DISABLED STUDENTS' ALLOWANCE

EDM number 1870 in 1992-93, proposed by Gerry Steinberg on 27/04/1993.

That this House draws attention to the individual needs of disabled people, many of whom are unable to participate in full-time higher education; welcomes the introduction of the disabled students' allowance, a means-tested benefit which is part of the mandatory awards system, but regrets that it does not apply to any part-time students whose needs fall outside mandatory awards; notes that while many disabled students in the past have been offered help through the discretionary award provisions of local education authorities, recent soundings indicate that an increasing number of local authorities are discontinuing such assistance; and therefore calls on the Government to extend the disabled students' allowance to all higher education students with disabilities, whether studying full or part-time, to enable far more men and women who wish to continue their education and training to do so.

This motion has been signed by a total of 116 MPs.