Pupil
and Student Finance
Education Discretionary Grants Information
Academic Year 2008/09
Overview
Policies regarding discretionary grants e.g. Clothing/Uniform Grants and Music Grants have been reviewed and the policy for the 2008/09 academic year has significantly changed compared to financial entitlement available during the 2007/08 academic year.
The London Borough of Bexley now only provides financial assistance for discretionary grants for families based upon exceptional circumstances and ordinarily the child concerned must also be eligible for Free School Meals. Support is therefore not determined upon the basis of being in receipt of support payments e.g. Income Support.
In order to apply for support, you must be living within Bexley Borough. If you live outside Bexley Borough, you will need to apply to the borough where you live.
There is no obligation to provide support for school clothing or for music lessons. Exceptional circumstances will include urgent family relocation, for example through domestic violence or other crisis or the need to move a child unexpectedly from one school to another to address their educational or medical needs. In these instances, your application must be supported by a letter from a person such as your doctor, social worker or headteacher that can confirm your circumstances.
We will check certain support payment entitlements using a national database and the application form seeks your permission for the local authority to do so. You must be responsible for the child (e.g. by receiving Child Benefit) and the child must be living with you.
In the case of school uniform you should also consult the school about support which may be available.
However, for the 2008/09 academic year the local authority will also consider the following:
Clothing/Uniform Grants
The local authority has recognised that the new Discretionary Grants policy may have affected households that would ordinarily have been entitled to support during the 2007/08 academic year but did not claim during that period. In this instance, for the 2008/09 academic year only, the local authority will consider this reason as being an exception to the policy. If you wish to claim based upon this fact, please download an application form using the link below, or contact the Pupil and Student Finance Team.
The Clothing/Uniform Grant policy for the 2007/08 academic year was based upon the following:
You must be living within the London Borough of Bexley and to be eligible, families must be in receipt of one of the
following support payments:
- Income Support; or,
- Income-based Job Seekers Allowance; or,
- Child Tax Credit but not Working Tax Credit, and have an annual income of £15,575 or below from 6 April 2008
as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. With regard to Tax Credits please refer to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs guidelines for qualification and definition of household income especially if you have a partner and are a couple; or,
- Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit.
Families in receipt of Working Tax Credit or support payments other than those stated above, during the 2007/08 academic year, were not entitled to a Clothing/Uniform Grant.
If you were eligible, the grant was available to pupils only ONCE during each of the following key stages:
- Key Stage 1 – infants (year groups: R or 1 or 2) £37.50 per child
- Key Stage 2 – juniors (year groups: 3 or 4 or 5 or 6) £37.50 per child
- Key Stage 3 – secondary school (year groups: 7 or 8 or 9) £62.50 per child
- Key Stage 4 – secondary school (year groups: 10 or 11) £37.50 per child
A grant is not available if the pupil previously received a grant for the same Key Stage.
Music Grants
Contact your music provider initially regarding any schemes they may be administering for fee remission. The local authority will consider, under exceptional circumstances, financial support if your child/children were provided with financial assistance during the 2007/08 academic year and can demonstrate progression with their grading. If you wish to apply for support, you will need to complete the Education Discretionary Grants Application Form: 2008/09 academic year, which can be downloaded using the link below, and assistance will initially be considered by the Pupil and Student Finance Team.
General
Low income, brothers and sisters attending the same school, single sex or denominational preference for a school do not themselves account for exceptional factors.
The policy is reviewed annually.
Applying for assistance
If you wish to apply for support, you will need to complete the Education Discretionary Grants Application Form: 2008/09 academic year, which can be downloaded using the link below, and assistance will initially be considered by the Pupil and Student Finance Team
Fully completed application forms will be processed within 28 working days.
However, if the necessary evidence is not included with your application, this will delay the processing of your application, the form may be returned to you and no
Discretionary Grant will be issued.
London Borough of Bexley has formal procedures for considering the individual merits
of applications that do not meet the normal policy criteria mentioned in these
guidelines. Please provide full details of any exceptional circumstances you wish
to be considered, in the additional information section of the application form.
However, this does not guarantee that the application will be approved.
If you have any queries regarding these guidelines please contact the Pupil and Student Finance Team using
the contact details on the left of this page. |
