Adult Education Classes
Some of our members brought to our attention the fact that there was no longer any subsidy for older people who enrolled on adult education classes. So we wrote to Michael Bowes, Head of Adult Community Learning, Essex County Council and received the following reply:-
“The changes to fee concessions for older people relate to a piece of legislation that was introduced in October 2006 - the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations. This means that we are no longer able to offer age related fee concessions for people on Adult Learning courses. The Regulations do not cover the majority of goods and services, so free travel and other concessions are not affected. It is vocational training that is specifically covered by the Act. Essex County Council's Adult Community Learning Service delivers vocational Further Education courses and, as such, all of its provision is covered by the Act.
Essex County Council has taken legal advice on this matter and the guidance we have been given is that it is unlawful for us to offer fee concessions to any of our learners based on age. The majority of local authorities in England have also removed this concession, so it is not just Essex.
We have introduced a number of things to lessen the impact of this on those who cannot afford the fees. Some people may be entitled to fee remission for certain types of provision, or a fee concession if-they are in receipt of some income-based benefits, including Pension Credit Guarantee. Learners can also pay in instalments for longer courses and we take credit card payments.
We have been monitoring the feedback we have had on fees from learners and members of the public over the past three months and will be looking at this when we set our new fees for September 2008.
Adult education is still very good value for money with the average course fee being just over £3 per hour. All courses continue to be subsidised by the Government, so the amount people pay is only a part of the cost of providing the course. In Essex this subsidy is around 64%, so this means that students, including those over 60, only pay around a third of the actual cost of the course.”
Copy Dates for "Resident"
If readers wish to advertise an event or have an article printed in the newsletter the following gives dates by which copy should be received by the editor – Trevor Stansfield, 174 Perry Street CM12 0NX or e-mail Tremar@aol.com:
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