HC Deb 28 November 1946 vol 430 cc343-4W
101. Mr. Sharp

asked the Minister of Education how many students under the Further Education and Training Scheme who commenced their studies in September or October, 1946, have been awarded maintenance grants; how many have not received the first instalment of such awards; why none of the 14 students on electrical engineering at Rotherham Technical College had received such payment by 1st November with resulting financial embarrassment; and why she is unable to arrange for payment at the beginning of the course.

Mr. Hardman

Some 18,000 awards under the Further Education and Training Scheme are current this term. It would entail a quite disproportionate expenditure of time and labour and would cause considerable and avoidable delay in the handling of applications to try to pick out the names of those students who begin their courses this term. The great majority of the instalments of maintenance grant have been paid to the students, and the remainder are very largely cases in which the applications had not been made or settled by the beginning of the term. Payments to the electrical engineering students at Rotherham Technical College have been delayed owing to the need for awaiting the receipt from the college of the notification that the students are in attendance. It is not possible always to make payments at the beginning of the term, partly because quite a lot of applications are not received and determined until after the course has been started, and partly because payments cannot be made until the institution concerned has notified the Department that the students are actually in attendance.

104. Mr. S. O. Davies

asked the Minister of Education if she will expedite the payment of grants to students at training colleges; and if she is aware that many of these students, because of the delay in making these grants, are experiencing financial difficulties.

Mr. Hardman

I am not sure which grants my hon. Friend has in mind. I can assure him that we are doing everything we can to expedite the very large number of payments which we have to make each term to students at Training Colleges under the Further Education and Training Scheme, the Regulations for the Training of Teachers, and the Emergency Training Scheme.