Upaid grant applicants sought
Efforts are being made to track down students "stuck in the system" of applying for education maintenance grants (EMAs) in England.
The process was in chaos last year until the Learning and Skills Council replaced private contractor Liberata.
New contractor Capita is said to be performing satisfactorily and there is no longer a backlog of applications.
Schools Minister Jim Knight says it is contacting all those who may not have received money yet.
In an update on the situation, Mr Knight said the EMA helpline was still receiving enquiries from people who had heard nothing despite having applied "some time ago".
He had been assured by the Learning and Skills Council that every case was quickly investigated.
'Chaos'
One concern was that the records passed on to Capita by Liberata "are not wholly reliable".
There may have been some double counting of applicants. Capita was making checks on the data to try to eliminate this.
"It then plans to write to everyone for whom it has a record but no conclusion, inviting them to pursue their application or contact the helpline," Mr Knight said.
"This exercise will help those learners who may be 'stuck in the system' and will also eliminate any redundant records."
The Tories have said the system is still "mired in chaos".
Shadow Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "It is clear from the letter that there are still many teenagers who have not had their applications processed despite applying for their EMA more three months ago.
"The government needs to ensure those people are not dropping out of college due to financial hardship."
Source: BBC News 29th January 2009.
29th Jan 2009
