The price of advice

The cost of Northern Ireland's main consultative bodies for further and higher education is more than £250,000.

Higher and further education minister Sean Farren told the Northern Ireland Assembly that the cost of maintaining the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council and the Further Education Consultative Committee in 1999-2000 was £266,500.

Dr Farren also confirmed that nine training centres in the province have merged with colleges.

Meanwhile, the University of Ulster has allocated most of the extra places it gained as a result of the 1998 comprehensive spending review to its Magee campus.