THE GOVERNMENT today cleared the way for Bolton Institute to become a university early next year.

Education Secretary Gillian Shephard is asking the Privy Council to put the Institute's application for first class status on the fast track.

And local MP Tom Sackville today welcomed the decision as a major step on the way to university status.

Bolton's application for full university powers had been caught up in a technical hitch when the criteria for university status were tightened in 1994.

This caused a delay of more than a year in giving it research degree awarding powers - a vital qualification for university status. There is a three-year wait required under legislation before full university status can be granted.

However, Mrs Shephard is now advising the Privy Council that this three-year period should begin in February 1994 - when Bolton would have received these powers but for the change in practice - rather than October 1995.

This means that Bolton can now apply for university status at the start of next year.

Government sources made clear today that that application to the Privy Council was all but certain to be granted.

The move follows a vigorous lobbying of the Government by the Institute and local MPs.

Home Office Minister Mr Sackville, Bolton North East Independent Tory Peter Thurnham, and Rossendale & Darwen Labour MP Janet Anderson made a strong case for the step when they met Higher Education Minister Eric Forth a few weeks ago.

And Bolton West MP Mr Sackville personally lobbied Mrs Shephard in her Commons room a few days later.

Mr Sackville said: "Today's announcement that Gillian Shephard is short-circuiting the normal procedures is wonderful news. "It is official recognition that the obstacles that have stood in the way of Bolton Institute obtaining university status are only technical ones.

"Mrs Shephard and her Ministers clearly agree with what we have been saying for some time, that Bolton's case is intrinsically more deserving than those of many others which have been let through.

"This is a landmark: it will open up all kinds of opportunities here and abroad and will provide a huge boost for Bolton in the years ahead. I am delighted."

Dr Bob Oxtoby, Principal of Bolton Institute, said:"This is very good news indeed. When we set out to lobby the Government I can't say my hopes of success were high.

"But this is a far better outcome than we could have ever expected. "In the short term, university status will mean we will be able to compete more effectively with other institutions for students and in the longer term a university will bring tremendous benefits to Bolton itself and enhance the cultural life of the town," he added.

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