To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in (a) Tyne and Wear and (b) Houghton and Washington East constituency were eligible for education maintenance allowance at (i) £30, (ii) £20 and (iii) £10 in the last three years. (181552)

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). They hold information about take-up, at local authority level, since the scheme was rolled out nationally from September 2004. This information is published on the LSC website and is updated every month. It can be found at:

http://www.lsc.gov.uk/providers/Data/statistics/learner/EMA_take_up.htm

One of the criteria used to assess eligibility for the education maintenance allowance (EMA) is the household income of the young person. Since we cannot estimate this with accuracy at a local level, and not everyone who is eligible for EMA takes it up, it is not possible to provide estimates of the number of EMA eligible pupils.