Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations consolidate, with amendments, the Education (Grants) (Music and Ballet Schools) Regulations 1989 which, with Regulations amending them, are revoked by regulation 16(1). They come into force on 25th August 1995 and apply in relation to a school year beginning on or after that date (regulation 1).
The Regulations provide for the payment of grant to the schools of music and ballet specified in regulation 3(1) to reimburse them for their expenditure in operating the aided pupil scheme described in Schedule 1. That scheme allows schools to remit tuition and other fees, and to pay uniform and travel grant in respect of aided pupils.
The Secretary of State is also empowered to pay grant to—
the Royal Ballet School in respect of their expenditure in providing education in ballet dancing for pupils in the Upper Division of the School (regulations 9 to 11), and
the Choir Schools' Association Bursary Trust in respect of education provided to choristers aged between 8 and 13 attending one of the choir schools listed in Schedule 3 (regulations 12 to 15).
The amount of grant payable to the Royal Ballet School and the Trust is to be determined after consultation with them. Payment of grant may only be made in respect of pupils who satisfy the residence requirements specified in Schedule 1, paragraph 2.
Apart from minor drafting amendments, the main changes from the previous Regulations are set out below.
In Part I, the definition of “parents” in regulation 4 has been revised to take account of the provisions of the Children Act 1989 and to limit the definition to the person(s) with whom the child resides in the same household. In relation to a child selected for an aided place under the 1989 Regulations (as amended) in the school year 1994/5, the previous definition of “parents”will continue to apply for the school year 1995/6 and other school years immediately following ones in which the child holds an aided place (regulation 16(2)).
As regards Schedule 1 (which establishes the aided pupil scheme, sets out conditions of eligibility for aided places, and provides for remission of fees, payment of grant and administrative provisions):
the condition relating to residence (paragraph 2), which also applies in relation to grants to choir schools and the Royal Ballet School, has been revised to:
remove the requirement that a child who is a national of a member state of the European Community be resident in the British Islands on the relevant date; and
take account of the European Economic Area agreement.
In paragraph 5(3):
certain maintenance payments made to or for the benefit of an aided pupil by an absent parent, are to be taken into account in assessing “total income” for the purposes of the Regulations; and
such payments made by a parent with whom the pupil resides, to or for the benefit of another child not in the same household, are to be left out of account in making that assessment.
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Under the previous Regulations, such payments were only taken into or left out of account where they were made by a party to a marriage or former marriage.
In paragraph 8, the reduction to be made in relevant income in respect of dependent relatives pursuant to sub-paragraphs (3) and (5) has been increased to £1,165 (from £1,140 in the previous Regulations).
In paragraphs 13 and 14, the means tests for the remission of fees is relaxed: the level of income at or below which fees are to be wholly remitted is set at £8,239 instead of £8,049 (in respect of boarding pupils), and £10,360 instead of £10,121 (in respect of day pupils), with corresponding increases in the extent of remission where relevant income exceeds those sums.
In paragraphs 17 and 18, the means tests for uniform and travel grants are relaxed and the amount of grant payable increased.
In paragraph 21, a new upper distance limit is introduced in respect of payment of travel grant for aided pupils who are weekly boarders: the cost of the part of any journey exceeding 80 kilometres will no longer be eligible for grant.
In Schedule 2, the requirement in paragraph 7 for the accounts of schools to be audited is amended to require the auditor to be a person who is eligible to audit company accounts.
In Schedule 3, the choir school at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff is added to the list of choir schools in respect of which the Secretary of State is empowered to pay grant pursuant to Part IV.