Top-up fees under MPs' scrutiny

Cambridge University students protested against fees

Controversial plans to introduce top-up fees are set to come under the spotlight again as a committee of MPs examine the Higher Education Bill.

The committee stage gives MPs an opportunity to look at a piece of legislation in detail and put forward any amendments.

But the Liberal Democrats have said the committee has been packed with government loyalists.

Tony Blair suffered his biggest rebellion yet in the first fees vote.

I think the government is in for a real shock if it believes that simply by filling a committee full of loyalists it can avoid the crunch issue Phil Willis

And afterwards ministers conceded lessons could be learnt from the narrow five-vote victory.

That was a message repeated later by the prime minister who acknowledged the way the government went about formulating the policy could have been handled better.

Because Labour is the biggest party in the Commons, it dominates any committees of the House.

Of 16 Labour MPs on the 27-person committee looking at the Higher Education Bill, only one, George Mudie, voted against the government with fellow MP Anne Campbell abstaining.

'Opposition'

Lib Dem education spokesman Phil Willis, whose party opposes the bill, said: "We don't expect to win at the committee stage.

"What we do expect to win is when these clauses come back onto the floor of the House...

"I think the government is in for a real shock if it believes that simply by filling a committee full of loyalists it can avoid the crunch issue.

"The House does not want variable fees nor do the vast majority Labour, Liberal Democrat or Conservative MPs."

Variable fees

The Higher Education Bill was backed by 316 votes to 311, after days of intense campaigning by both sides.

Mr Blair had staked his authority on winning the vote, which saw a sharp reduction in his usual 161 majority.

MPs are likely to spend two to three months going through the bill line-by-line in its committee stage.

The plans will allow universities to charge students up to £3,000-a-year, payable when they earn £15,000.

One of the most controversial aspects of the proposals is the fact these fees can be varied between universities prompting fears that this will put off poorer students from applying to some of the more prestigious institutions.