Conservatives have called for an independent inquiry into this year's fiasco over Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) payments.
More than a month after term began, tens of thousands of children aged between 16-18 have still not received their £30 a week entitlement for staying in education.
The independent inquiry should look into why the Government signed a multi-million pound contract with a company, Liberata, that had failed to deliver high-profile projects in the past, how to make sure pupils get this year’s payments as soon as possible and how to avoid a repeat of this fiasco next year.
Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove said;
"Just a few months after Ed Balls's department delivered us the SATs fiasco, the payment of EMAs is similarly mired in chaos. Thousands of pupils have not received the money they’re entitled to and it looks as if many are not having their applications processed correctly.
Prospective Winchester MP Steve Brine added; "Ed Balls’s department appears completely incapable of delivering projects of this size. As with the SATs fiasco, ministers are trying to deflect the blame onto other people. We urgently need an independent inquiry to establish what has gone so badly wrong and how we can avoid the same situation next year."