HARLOW MP Chris Vince has defended the decision by his government to increase tuition fees for university students next year

Mr Vince said: “I stood on a manifesto and local commitment to give young people in Harlow the best opportunities in life. Where you are born should not determine what you can do in life. Going to university changed my life, and if students in Harlow decide university is the right path for them, they should have that chance. However, they can’t go to universities if these academic institutions are forced to close down.

After years of neglect by the Conservatives, we’ve started taking the necessary steps to fix the foundations of higher education and deliver real change for students.

The Tories set our universities up to fail and left you, students, to bear the brunt. Time after time, they chose to pick ideological fights over improving the life chances of young people and breaking down the barriers to opportunity. Young people in Harlow deserve so much more than the raw deal they got under the last government.

Tuition fees will rise next year, because too many of our universities are facing real challenges to their future financial sustainability. As you will understand, it’s no good the government encouraging students to go to university if the universities aren’t there for them.

From next August, universities in England will be able to charge full-time undergraduates £285 more per year in tuition. I want to reassure you that this will not mean higher monthly repayments when you graduate.

We’re also increasing student maintenance loans by 3.1 per cent, to help with the cost of living. The largest cash increases will go to those from low-income families, up to £414 extra per year.  This makes sure that as living costs rise for students, so too does the support the Labour government makes available to you.

But that extra money for universities will come with a clear set of asks – a reform agenda for higher education which will help secure the future of our universities not just for the years to come but the decades ahead.

We’ll be developing those principles in the months ahead.

But here is the core outline:
•     real progress on improving access and widening participation, including making sure students don’t just arrive at university, but succeed there
•     driving up teaching standards, so the great education that so many of our students get is there on every course for every student
•     making sure universities are a vital part of communities in every town and city
•     driving growth across our country, with universities as engines of opportunity in every community and region
•     ensuring that University spending is done efficiently and effectively and avoids the potential of vanity projects.

Getting the chance to go to university changed my life for the better, but that chance didn’t come from nowhere. I’m deeply proud of Labour’s record across successive governments in delivering opportunity in higher education for more and more of our young people. I benefitted from it, and now I’m determined to deliver those opportunities to students in Harlow today.

The change we’ve chosen now will improve access for working-class students, protect degrees and end the cycle of students being asked to pay more for less.

“If any student is particularly worried about these fee changes, please do get in touch with me on [email protected] and I can signpost you to more support”.