§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what would be the cost per academic year of providing an educational maintenance allowance to every pupil aged between 16 and 19 years in full-time education at the weekly rate of (a) £26.25 and (b) £27.30 for 40 weeks and subjecting the allowance to tax as part of the parental income and part of the income sum in calculations for family eligibility to social security.
§ Sir Keith JosephApproximately(a) £460 million and (b) £480 million after allowing for deductions in respect of child benefit and existing education maintenance allowances and grants to 16 to 19-year-olds in non-advanced further education. Tax and social security benefits are dependent on individual circumstances and it is not therefore possible to make generalised assumptions in relation to them.