COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, September 13, 2010
QUESTION NO.20
QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney
To ask the Manager to make a report on the applications received to date for the Higher Educations Grants scheme, in particular making reference to the completeness of applications received to date, difficulties with procuring documentation and expected turnaround times, as well as comparing numbers and types of applications with previous years. The Manager is also asked to report on the EFT system employed for the first time in the 2009-10 academic year, and on any contact with local colleges regarding the provision of grant information on "Freshers' Days" and other events at the start of the college year as suggested by myself at a previous meeting?
REPLY:
As of Friday 3rd September a total of 582 new applications and 821renewals had been received. There are on average 30 new applications received every day.
Taking into account the short timeframe between CAO offers and the Department of Education’s closing date of the 31st August the Council, in consultation and joint agreement with the other Dublin Local Authorities, has extended its closing date to 26th November 2010. This additional period is to allow Students ample time to gather all required documentation to make a complete application. This extended closing date has been announced on the Council’s website.
Assessment of student applications is a complex process, very often compounded by the volume of statutory documentation required to support the application. As a result many incomplete / invalid applications are submitted by students leading to unavoidable significant delays in finalising assessments and consequent processing of grant payments. Of the applications received to date approximately 20% were submitted without all the requested documentation and a further 20% require further clarifying information to enable staff to correctly assess their status. This includes renewal applications awaiting exam results.
In an effort to overcome this difficulty and to eliminate the number of invalid applications being submitted nationally, the Department of Education and Skills (in consultation with Awarding Authorities) introduced a new application form for the 2010/2011 academic year. It is expected that these new forms and supporting notes which clearly highlight the sections of the form where specific statutory documentation is required will minimise the number of incomplete applications being received. At a local level this Council has also critically examined our internal processes and procedures particularly where pinch points / bottlenecks have been identified in order to further streamline the assessment and payment process. Having regard to the volume of applications being received and as they are assessed on a chronological basis turnaround times for fully complete applications is approximately 4-6 weeks.
The number of new applications rose last year by approximately three hundred on the previous year and the numbers received so far this year appear to be approximately two hundred up on the same period last year.
The 2009/2010 academic year saw the introduction of payment to Students by way of EFT. While the initial set up was quite labour intensive, gathering all relevant information regarding back accounts, liaising with other Local Authorities and Colleges, the system worked very well for both the Council and Students and payments were made in line with agreement reached between the Council, Colleges and Student Unions. Feedback from both the Colleges and Students Union has been very positive and the system will continue for the current academic year. Payments dates for maintenance payments were agreed as:
- First maintenance payments were made as soon as the Student returned the completed Registration Form duly stamped by the College. This Registration Form was sent to all Students whose applications had been approved.
- In line with agreed time schedules with Colleges and Student Unions second maintenance payments began on Tuesday 19th January and every Tuesday thereafter until all Students had been approved and paid. These payments were dependent on verification of attendance by the Student to the relevant College
- Third maintenance payments began on Tuesday 30th March and every Tuesday thereafter until all Students had been approved and paid as agreed above and once again by verification of attendance by the College
Between August 2009 and June 2010 a total of €2.4m was paid in fees and €2.6m was paid to Students in maintenance payments. This was an increase of €1.4m on the same period in the 2008/2009 academic year (€1.4m in fees and €2.1m in maintenance payments)
The Council’s website provides all the required information and links to www.studentfinance.ie is provided. This is the website recommended and promoted by the Department of Education for all matters in relation to Grants and provides very comprehensive information. The Scheme is also widely advertised by the Colleges and Students Unions alike. As the Council’s resources are currently fully engaged in the processing of the grant applications regrettably we do not have additional resources to attend events at the start of College year to promote the availability of grants or assist with full completion of forms. Council staff did organise “Information Sessions” for Leaving Cert students in previous years and found that attendance was extremely poor.