Written Statements - Hansard - UK Parliament 4 of 8 https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2008-10-29/debates/5f8c5cc8-04e7-4c66-adfc-5cfff3e33f80/Wri... Funding of £500 million has been allocated from the reserve towards this protected mobility package, which is expected to cost over £600 million in total. Defence will fund a part of the package in acknowledgement of the longer-term benefit to core defence capability these vehicles offer beyond our current commitments. Back to top Vehicles, of course, are only part of the answer; honourable Members are well aware of the crucial role played by tactics, techniques and procedures in protecting our troops from harm. Equally, our world-leading electronic countermeasures provide an extra, crucial, layer of force protection. We will also investigate new ways of approaching force protection where we can; this is why we are working on the development of a route proving and clearing capability, known as TALISMAN. This capability, which has been allocated £96 million from the reserve, and uses specialist vehicles such as the Buffalo mine-protected vehicle, aims to deliver a system which allows us to mitigate the risks faced by our forces in a proactive way by applying technology to the challenge of transiting routes and dealing with high-risk areas. We owe a great debt to the men and women of the Armed Forces who operate in hostile environments, risking their lives to secure the freedom that has been hard won for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and to ensure that international terrorism, which threatens us all, far beyond those two countries, is not allowed to take hold. It is beholden on us to ensure that they receive the very best support and the very best equipment for the roles they are undertaking. In this Statement today, I have outlined a road map which will deliver nearly 700 new vehicles at a cost of over £700 million, and enable us to remove some 400 lesser protected vehicles from operations. I firmly believe that this plan, once implemented, will give our Armed Forces the protection and mobility they need and deserve to do their jobs as safely and effectively as modern technology can provide. Education (Student Support) Regulations Column 93WS The Minister of State, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills  (Lord Drayson) Share Today my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (John Denham) has made the following Written Statement. This Government believe that everyone with the talent and ambition to enter higher education should be able to benefit from the opportunity. Investment by this Government means that by the end of this Comprehensive Spending Review period in 2010-11, government funding will have risen by nearly 30 per cent in real terms since 1997. There are 287,000 more higher education students than in 1997 and the unit of funding has been maintained in real terms. We have also succeeded in raising aspirations—over 50 per cent of young people from every social background and every part of the country aspire to go to university. Finance should not present a practical barrier to students wishing to study at university. In 2006, the Government introduced a new system of student financial support which offered a maximum grant of £2,700 and a minimum bursary of £300 annually for students from low income households. In July 2007 I announced that, from 2008-09, this scheme would be significantly enhanced by raising the family income thresholds for both full and partial grants. At the time, I told the House that our intention was for one-third of students to receive a full grant and a further third a partial grant. The new system came into effect this academic year. It is now expected that about 40 per cent of students may receive the full grant. The total number of students receiving a full or partial grant will also exceed the original projections. I have decided to make extra money available in response to this higher demand for student support so that total spending on the student financial support system will rise above the levels set out in July 2007. Spending will increase by a further £100 million per annum when the revised system reaches steady state. 22/07/2026, 15:49