FUTURE OF THE NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE OUTREACH PROGRAMME

That this House congratulates the 29 National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) consortia across the UK who have seen thousands of students from non-traditional backgrounds enter higher education; urges the Government to announce the future funding of NCOP before April 2018; notes that due to the replacement of the Higher Education Funding Council for England by the Office for Students (OfS) the decision has been delayed until after the establishment of the OfS in April; acknowledges that no organisation can plan for its future if it has to wait until the third quarter to know if it will continue to exist; condemns the fact that leaving NCOP in limbo causes job insecurity, distress and worry among staff, students, volunteers and sponsors; applauds the work that NCOP has done in helping students from underprivileged and non-traditional backgrounds enter university; looks forward to seeing NCOP continue into 2019 and beyond; urges the Secretary of State for Education to issue a statement to the House confirming the funding plan for this programme which is vital to removing the attainment gap.