HC Deb 26 January 1994 vol 236 c295W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to enable local authorities to increase the number of discretionary awards available to students on access courses in further education colleges.

Mr. Boswell

Discretionary awards are made by local authorities, which meet the cost from their own resources. The Secretary of State has no power to intervene in the discretionary award policies of local authorities.