Lucy Care makes a pledge to voters on student fees

2.26.24pm GMT Mon 7th Dec 2009

A leading local Liberal Democrat has today signed a pledge to voters ahead of the forthcoming general election that she will vote against any increase in student tuition fees in the next parliament.

Cllr Lucy Care, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Derby North, signed the National Union of Students (NUS) pledge, which reads;

"I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament, and to pressure the Government to introduce a fairer alternative."

Lucy Care said 'It is important that the Government recognises that putting up student fees will mean that students will be selected on ability to pay, not ability to learn. We need a fairly costed alternative to tuition fees that means that students do not leave university burdened with a lifetime of debt.'

The Government has recently announced the start of the long-awaited review of university funding, which will look at the impact of 2004's introduction of £3,000 'top-up fees' and will report after the next general election.

A YouGov poll recently commissioned by pressure group Compass revealed that only 12% of the public think the review should even consider increasing fees, while a majority believes that it should look at alternatives to fees.