This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/education/7659990.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Wait goes on for pupil allowances | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Hundreds of thousands of England's teenagers are still awaiting payments of their educational maintenance allowances, the government says. | Hundreds of thousands of England's teenagers are still awaiting payments of their educational maintenance allowances, the government says. |
| Schools Minister Jim Knight said there was a backlog of 111,000 applications for the EMAs, intended to encourage poorer youngsters to stay in education. | Schools Minister Jim Knight said there was a backlog of 111,000 applications for the EMAs, intended to encourage poorer youngsters to stay in education. |
| In total 556,829 applications have been processed and 283,880 youngsters told they qualify for up to £30 a week. | |
| Delays stemmed from contractor Liberata which has now taken on extra staff. | Delays stemmed from contractor Liberata which has now taken on extra staff. |
| The National Union of Students are calling for a full investigation into the problems. | |
| The new figures are in a letter Mr Knight has written to the chairman of the House of Commons children, schools and families committee, Barry Sheerman. | The new figures are in a letter Mr Knight has written to the chairman of the House of Commons children, schools and families committee, Barry Sheerman. |
| They chime with estimates from the Association of Colleges, whose members are having to deal with the chaos. | They chime with estimates from the Association of Colleges, whose members are having to deal with the chaos. |
| Earlier this week it suggested three-quarters of those who had applied still had not had their money through. | |
| Of the applications that have been processed, 272,949 (49%) have been rejected initially for various reasons such as having used the wrong form, not having signed the form or supplying insufficient information. | |
| Processing 'priority' | Processing 'priority' |
| Officials at the Department for Children, Schools and Families say most applicants eventually receive something. | Officials at the Department for Children, Schools and Families say most applicants eventually receive something. |
| In his letter, Mr Knight says that the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which employed Liberata, has reassured ministers "that this is currently their absolute priority". | |
| Applications are being processed at the rate of about 15,000 a day. | |
| HAVE YOUR SAYIt shows you that the Government really cant run anything and EMA is flawedAndrew Webb, NuneatonSend us your comments | |
| The cash - either £10, £20 or £30 a week - is available to youngsters from households with a total income of less than £30,810 in England - the ceilings are more generous elsewhere in the UK. | |
| Although the scheme is UK-wide, only England is affected by the problems arising from its administration being contracted out to private firm Liberata. | Although the scheme is UK-wide, only England is affected by the problems arising from its administration being contracted out to private firm Liberata. |
| The LSC said Liberata would be facing fines worth £3 million but it is unclear whether these have been paid. | |
| Mr Knight told BBC Radio 5 Live he felt that the firm's willingness to employ extra staff at their own expense was enough for the time being. | |
| Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove laid the blame at the government's door, saying the problems followed the late delivery of results for this year's national curriculum tests. | Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove laid the blame at the government's door, saying the problems followed the late delivery of results for this year's national curriculum tests. |