Dear all (apologies to those who receive more than one copy of this)
AMOSSHE has, since it was first announced, opposed the hardship loan
scheme and has consistently asked for it to be reconsidered. The
feedback at our conference on Monday at CVCP was that there is
widespread support for this approach. I believe that, to a large
extent, officials at the DfEE have accepted our arguments but that
Ministers, no doubt for political reasons, remain to be convinced.
We are, therefore, considering lobbying Ministers direct about this.
This week has seen the issue of another consultation document from
the DfEE about the new arrangements for 1999/2000. It has been sent
to various representative bodies including AMOSSHE. One of the
topics in it is Hardship Loans and it therefore provides us with
another opportunity to tell the DfEE what we think of the scheme
although I should point out that the document says 'it is unlikely
that any changes could be made in time for the 1999/2000 academic
year and institutions should assume that the present arrangements
will continue for at least another year.' Nevertheless, if we want
to see changes for future years we need to keep up the pressure now.
For both the above reasons, I would find it extremely useful if
people involved in Hardship Loans could provide me with any
information or specific examples of problems that I could use. For
the purposes of the DfEE consultation it would be particularly
helpful if you could send stuff to me by the end of Friday 4
December. I realise that this is quite early in the year and that we
will need to update our response as the year progresses so please
feel free to contact me after 4 December if you have anything further
to report. Anyone who thinks the Hardship Loan scheme is great is
also welcome to respond.
If this is not your area, I should be grateful if you would forward
this email to the relevant person in your institution.
Finally, a quick reminder that I will be visiting the SLC on
Wednesday so, if there is anything you want me to raise, over and
above what was included in my recent survey, please let me know
before then. In particular, if anyone can provide specific examples
of problems, that would be helpful.
Thanks to everyone for your help with these matters.
Pam
----------------------
Pamela Bell-Ashe
University of Liverpool
Chair
Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education
Tel: 0151 794 2243
Fax: 0151 794 2249
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|