(Paragraph 7.12)

Reimbursement of cost of, and time off for, courses

1. Any established staff undertaking further or higher education courses may apply for:

(1) payment towards the cost of necessary fees, books and travelling; and

(2) time off to reach evening classes and special leave with pay for such things as Open University Summer Schools, occasional day-time tutorials, pre-examination revision (though when the House is sitting this will be authorised only in exceptional circumstances) and short examinations.

Qualifying courses

2. An application for such assistance should be made to the Head of Human Resources with the approval of the Head of Office. The Head of Human Resources will consider the application on its merits subject to the following minimum requirements:

(1) attendance at the course must be mainly in the applicant's own time;

(2) the applicant must have an apparent capacity to benefit from the course;

(3) the course must lead to a recognised educational or professional qualification, certificate or diploma and the subject(s) must have relevance to the work on which the applicant is likely to be employed, to the qualifications necessary for promotion to a higher post, or to the acquisition or development of knowledge or skills likely to benefit the House;

(4) the course must normally be within the public education system, including the Open University and BBC Radio GCSE courses (but a course at a private college or a correspondence course may qualify an applicant for assistance in exceptional circumstances);

(5) the applicant must not normally receive assistance for more than two courses, completion of the necessary GCSE exams and GCE "A" levels for starting a university or professional course being regarded as one course; and

(6) sufficient funds must be available in the budget to meet the cost.

Assistance provided

3. If the Head of Human Resources approves an application under this scheme assistance will be given within the following limits:

Payments

(a) Fees (including examination fees): 80 per cent of any amount not paid by the local education authority. (Most local education authorities give assistance towards Open University Summer Schools).

(b) Books: £50 per year, subject to a maximum of £150 per course.

(c) Travelling: All costs arising out of attendance at summer schools by public transport or private car additional to those normally incurred in travelling between home and office, subject to the rules governing the payment of such expenses in the Civil Service.

Time off and special leave

As far as possible, attendance at courses etc. must be arranged outside normal hours of work or during periods when the applicant is not normally required for duty, in parliamentary recesses etc. Any time off to reach evening classes or special leave must be arranged so as to cause the minimum interference with official work and in exceptional circumstances such facilities may have to be suspended. Subject to these provisos special leave with pay may be granted as follows:

(a) for degree courses and courses of equivalent length and rigour:

(i) up to a total of 20 days provided that not more than 10 of these days are taken in the last year of the course;

(ii) if the number of days required for examinations in any year exceeds 5, up to 4 additional days in any year to cover the excess;

(iii) if the limits in (i) and (ii) would make it impossible for the student to complete the course, up to 10 additional days, any further time required to be taken as annual leave.

(b) for GCE "A" level and equivalent courses:

(i) up to a total of 10 days, provided that not more than 5 of these days are taken in any one year of the course;

(ii) if the number of days required for examinations in any year exceeds 21Ž2, up to 4 additional days in any year to cover the excess;

(c) for GCSE and equivalent courses:

(i) up to a total of 5 days;

(ii) if the number of days required for examinations in any year exceeds 21Ž2, up to 4 additional days in any year to cover the excess.

4. A claim for payments under the scheme should be made to the Human Resources Office, who will certify that the claim is in accordance with the assistance approved.

5. Staff receiving assistance are asked to keep the Human Resources Office informed of their progress and to provide either a certificate of completion or evidence of success in an examination at the end. Where courses last for several years, recipients of further education grants should notify the Head of Office and the Head of Human Resources at the beginning of each academic year, or of each distinct part of a course if shorter than one year, of the course details and the examinations to be taken together with the results of any examination taken at the end of the previous part.

6. Staff who leave the employment of the House during a course of study for which they are in receipt of assistance may be required to repay some or all of that assistance.

7. Costs of staff training, where study is undertaken so as to make a member of staff more useful to his/her office, fall on office budgets.