Special Support Grant Eligibility Changed?

QSGreg

I am a married, full time, mature student, with 3 pre school age children. My wife does not work. We are in receipt of housing benefit (inc term time). My wife gets JSA in the summer.
I have just completed an HND and am just starting on the 2nd yr of a BSc at a new Uni. My student funding entitlement assesment has switched from my LEA to SLE.
We have received Special Support Grant in yrs 1 & 2 of the HND because we had an underlying entitlement to means tested benefit (as described in the 'directgov' website heading under maintenance grant). I have just received my final assessment for this year and am getting maintenance grant. I have queried this with them by email and was told
"However you are not entitled to a Special Support Grant only a Maintenance Grant there are only certain circumstances when you would be entitled to the SSG and if you fall into one of these and we haven't acknowledged this please reply to me as soon as possible,the criteria are:a lone parentPartner is a student and you have childrenYou have a disability and qualify for Disabled students allowance.or are over 60"

Has the law changed or is SFE intrepreting the criteria differently to LEA's, any ideas on what grounds I can appeal this?


Anyone got any ideas?, any help would be appreciated.

Oldernotwiser

I wouldn't have thought you were eligible for the Special Support Grant but when I checked https://www.direct.gov.uk I found the following:

"More about the Special Support Grant
Certain groups of students can get the Special Support Grant instead of the Maintenance Grant.
If you get the Special Support Grant, it won’t affect how much you can get through the Student Loan for Maintenance - and it won’t be counted as income when working out if you’re entitled to income-related benefits or tax credits.
You’ll qualify for the Special Support Grant if, during the academic year, you meet the conditions for being a ‘prescribed person’ under the Income Support or Housing Benefit Regulations. Students who are likely to qualify include:
single parents
other student parents - if they have a partner who is also a student
students with certain disabilities
But there are other groups who may be eligible. You don’t necessarily have to receive or even have applied for Income Support or Housing Benefit.
If you’re not sure which grant to apply for, contact Student Finance England"

so it sounds as if it might be a grey area. Hopefully Taiko will see this later as this is the sort of thing I'd expect her to know about.

Taiko

I'm a man...

SFE have this wrong, just like the majority of top-ups. You're eligible for SSG, as the rules have not changed. Send the evidence and it should be changed.

At present though, we're taking SFE to task on various issues, because they have incorrectly assessed about 90% of the students we sent up to them.

Oldernotwiser

Taiko wrote: »

I'm a man...

Good grief - I'd always thought you to be of the female persuasion!

QSGreg

Thank you both for such prompt advice.

Taiko, last week my uni 'Money Doctor' spoke to the practitioners helpline, who agreed with you, but they weren't sure of specific grounds to appeal on. She has emailed my circustances to some kind of practitioners forum and we are waitng for responses.
In fact, I did submit our HB evidence back in July, so the assessor from SFE had the same info as I provided here, with supporting evidence, when she made her decision.

Do you think I should ask her to review it? - in view of the above it would appear she isn't fully aware of the regs (and I can't refer to the appropriate ones to support my case) and may return the same decision - or is there a proceedure to escalate it to a more informed person?
And/or, can you tell me which Act/Statutory Instrument/DM guideline or other, I might use?

Taiko

You do need to get them to review it. It's contained within the "Assessing Eligibility & Finance Guidance" booklet for assessors, and also within The Student Support Regulations 2009.

QSGreg

Hi, I sent an email explaining again that I have already had entitlement and quoted "Assessing Eligibilty & Finance Guidance" booklet, etc.
I got an email from a team leader today;
"I have looked at your application and can confirm the information emailed
to you on 11/11/2009. Your application has been assessed for your tuition
fee loan and maintenance loan, you have also received grant payments for
maintenance grant, adult dependant grant and Parental learning allowance.
As previously advised you will not be eligible for special support grant
based on the information you have provided us."

Does anyone know where I should go from here?

Taiko

You've already sent them evidence of your housing benefit, so I now believe you need to invoke the appeals procedure. They have got this completely wrong.

Not as wrong as the student they stole from my LEA today. Assessed him as theirs without us knowing, short changed the student by £1100, and refuse to change the assessment. Luckily my contacts in the press should help, although I should probably call the student instead of fighting it slyly on their behalf.

QSGreg

Hi Taiko, It has taken a while to get a response from SFE, I have just received this reply, via my uni money doctor, from Practitioner Support..........

"...I can confirm that Student Finance England have applied the regulations correctly in this scenario.
We received advice from The Department for Business Innovation and Skills on 30/10/2008 stating the following:

"A person might well be in receipt of income-related benefits up until the point at which they become a full-time student. But that person would only retain their eligibility for income-related benefits whilst studying a full-time HE course (and therefore potentially qualify for Special Support Grant) if they fall into one of the groups of people set out in paragraph 36 of the 'Assessing Financial Entitlement' guidance for 2008/09. This reflects advice received from DWP."

Therefore, unless a student falls into one of the specific categories (listed below), they will not be eligible for Special Support Grant.


|
a) | The student is a lone parent who is responsible for a child
| or young person aged under 20 (i.e. aged 19 or younger) who
| is:
| a member of the student’s household; and
in full-time non-advanced education.

---

+

---

|
b) | The student is a lone foster parent of a child or young
| person aged under 20 (i.e. aged 19 or younger).

---

+

---

c) | The student has a partner who is also a full-time student
| and one or both of them are responsible for a child or young
| person aged under 20 (i.e. aged 19 or younger) who is in
| full-time non-advanced education.

---

+

---

|
d) | The student qualifies for a Disability Premium or Severe
| Disability Premium.

---

+

---

|
e) | The student has been treated as incapable of work for a
| continuous period of at least 28 weeks (two or more periods
| of incapacity separated by a break of no more than 8 weeks
| count as one continuous period).

---

+

---

|
f) | The student is deaf and qualifies for Disabled Students’
| Allowances.

---

+

---

|
g) | The student is waiting to go back to a course having taken
| approved time out because of an illness or caring
| responsibility that has now come to an end for a period not
| exceeding one year.

---

+

---

|
h) | The student is from abroad and entitled to an Income Support
| urgent cases payment because they are temporarily without
| funds for a period of up to six weeks.

---

+

---

|
i) | The student is aged 60 or over.
This advice received replaced the advice that Special Support Grant was available to student's that had an underlying entitlement to Income Support or Housing Benefit."..................

The third paragrph in the quote basically says the student isn't eligible for means tested benefits unless he fits into one of these catagories. This isn't accurate because we are in receipt of HB all year.(my wife made the claim but HB treats us as the same) Where do I go from here?

MrsManda

QSGreg wrote: »

The third paragrph in the quote basically says the student isn't eligible for means tested benefits unless he fits into one of these catagories. This isn't accurate because we are in receipt of HB all year.(my wife made the claim but HB treats us as the same) Where do I go from here?

Taiko's the expert on this but it sounds like technically you, personally as the student, is not in reciept of HB. Housing benefit is only payable to one person - '

Other restrictions:If you live with a partner or civil partner only one of you can get Housing Benefit.

Therefore perhaps that's why you are being assesed as being not eligible for SSG

astraea

i am having a very similar problem i am on full time bsc course husband is full time student at college i get adult support grant and child dependant grant, we get housing benefit, but because my hubby is in further education and not higher education SFE are saying i am not entitled to special support grant????????? nowhere in the guidelines does it say partner has to be in HIGHER education it just says STUDENT???

where can i go from here?

thank you