§ Mr. Andrew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what monitoring he undertakes of the time taken to make mandatory award payments to students.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthMy Department does not directly monitor the time taken by individual local education authorities to assess and pay mandatory awards to more than 500,000 students. We are investigating reports of delays in certain authorities, to ensure that they are taking whatever action is necessary to comply with their statutory duties in the interests of students.
§ Mr. Andrew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will meet representatives of the local authority associations to discuss how the payment of student grants may be expedited.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthMy Department is in regular contact with the local authority associations on student grant matters. Improvements have already been made in 1990 and 1991 in the grant arrangements to help expedite payments. We have taken actions with individual authorities reported to be facing delays. All authorities have power to make provisional payments to students, pending completion of grant assessments. We will continue to keep the position under review.