Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Block Grant (Education Adjustments) (England) Regulations 1987 which provide for the adjustment of block grant payable to local authorities in England in respect of the financial year 1987/8 and subsequent years.

First there are amendments to regulation 6 (which provides for the apportionment of expenditure in accordance with the formulae contained therein). Regulation 6(3)(b) provided that students attending a course (whether full-time or part-time) of less than 19 weeks duration should not be counted for the purpose of counting the number of students attending relevant courses. By virtue of the amendments, while students attending a full-time course of less than 19 weeks duration continue not to be counted (regulation 2(1)), students attending a part-time course are to be counted unless the course is one of less than 11 days duration, that calculation being made having regard only to those part-time courses the duration of which is recorded in days in the data available to the Secretary of State (regulation 2(2) and (3)).

Secondly, there are amendments to Schedule 1 (which specifies certain qualifications for the purposes of the definition of youth and community worker in regulation 2(1)). The amendments add to the list of courses satisfactory completion of which means that a person is to be treated as qualified as a youth and community worker for the purposes of the Regulations. They also revise and add to the other circumstances in which a person is to be so treated (regulation 3).

Thirdly, there is an amendment to Schedule 2 (which sets out the courses of advanced further education to which the Regulations apply). Certain courses are included where they may be taken only by students who have attained the age of 18 and hold any of the qualifications listed. A General Certificate of Secondary Education recording that the student attained grade C or above in at least 5 subjects is added to that list of qualifications (regulation 4).