Image: Richard Townshend, [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Labour MP Emma Hardy calls on universities minister to make sure students supported financially
Shadow universities minister Emma Hardy has warned she is becoming “increasingly concerned” by evidence that many students are receiving “patchy” support from universities’ hardship funds.
In an open letter to universities minister Michelle Donelan, published exclusively on Research Professional News, Hardy said that although many students need “urgent financial help” during the coronavirus crisis she was “increasingly concerned” that the support available through universities’ hardship funds “often inadequate and sometimes non-existent”.
At their previous meeting, Hardy said Donelan had assured her that “every university would be in a position to help every student in genuine need through its hardship funds,” but some universities have resorted to launching crowdfunding appeals after being overwhelmed by requests for help. While other schemes, such as the one at the University of Birmingham, involve criteria that may leave those who most need help without any support, said the shadow minister.
Hardy stressed that students who have “overcome the greatest barriers to get to university” will be the hardest hit. “It cannot be right for their welfare to be considered the sole province of individual universities, which under current circumstances means consigning it to the luck of the draw—a lottery which has left some unable to manage,” she wrote.
It is the second open letter since the pandemic began that Hardy has published through Research Professional News. On 6 May, the shadow minister wrote to staff and students in universities about the government’s financial rescue package for higher education.