Tories could extend voucher scheme to all school pupils

JUDITH JUDD

and FRAN ABRAMS

Speculation is mounting that the Government is considering legislation that would enable it to introduce vouchers for all stages of education. Some ministers want to fight the next election on a manifesto including vouchers for 16 to 19-year-olds and for university students, in spite of setbacks in their plans for nursery vouchers.

Pre-school playgroups which had threatened to pull out of the scheme after being offered only half the value of the pounds 1,100 vouchers for each child have forced the Government to back down and offer the full amount, it was announced yesterday. Plans for a pilot involving 12 local authorities are still foundering, with only two signed up and another two likely to do so.

Ministers have already promised a Bill in next month's Queen's Speech which will allow Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, to take money away from local authorities and distribute it to parents as nursery vouchers.

However, some observers say the Bill may not specify that the money must be used for four-year-olds, thus opening the door for vouchers for older students. Mrs Shephard has said that there is no question of introducing vouchers for pupils of compulsory school age, from five to 16.

The battle between the Treasury and Mrs Shephard over vouchers began with a lack of enthusiasm for nursery vouchers, eventually overruled by the Prime Minister when he announced the scheme during the Conservative leadership contest. Mrs Shephard also believes vouchers for 16 to 19-year-olds might not be a success.

However, there is strong support for vouchers for that age group from the right wing of the Tory party and from the Treasury which believes that, if the value of the voucher is set low, it is a way of saving money. Yesterday, a leaked memo from the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, indicated that he is keen to see such a scheme in action.

On higher education, one of the Conservatives' manifesto advisory groups has come up with a scheme to give vouchers covering a minimum tuition fee. Students with high grades might get more than the minimum, but they might still need to top up the fee to win places at the most prestigious universities. They would be able to borrow the difference from a new privately financed loan scheme, replacing the existing loans which cover only maintenance costs. However, Bryan Davies, Labour's higher education spokesman, said the Tories' voucher schemes would benefit the well-off who were already paying for places.

"Vouchers part-covering fees for university and college courses will skew access to higher education in favour of those with the deepest pockets," he said.

Even the Pre-School Learning Alliance, which learnt yesterday that it had won concessions from ministers after threatening to pull out of the nursery scheme, still had reservations last night. It had threatened to pull out if ministers did not give pre-school playgroups the same pounds 1,100 per child which they were offering to nursery schools.

Margaret Lochrie, the alliance's administrator, was "delighted" at the news. But she said the voucher scheme would create unwelcome competition and also did not provide for adequate teacher training. She added: "Many of our members share our anxiety about the voucher initiative as a whole."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Employment said the Government remained attracted to the principle of learning credits for 16 to 19-year-olds and was considering responses to a consultation exercise.