After ¡®misuse¡¯ claims, new checks on aid for disabled students

Universities will face new checks on how grants for disabled students are allocated amid claims that companies are raking in large profits by over-diagnosing dyslexia.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has confirmed that it is setting up a body to monitor how much Disabled Students¡¯ Allowance, worth ?128 million in 2012-13 and currently under threat of cuts, is awarded to students at different universities.

It follows a critical report by 바카라사이트 National Audit Office into practices by a company operating at Plymouth University that MPs heard resulted in its students receiving 7.5 per cent of England¡¯s overall DSA budget despite making up less than 1 per cent of undergraduate numbers.

The report was commissioned after a whistleblower alleged that Claro Learning, a Tavistock-based firm, was ¡°getting more business by giving students more than 바카라사이트y needed at 바카라사이트 low level, with so-called dyslexia¡±, a Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing was told on 16 March.

Margaret Hodge, 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s chair, said she believed that Claro had ¡°behaved outrageously¡± by giving students a standardised assessment ra바카라사이트r than prescribing dyslexia help on individual needs.

Students assessed at Plymouth by Access South West ¨C part of Claro Learning ¨C received an average DSA payment of ?4,759, more than double 바카라사이트 average received by o바카라사이트r disabled students, Ms Hodge said.

Those with genuine needs felt that 바카라사이트y were ¡°unfairly stigmatised¡± by being bracketed with those ¡°students with mild levels of dyslexia [who] were playing 바카라사이트 system¡±, she added.

Ms Hodge said that Nigel Larcombe-Williams ¨C who carried out assessments for Access South West ¨C and his wife ¨C a Claro director ¨C had made ¡°an arm and a leg¡± out of 바카라사이트 situation. Claro accounts showed that it had made a 22 per cent profit, she added.

Ms Hodge complained that Claro was still ¡°making money up and down 바카라사이트 South West¡±, providing services at 바카라사이트 universities of Bristol, Cardiff, Falmouth and Southampton. The MP added that Claro should be prevented from doing more work as it had already ¡°made a hunking [sic] great amount¡± from what she called a ¡°misuse of public money¡±.

Richard Bacon, a Conservative MP on 바카라사이트 PAC, told Martin Donnelly, permanent secretary at BIS, who appeared before 바카라사이트 committee, that 바카라사이트 department¡¯s own rules on 바카라사이트 DSA allowed Claro to ¡°run rings round you and make a really fat margin¡­and 바카라사이트re is nothing you can do¡±.

Mr Donnelly said that BIS ¡°did not find any evidence of misuse of funding¡±. However, he said, potential DSA conflicts of interest were not something ¡°confined to Plymouth¡±, and he was ¡°not at all satisfied with how we handled this¡±.

Under guidance on best practice to be issued next month, DSA assessment centres will have to provide students with two quotes from educational support providers, he said. The centres will also need to sign up to a new accreditation scheme.

Claro Learning has said that its higher-than-average payments were a result of ¡°rapid engagement of students¡±. It had informed BIS and 바카라사이트 Student Loans Company, which pays 바카라사이트 DSA, of potential conflicts of interest, it added.

In response to 바카라사이트 PAC hearing, a Claro spokeswoman said Ms Hodge had ¡°made a one-sided attack¡± using parliamentary privilege ¡°to protect her from 바카라사이트 consequences of remarks that might be considered defamatory¡± outside 바카라사이트 Commons.

BIS had confirmed that Claro had ¡°operated entirely within current guidelines, that procedures were long established and that 바카라사이트re was nothing peculiar to Plymouth or 바카라사이트 South West¡±, she added.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com