§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a copy of the Regulations currently used to determine student's eligibility for grants or loans. [19801]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Regulations used to determine Scottish domiciled students' eligibility for a student grant are The Student's Allowances (Scotland) Regulations, 1996 S.I No. 1754 (S.145), as amended by The Education Authority Bursaries and Students' Allowances (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 1997, S.I 1997 No. 1049 (S.94). These are supplemented by the booklet "Student
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§ Mr. WilsonDetails of expenditure on schools for the current financial year are not yet available. The information available for the other financial years concerned is given in the following tables which have been compiled from local authority financial returns. Expenditure on other educational materials and equipment was not separately identified before 1982–83. There have been some variations from year to year in the recording of expenditure under these two headings. It is, therefore, possible that some expenditure on books may be included under expenditure on equipment or vice versa.
Grants in Scotland—A Guide to Undergraduate Students' Allowances". The Regulations governing eligibility for a student loan are The Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1997, S.I 1997 No. 1675, which apply throughout Great Britain.
Copies of the Regulations and the booklet are available in the Library.
§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the availability of supplementary allowances for students to cover(a) disability, (b) travel, (c) a second home and (d) other costs. [19760]
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§ Mr. WilsonFrom academic year 1998–99, the Disabled Students' Allowance will cease to be means-tested and will continue to be available in the form of a grant to all students.
In academic year 1998–99, students who are already in higher education will continue to be able to apply for assistance in the form of supplementary allowances for travel, a second home and other costs until they complete or abandon their present programme of study. Students who enter higher education for the first time in academic year 1998–99 will be eligible for these allowances on the same basis for that year.
The move to 100 per cent. loans for maintenance in academic year 1999–2000 will require some modification of the arrangements for supplementary allowances. We are still considering the details of these arrangements, but we hope to announce our plans shortly.
§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make the transitional rules for grants or loans apply for all three or four years of the university or college course of entrants in 1998. [19943]
§ Mr. WilsonNo. The transitional arrangements for new students entering in academic year 1998–99 will apply for that year only. The loan will comprise about 75 per cent. of the maintenance support package and the means-tested grant will account for the balance of about 25 per cent.
From academic year 1999–2000, standard maintenance grants will be replaced by loans. Graduates will be asked to repay the loans only once they are earning more than £10,000 per annum and the level of repayments will be linked to their income.