Calculation criteria and definitions in relation to Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA): FOI Review

Information requested

Original request 202300378904

The precise legal documents detailing calculation criteria and definitions in relation to household income and Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), or else provide a thorough breakdown of the information.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for –

“the precise legal documents detailing calculation criteria and definitions in relation to household income and Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), or else provide a thorough breakdown of the information.”

On receipt of your email expressing dissatisfaction with our initial response, we reconsidered that request and concluded that it should properly have been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). I apologise that your request for information was not considered under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), and I have gone on to review our response to that request.

I have concluded that the original decision should be confirmed with modifications.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because there are no precise legal documents detailing calculation criteria and definitions in relation to household income and EMA.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This formal notification should have been provided to you as part of our initial response.

Your review request specifically asked for –

“SPECIFIC ACTS or OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS which set out the EMA income requirements.”

I have interpreted your request to mean any regulations or official documentation that provides detail of the EMA income thresholds and household income information.

Therefore, I enclose a copy of the 2023/24 EMA Guidance and Business Processes Document provided to Local Authorities which contains some of the information you requested in the format you have asked for, specifically on household income. You may also find it helpful to know that individual local authorities publish EMA guidance on their website for the individual areas they are responsible for.

In terms of regulations, Part 6 of the Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022 sets out the conditions of Education Maintenance Allowance but does not specifically mention income.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202300384538 - Information released - Document

File type

56 page PDF

File size

502.3 kB