§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what monitoring his Department carries out of delays by local authorities in issuing maintenance grant cheques to students.
§ Mr. FormanThe Department does not directly monitor the time taken by each of more than 100 individual local education authorities to assess and pay mandatory awards to well over half a million students in total. But we vigorously investigate any reports of delays by named authorities to ensure that they take whatever action is necessary to comply with their statutory duties and minimise hardship among students. We have given all authorities guidance on prompt grant payment, and the Audit Commssion has published proposals for future performance indicators in this field.