Payment of grants for books, travel and other expenditure and grants for disabled distance learning students’ living costs
79.—(1) Payments of the grant for books, travel and other expenditure and the grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs may be made in such manner as the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate and they may make it a condition of entitlement to payment that the eligible distance learning student must provide them with particulars of a bank or building society account in the United Kingdom into which payments may be made by electronic transfer.
(2) Where the Welsh Ministers cannot make a final assessment on the basis of the information provided by the eligible distance learning student, they may make a provisional assessment and payment of the grant for books, travel and other expenditure and the grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs.
(3) The Welsh Ministers may pay the grant for books, travel and other expenditure and the grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs in instalments or in a single lump sum.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the Welsh Ministers may pay the grant for books, travel and other expenditure and the grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs at such times as they consider appropriate.
(5) The Welsh Ministers must not pay the first instalment or, where it has been determined not to pay support in instalments, make any payment of the grant for books, travel and other expenditure or the grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs before they have received a declaration under regulation 73 unless an exception referred to in paragraph (6) applies.
(6) For the purposes of paragraph (5) an exception applies if—
(a)a grant for disabled distance learning students’ living costs is payable in which case that particular grant may be paid before the Welsh Ministers have received a declaration;
(b)the Welsh Ministers have determined that owing to exceptional circumstances it would be appropriate to make a payment without receiving a declaration.