear to be concerned.

Contextual data are already used by universities, including both Oxbridge universities, as a useful aid to establishing someone's potential, but it is not the Government's job to prescribe particular systems of admission, and we have no intention of going down that road.

I have already made it clear that there is no question of discriminating against people with ability. My constituency has two of the most successful independent schools in the country. I fully support their activities, and frequently visit them and work with them, so there is no question whatever of discrimination. Access is a much broader concept: it is helping people to realise their potential, and what can possibly be wrong with that?

No, I was not aware, and it is not appropriate for me to investigate how the Select Committee came to its conclusions. I have already responded to it, and its Chairman, in a very proper way, has set out how it operates.

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that I have no intention of dumbing down standards. The access agreements that are being reached through OFFA and which will be implemented by Professor Ebdon will not dumb down standards either.

I do not want to get into criticising universities. I have already made it very clear that they are independent bodies responsible for their own admissions policies. The access agreements that they sign will improve access-that is why those agreements are in place and that is what Professor Ebdon is there to do. I do not, as a Minister, want to lecture universities on how they admit particular students.

Both the Chairman of the Select Committee and I have already answered the hon. Gentleman's question. We treat the Select Committee's report and the legislature with respect. Criticisms have been made and they will be addressed through the Select Committee. This is a good process and we will continue to uphold it.

I think it sends a very positive message that public appointments are open to scrutiny and that the best person gets the job.