David Laws (Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)

I beg to move amendment 142, in clause 61, page 40, line 22, at end add

‘but it may not make bonus payments under section 58(4)(a) which relate to attendance, academic performance or completion of course work.’.

The amendment is designed as a helpful probing amendment. I shall speak briefly. It invites the Government to withdraw any powers there might for the Young People’s Learning Agency to make bonus payments under the existing educational maintenance allowance or any other financial provision that the Government see fit to introduce. If the Government were to accept the amendment, they would be able to free up the £100 million or so that is used each year to make bonus payments. That money could be used instead to close the long-standing gap between funding those youngsters aged 16 and 17 who go to college and those who attend school.

I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say; I hope that he will accept the amendment.

Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)

We heard a good explanation of what the amendment would do. Bonus payments are an important element of the educational maintenance allowance scheme, which provides a financial incentive to help young people from lower income households to participate in post-16 educational training. EMA has been shown to have a significant and positive impact on participation and attainment, particularly among the more disadvantaged groups. That is something of which we are proud.

When EMA pilots were introduced, participation in full-time education increased significantly for 16 and 17-year-olds, following a decade of little or no increase. Those increases have been sustained since the national roll-out. More recent analysis found that EMA increased attainment at levels 2 and 3 by about 2 per cent. for male learners and about 2.5 per cent. for female learners.

EMA is a something-for-something scheme. To receive EMA, a young person must sign a contract with their learning provider, setting out what is expected of them if they are to earn weekly payments and bonuses. In September 2008, we amended the criteria for EMA weekly payments and bonuses to include not only attendance but behaviour, achievement and effort.

Learning providers have welcomed that change. It strengthens the something-for-something aspect of the scheme. By providing a further incentive for learners to  fulfil the expected standards of behaviour set out by the learning provider, and getting them to put effort into the course, we are encouraging attainment and progression among young people from less well-off backgrounds.

Mr. Lawsrose—

Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)

I therefore believe that bonuses are an important, integral part of EMA. I shall indulge the hon. Gentleman and give way yet again.

David Laws (Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)

The Minister is being his usual generous self. I did not hear anything in his speech indicating that the Government have measured the effectiveness of the EMA bonuses, rather than the underlying EMA, which is what the amendment is about.

Jim Knight (Minister of State (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; South Dorset, Labour)

We believe that the bonus system is working well; as I said, it provides a significant improvement in participation and attainment. We do not have independent quantitative evidence about the impact of bonuses. We will consider it in our review of financial support for young people that we announced in the White Paper on social mobility, which was published at the beginning of the year. Anecdotal evidence from providers, particularly those offering the entry to employment programmes or provision targeted at harder-to-help groups has stressed their importance for attention and for maintaining motivation of learning. That is why, at this stage, I would not want to remove the possibility of continuing with bonuses.

David Laws (Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)

In contrast to the impression that the Minister gave at the start of his answer, it sounds as if the EMA bonuses are rather evidence-free parts of the financial support system for students. Bonuses also lead to a great degree of bitterness among students who do not receive an EMA; they find it difficult to understand the fairness of other young people on their courses being rewarded and taking it for granted. After all, such bonuses are paid on top of payments that are already being made for the primary purpose of supporting young people from lower-income backgrounds to remain in education and training.

I am disappointed at the Minister’s refusal to accept the amendment, particularly as the Government do not seem to have a strategy for closing the gap in funding for young people in schools and colleges. The Secretary of State’s predecessor made that commitment a long time ago, but it is yet to be delivered. I fear that I will not persuade the Minister, so I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.