AQW 13593/17-22

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 28/01/2021
Answered On Date: 16/02/2021
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to confirm whether she will be submitting a bid to the Executive to provide broad financial support to students in Northern Ireland to (i) offset the costs of unused accommodation and additional costs associated with restrictions; and (ii) compensate for a lack of in-person tuition as a result of COVID-19.

Answer:

I recently bid for and secured an additional £37.7m from the Executive to fund a financial support package for higher education. This package includes:

£22m to fund a one-off discretionary payment of £500 to all students from the UK and EU who are in full-time higher education in Northern Ireland, whether that is in a university or further education college setting;

£8.5m to address student financial hardship, digital poverty and to support student unions with mental health provision;

£4.1m for the provision of a safe working, learning and research environment; and

£3.1m to compensate universities for lost income arising from rental pauses and releasing students from accommodation contracts.

These additional resources will help universities target financial support at those students who are most in need.

I have also written to Northern Ireland’s universities and university colleges, on behalf of students, to consider how they might support students by engaging with their private accommodation providers, as well as reviewing their own accommodation policies (where applicable) to ensure they are fair, transparent and have the best interests of students at heart.

I also asked them to review their compliance with consumer law and provide assurance that, in implementing their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have given due regard to relevant consumer protection law. Institutions must be clear with new and returning students about how teaching and assessment will be delivered and the circumstances in which changes might be necessary. The higher education institutions have been asked to:

confirm that they have been, and will continue to be, sufficiently clear with new and continuing students about how teaching and assessment is delivered, the circumstances in which changes might be made, and what those changes might entail;

confirm that, in their assessment, students received, during the autumn term, the teaching and assessment they were promised and might reasonably have expected to receive based on the information provided; and

confirm whether their current plans for the spring and summer terms will ensure that students receive the teaching and assessment they were promised and might reasonably expect to receive based on the information provided.

If new or returning students were not provided with sufficiently clear information about how teaching and assessment would be delivered in 2020-21, or that teaching and assessment were not delivered as promised, I expect the institutions to actively consider their obligations under consumer law for tuition fee refunds or other forms of redress.