§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many 16 to 19-year-olds used their allowance for(a) travel costs, (b) books and equipment and (c) other living costs during the education maintenance allowance pilots; and what research has been undertaken to ascertain these figures. [87954]
§ Margaret HodgeIndependent evaluation of the education maintenance allowance scheme has been carried out by a consortium led by the Centre for Research in Social Policy. They have collected a great deal of data, including information on how young people spend their EMA, and this was included in the quantitative report on the first year of the scheme. The findings so far show that recipients of EMA are as likely as non-recipients to make a contribution to housekeeping costs, and more likely to pay towards the cost of transport, books and equipment for school. They970W spent no more than-recipients on entertainment and were more likely to say that transport, books and equipment were their main item of expenditure.