ALEX
As you are no doubt aware, my only reason for delaying in replying to your questions was that I wished to ensure that my reply was entirely true (I rather prefer it that way).
I was not actually involved in the negotiations with the CAA, so I did not know exactly what had or had not been agreed. Having investigated the matter I can now confirm that the CAA are entirely happy with what we are doing and the manner in which we are doing it.
I can also confirm that in order to avoid the problems that you encountered, we were obliged to take a route that made it impossible to provide the training at zero-VAT. In order to ensure that students did not suffer any loss, we simply reduced our price such that the VAT-added price is equal to what it would have been when zero-VAT rated.
So you see, it is entirely possible to obtain the grants for your students, but you will need to do some work to bring it about. I hope that your are successful in doing so. Prices in this business are far too high and we should all do everything we can to reduce them. As I said in my original contribution to this string, there is no direct link between price and quality.
PEGGY MURPHY,
Sorry PEGGY but as usual, you were much too eager to assume the worst. The fact is that EPTA has once again managed to provide outstanding value for its students. But go and have a beer anyway.....then for god's sake get back on the medication you are becoming more unstable every day.