REMOVAL OF EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

Important Council and Local Strategic Partnership Priorities for Plymouth are ‘Growth’ and ‘Raising Aspiration’.

(1)

The Council recognises that the Tory led Coalition Government has voted to remove the Educational Maintenance Allowance from students and will not allow any further applications.  This will affect over 3000 young people in Plymouth who will therefore lose this support grant.  Figures show that post-16 achievement in Plymouth is below what it should be.  This underperformance affects Plymouth’s ability to achieve its stated priorities.

(2)

Council therefore CALLS upon the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People (Cllr Watkins) and the Cabinet Member for Finance (Cllr Bowyer), working with the Directors for Corporate Support and Children’s services to –

(a)

Bring forward proposals in the Council Budget (2010-2013) to provide financial help to ensure that those young people in Plymouth previously in receipt of Educational Maintenance Allowance are able to continue with their post-16 educational courses.

(b)

Make the strongest representations to their Government to rapidly replace or reinstate Educational Maintenance Allowance to ensure continued investment in young people in Plymouth, and nationally, so that that all young people have equal access to Further Education and the opportunities it brings.  

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that the allowance made a real difference to unemployed parents and helped with the cost of young people travelling to courses;

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that the budget proposals to be presented by the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, would seek to target funding at vulnerable young people;

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that the Children and Young People Plan also sought to focus resources on the most vulnerable;

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that it was necessary to target scarce resources in the current economic climate;

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the high number of unemployed in the 18 – 25 age range;

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the reducing resources for sure start centres, new schools, family support for anti social behaviour and youth offending.