§ Sir Hector MonroTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the levels of students' allowances and parental contributions for session 1989–90.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythI propose to increase the main rates of allowances by 5 per cent. in the 1989–90 academic year, as previously indicated. In addition, I propose to increase the differential in the rate paid to students studying in London. The new rate for Scottish students will be as follows (rates for 1988–89 are shown in brackets):
£ £ Student in the parental home 1,575 (1,500) Student living away from home — outside London 2,090 (1,990) — in London 2,585 (2,365) Students in receipt of maintenance allowances will be eligible for reimbursement of travelling expenses in excess of the .55 included in the main rates.
The threshold for parental contributions, and the points on the contribution scales at which the rate of contribution changes will be uprated to reflect the movement of earnings. Parents whose residual income is below .10,600 will not be assessed for a contribution. The minimum contribution will be increased from £50 to £60 for parents whose contribution is assessed on scale 1 and from £37 to £45 for those assessed on scale 2. The 783W maximum contribution, which applies to parents with more than one award-holding child, will increase from £4,900 to £5,300.
The full contribution scales for session 1989–90 are as follows:
Residual income Contribution scale Scale 1 Scale 2 £ £ £ 10,000 0 0 10,600 60 45 11,000 117 88 12,000 260 195 13,000 402 302 13,500 474 356 14,000 574 431 15,000 774 581 16,000 974 731 17,000 1,174 881 18,000 1,374 1,031 19,000 1,574 1,181 19,800 1,734 1,301 20,000 1,784 1,338 21,000 2,034 1,526 22,000 2,284 1,713 23,000 2,534 1,901 24,000 2,784 2,088 25,000 3,034 2,276 26,000 3,284 2,463 27,000 3,534 2,651 28,000 3,784 2,838 29,000 4,034 3,026 30,000 4,284 3,213 31,000 4,534 3,401 32,000 4,784 3,588 33,000 5,034 3,776 34,000 5,284 3,963 34,064 5,300 3,975 35,000 5,300 4,151 36,000 5,300 4,338 37,000 5,300 4,526 38,000 5,300 4,713 39,000 5,300 4,901 40,000 5,300 5,088 41,000 5,300 5,276 41,130 5,300 5,300 Notes:
784W(1) The second parental contribution scale was introduced following the announcement on 15 March 1988 that tax relief on new non-charitable deeds of covenant would cease; it applies primarily to students who first entered higher education in session 1988–89 or later. The contributions assessed on scale 2 are 25 per cent. less than those on scale 1.(2) Contributions will rise with residual income, as follows:
Income Scale 1 Scale 2 From £10,600 to £13,500 By £1 in £7 By £1 in £9.33 From £13,501 to £19,800 By £1 in £5 By £1 in £6.67 From £19,801 By £1 in £4 By £1 in £5.33 (3) The contribution payable may be less than the amount shown in the relevant table, particularly at the top of the scale where the contribution is in respect of one award holder only. It will depend on the level of grant against which the contribution is to be set and whether or not any of the assessed contribution is itself offset by allowances for other dependent children.