No this isn’t a blog about bankers, although I’m sure that would be brilliant. Instead it’s not the bonuses of bankers being taken away, it’s the bonuses of students. But, unlike in the world of finance, it's the people that really need help that will be getting it.

This weekend, Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families, announced that from January 2011, twice yearly bonuses paid to EMA claimants will be scrapped. NUS has been very clear that under no circumstances can the overall budget spent on supporting students continue in education be reduced – which is why I am pleased to see that the money being saved on bonuses will mean that over 80,000 extra young people will be entitled to the vital support that EMA offers, widening access and opportunity.

I’ve said countless times that not enough is being done to get the 1million young people who are not in training, education or employment off the streets. Government have scraped around, searching behind the sofa and under the bed to find what can only be described as a scratch on the surface in terms of places in FE (which includes work based training).

So more has to be done, which is why I was pleased to see this week that the right support is being made available to unemployed young people now after six months instead of 12 as a result of extra funding being released in the Pre-Budget Report. But we must still ask the question is this enough? Already we are seeing FE providers over enrolling on courses to attempt to meet demand, placing additional strains on already stretched resources; something which the PBR also identified. Time will tell if the risks taken, albeit for all the right reasons, pay off for our colleges and training providers.

We still have a lot of work to do in keeping the pressure on to defend the EMA, particularly as we are still waiting for a Conservative Party position on it.

I also want to point out that now is a really odd time to make such as announcement. There is currently a DCSF consultation on 16-18 financial support, which NUS FE and Welfare Zones are responding to¸ so why announce this now? The Liberal Democrats have been rather outspoken on their distaste for EMA bonuses recently, are we seeing some Labour/Lib Dem pandering? Who knows? But there’s one final question on my mind about the timing and manner of this announcement:

Why do some politicians think it’s okay to pre-empt some reviews and totally refuse to comment on others (obviously referring to the HE fees review)?

Shane

The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students

The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/shanechowen/276962.aspx