Education Minister James Reed yesterday won an 11th hour concession from ministers over cuts that he claimed would have pushed up the cost of university education.
The minister was on the point of lodging amendments to the Business Plan to fight the cuts – which would have sparked an embarrassing row between ministers on the floor of the House – when Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf relented.
Deputy Reed had previously said that he was not prepared to inflict the cuts – £911,000 out of his £99m budget – on his department, because it would have meant a big increase in the cost of university education.
It is understood that Deputy Reed received a written guarantee from Senator Ozouf that he would get the money on Monday evening.
