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Dear Jimmy

Thank you for your recent enquiry. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2019-0022517.

Thank you

Department for Education
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Tel: 0370 000 2288

show quoted sections

Dear Withheld,

"Thank you for your request for information, which was received on
17/06/2019 00:00 .  

You requested the relevant legislation/acts of parliament as well as all
regulations etc. that concern the eligibility for the Parents Learning
Allowance regarding Student Finance, paid by the DoE, since the Human
Rights Act 1998, or possibly before?

State whether each bit of the legislation/act's etc. is either primary
legislation, secondary legislation, or rules and regulations? Or amending
a previous Act of Parliament via Statutory Instrument? And who made/who
was responsible for each decision?

Could you also please give an official comment, as to why only one parent
benefits from this? And also, if a student has emigrated to the UK, are
they entitled to claim the Parents Learning Allowance?

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Section 21.

Under section 21 of the Act, the Department is not required to provide
information in response to a request if it is already reasonably
accessible to you elsewhere.

The information that you have requested is available at:  

Secondary Legislation setting out entitlement to PLA is the Education
(Student Support) Regulations 2011 (‘the Student Support Regulations’)
which can be accessed on the .legislation.gov.uk website (link below):

[1]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/...

The relevant regulation is Regulation 46.

The Student Support Regulations were amended for the current 2018/19
academic year by the Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support)
(Amendment) Regulations 2018 available on the .legislation.gov.uk website
(link below). The PLA of £1,669 for 2018/19 is in Schedule 1 – Regulation
46(2), second column.

[2]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/...

The Student Support Regulations were further amended for the 2019/20
academic year by the Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.)
(Amendment) Regulations 2019 also available on the .legislation.gov.uk
website (link below). The PLA of £1,716 for 2019/20 is in the Schedule –
Regulation 46(2), second column.

[3]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/...

The Student Support Regulations are made in exercise of powers conferred
by sections 22 and 42(6) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998,
the underpinning Primary Legislation, (link below):

[4]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998...

Eligibility rules for student support are set out on page 5 of Student
Finance England’s ‘How you are Assessed and Paid’ guidance (link below):

[5]https://media.slc.co.uk/sfe/1920/ft/sfe_...

PLA was introduced as a £1,300 grant in the Student Support Regulations
for the 2003/04 academic year.

A link to the relevant amendment to the Student Support Regulations for
2003/04 (Regulation 15(7)(a)) is on .legislation.gov.uk (link below):

[6]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/...

The Parents’ Learning Allowance (PLA) is additional funding to help a
student who is a parent and is applying for student support for their
full-time higher education course. Where the eligible student has a
partner who is also an eligible student and a dependent child who is
wholly or mainly financially dependent on the student and their partner
together, the student and the partner may each receive the PLA calculated
entitlement amount in full. This can be used for everyday costs of study,
such as books, study materials and travel.

This grant which is based on household income is available to full-time
students studying an eligible:

•        Undergraduate Higher Education Course.

•        Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).

·       Postgraduate Pre-Registration Healthcare Courses in Nursing,
Midwifery and the Allied Health Professions.

The maximum PLA for the current academic year, 2018/19, is £1,669 and for
2019/20, £1,715.

To qualify for student support, students must meet the requirements of one
of the eligibility categories within Schedule 1 of the Education (Student
Support) Regulations 2011, in addition to meeting the general eligibility
criteria.  Further information is available on the Student Loans Company’s
website:

[7]https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/poli...

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by an
independent review panel, who review panel, who were not involved in the
original consideration of your request. 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office."

Linda Brennan

Web: [8]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [9]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [10]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

References

Visible links
1. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/...
2. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/...
3. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/...
4. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998...
5. https://media.slc.co.uk/sfe/1920/ft/sfe_...
6. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/...
7. https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/poli...
8. https://www.education.gov.uk/
9. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
10. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk