§ 19. Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will bring forward proposals to ensure(a) the same formula to provide adequate funding for individual maintenance grants and (b) the same qualifying criteria, for awards to further education students in each of the counties of Wales.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsNo. Local education authorities are responsible for making mandatory student awards in accordance with the relevant regulations. They receive 100 per cent. funding from central Government for such awards.
In contrast, LEAs provide support for discretionary awards from their own resources and it is for them to decide which students and courses to support and how much to spend. We believe that policy in this area is best decided locally.