§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to extend Education Maintenance allowances beyond the pilot schemes currently in operation; when he will announce a timetable for extending the scheme; and what360W criteria local education authorities must satisfy to qualify for inclusion in the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme. [119037]
§ Mr. WicksMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 29 March 2000 that an additional £50 million will be allocated from September 2000 to expand the education maintenance allowance (EMA) pilots. The new money will allow us to expand some of the original pilots and to introduce EMAs in 40 new areas (which were set out in the Secretary of State's announcement). We will shortly announce the model that each new area will be testing.
We have chosen a selection of new areas where we believe the EMA has the potential to make the most difference. They have relatively low post-16 participation, low GCSE attainment and high deprivation. The choice of areas also includes some additional rural areas where we will be concentrating on transports costs.
The new pilots will mean that EMAs will be available in almost a third of the country. We will be monitoring the new pilots carefully to inform future decisions about EMAs, including whether to expand further.