The Department for Education today has published its consultation response to the Raising Participation Age consultation. Its findings will inform the development of the concise statutory guidance for local authorities, (which will be published in Autumn 2012) and focused secondary legislation which will be laid before Parliament by early 2013.
The Government response outlined that they will:
- Not regulate to define residency in relation to RPA: and
- Clarify that self-employment, volunteering and holding an office could combine with part-time study to meet the duty to participate.
On the definition of full-time education for RPA the Government will:
- set a legal RPA minimum of 540 hours for EFA funded provision, to fit with the recent announcements that all students will be funed at a rate equivalent to 600 hours, with leeway either side for individual cases
- work with voluntary and community sector partners to provide an alternative definition for ‘re-engagement’ provision based on the principles of good practice, rather than an hourly rate.
The Government consultation response is available here
