§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the recommended allowances and related parental-income scales for continuation allowances for students over compulsory school age taking full-time further education courses.
§ Mr. William SheltonI assume that the hon. Lady is referring to discretionary grants paid by local education authorities to students on non-advanced further education courses. No rates are suggested by the Government, but the Council of Local Education Authorities has recommended to authorities that, where such grants are paid, the rates should be calculated in the same way as those applying to mandatory awards. Authorities are free to act on this advice or not as they consider appropriate.