Question reference: S5W-04597
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 10 November 2016
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Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 November 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03843 by John Swinney on 1 November 2016, what analysis it has carried out to ascertain the reason for the reduction in the average payment made to (a) male and (b) female recipients of Education Maintenance Allowance over this period.
Answer
Since piloting the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) programme in 2005 there has been a number of changes to the EMA eligibility criteria. These include the removal, following the consultation into ‘16-Plus Learning Choices – First Step Activity and Financial Support (2008)’, of the bonus payment and tiered payment structure in 2009 and the revised household income thresholds in 2016.
These changes mean that it is difficult to make any accurate comparisons and draw conclusions about average EMA payments across different years.