A local Conservative councillor has blasted the government for miscalculating maintenance grants for students by £200m by saying that the overspend was “disastrous”.
The situation occurred after Gordon Brown, in one of his first acts as Prime Minister, announced an expansion of the maintenance grants system in order to ensure there was enough provision for students entering university from 2008/09 onwards.
However, due to a £200m overspend, maintenance grants are to face cuts.
Antony Little, who is Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, has said that the miscalculation means that 65,000 students actually applied under false and inaccurate information.
He said: “The new grants system has fallen apart at the seams. From next year there will be different regimes for first year, second year and third year students at universities as the cuts to maintenance grants take effect.
“It’s a complete insult to students for the government to claim that their disastrous £200m miscalculation is a ‘success’”.
