§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the rules that apply to CSA payments in relation to assessing household income will apply to maintenance payments paid via a court order when the scheme for educational maintenance allowances is introduced nationally. [89117]
§ Margaret HodgeThe rules in connection with child maintenance are applicable only to the pilot Education Maintenance Allowance scheme. When the national EMA scheme is introduced in September 2004 the income assessment will be revised. We will introduce a household income assessment, in line with that applied by the Inland Revenue for the new Tax Credits. This will not include any income earned by a natural parent who no longer resides with the student, but will count the income of any step-parent in the household.
§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much it would cost to award maintenance allowance to those students in the pilot areas who have been ruled ineligible because maintenance from the absent parent is paid via a court order rather than through the Child Support Agency and is added to the resident parent's household income. [89119]
§ Margaret HodgeEvidence from the Local education authorities piloting the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMa) suggests that less than 1 per cent. of applications have been turned down on these grounds. The total cost of paying and administering EMA in all 56 pilot areas in the 2001–02 financial year was £97.25 million. Therefore, it is estimated that to pay EMA to families in these circumstances, where the joint parental income is over the maximum threshold applicable in the pilot area would incur an additional cost of approximately £1 million.