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Education Maintenance Allowance

Again, because I am not a party to the contract arrangements directly, it is difficult to give a precise answer to that question. It may be that at some point in the past few weeks, the LSC agreed with Liberata that, in order to get staff back and get the processing up to speed, it would underwrite or perhaps even employ some staff in Pendle, in order to ensure that that happened. I cannot say that with certainty, but it would be my best guess. I would like to speak about the procurement process, but time is running out. No student should be prevented from learning because of financial barriers or other constraints. When systems and processes go wrong and another barrier is put up, we must act quickly and decisively to break it down. The decision to terminate the contract with Liberata was not taken lightly. I am confident that it was the right decision. We will now focus on getting the system, and students’ education, back on track, so that they are able to achieve all that they are capable of, safe in the knowledge of the financial security that they are entitled to.