§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will give details of pilot538W schemes for Educational Maintenance Allowances and define the basis on which income eligibility is to be calculated and the number of pupils affected. [94751]
§ Mr. WicksThe Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is being piloted in 15 local education authorities (LEAs) across England to test the effectiveness of targeted financial support on post-16 participation and attainment rates. The 15 pilot LEAs are: Middlesbrough, Walsall, Southampton, Oldham, City of Nottingham, Bolton, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent, Gateshead, Cornwall, Leeds, Lewisham, Southwark, Greenwich, Lambeth. Different pilot variants are being tested in different areas.
Young people resident in the pilot areas may be eligible to receive an EMA if they left Year 11 last summer, participate in full-time post-16 education at school or college, and satisfy a financial assessment based on their parents' annual gross taxable income. The full allowance (£30 in all areas except Nottingham and Oldham where £40 is the maximum) will be payable if the parents' gross taxable income is less than £13,000. For higher incomes, the amount will be tapered, down to a minimum of £5. No allowance will be payable where the taxable income exceeds £30,000 (£20,000 in London). In the London LEAs, eligibility is restricted to young people living in selected wards; in Leeds to those who attended selected schools pre-16.
The EMA will be paid during term-time only and will be stopped if the young person fails to comply with the terms of a learning agreement (such as not attending lessons) drawn up with the institution. Bonuses are payable for retention and achievement.
We estimate that around 29,000 young people in the 15 pilot areas will be eligible for an EMA.