FEDERATION NEWS
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION ALLOWANCE Please could someone tell me. What is Going on?
T
he RAF FF has received a number of enquiries from distressed family members caught up in reviews of their
entitlement to CEA (Board). Tis article tries to provide guidance based on current interpretation of current policy.
It does not pre-empt the findings of the MoD Review of CEA, which is due to report in the autumn. The latter is a separate review, prompted by the SDSR, and is looking at the longer-term provision of this key allowance and its affordability within the overall Defence budget.
In close liaison with the local chain of command, we have been monitoring a number of appeals and Service Complaints whilst trying to gain a better understanding of the current policy and its interpretation by a range of interested agencies.
CEA – What is it for?
The aim of Continuity of Education Allowances (CEA) is to assist Service personnel to achieve continuity of education for their child(ren) that would otherwise be denied in the maintained day school sector if their child(ren) accompanied them on frequent assignments both at home and overseas. In claiming CEA, a Service person must fully accept that accompanied service is the overriding principle for maintaining entitlement.
Mobility v Stability
In 2010, a Defence Internal Notice (DIN) placed a very specific requirement on the Services’ manning authorities to make a judgement as to the predicted mobility or stability of a Service person. Manning staffs are required to confirm whether or not an applicant for CEA has a 50% or greater chance of being posted on an accompanied assignment more than 50 miles from their current duty unit. If the ‘Manners’ assess that, given the individual’s rank and trade/ branch, there is a high probability of mobility within these criteria, the individual will be assessed as mobile for the purposes of CEA and able to claim/continue to claim the allowance.
If, however, the Manning staffs judge that the individual is not likely to move, or if he/she does, it will be within a 50-mile radius of the current unit, they will be declared stable and ineligible to claim CEA. If already in receipt of CEA, their entitlement will be subject to a review and this may result in a requirement to withdraw the child(ren) from a boarding environment since state education is available locally. Parents can, of
www.raf-ff.org.uk
course, opt to leave the child(ren) in boarding, but the costs of this would then fall entirely on the parents, which for many claimants is simply not an affordable option.
Further Tightening of the Rules In Dec 10, a tightening up of the rules governing CEA was announced as part of the SDSR, in anticipation of the full scale MoD review of the allowance. The areas that were tightened up were:
• The link between Involuntarily Separated Status (INVOLSEP) and automatic eligibility to CEA for permanent assignments would be removed. This meant that CEA claimants posted to MoD London, and certain designated positions within JFHQ (PJHQ) would no longer be eligible to claim CEA whilst serving unaccompanied. Transitional arrangements were agreed for existing CEA claimants serving unaccompanied whilst on permanent assignment to MoD London, designated positions within JFHQ (PJHQ) to retain the INVOLSEP concession for continued CEA eligibility until the end of their current assignment.
• The ‘Sibling Rule’ would be removed from the CEA regulations. This meant that, in future, all children would be required to demonstrate their suitability for boarding for at least three terms before being allowed to transfer to day schooling, should the location of the family home permit.
• The Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) would initiate a review of CEA entitlement where the claimant’s family home had not relocated during two consecutive assignments, rather than three.
• Aggregation would be removed from the CEA regulations. This meant that the ability to offset more expensive school fees against less expensive ones would be removed.
Themes Identified by the RAF FF As casework increased, the RAF FF identified a number of themes including: retrospective reviews of Invol Sep status, and cases where children were being removed from boarding schools despite only attending them for a short period.
In many cases, there appeared to be a breakdown in communication between the
families, the unit P staff, the Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) the manning staffs and the SPVA or a combination of any of these agencies. Families felt confused and isolated and many came to us in great distress facing repayment of school fees they had believed they were entitled to claim. We flagged their concerns to the RAF during meetings with the policy staffs and via our Quarterly Report.
Advice to Families
If you are considering placing your child(ren) into boarding school or already have children in the system, it is vital that you maintain close contact with your unit personnel staff and the manning staffs who will be making key assessments regarding your future mobility/stability.
The CEAS remain the core provider of advice on CEA entitlement and parents considering embarking on the boarding school route or facing a change in personal circumstances (such as a divorce, or an assignment that impacts on accompanied service) are encouraged to seek their expert advice.
Ensure you fully understand the eligibility criteria and think long-term. How mobile are you likely to be over the next 5-10 years, if considering placing a child into school at 8, or 11? Don’t assume – check. And if the Manning staffs confirm your mobility, which underpins your entitlement to CEA, get it in writing.
Keep detailed records of any paperwork you complete in claiming CEA so that you have an audit trail of eligibility if your entitlement is reviewed and/or challenged.
Please feel free to bring your concerns and evidence on CEA issues to the attention of your Federation – we are collating all CEA casework on our database in order to inform the RAF, CEAS, SPVA, etc, of emerging themes. We stand ready to provide confidential, independent advice to the best of our ability, whilst recognising that the Subject Matter Experts lie within the chain of command.
Envoy Autumn 2011 19
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