Parliamentary questions
Andrew Wilson
771 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for assistance it has received in each of the past five years from (a) students and (b) welfare or student support services, broken down by year and category of request.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Executive provides assistance to students and student welfare services both in terms of financial support, guidance and advice. This assistance is provided through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding C…
24 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-21381 and S1W-21382 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 18 January 2002, whether it will detail any duty of care it has with regard to students attending further and higher education establishments.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Further and higher education establishments are legally autonomous bodies which carry their own liabilities regarding duties of care in respect of students.
24 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-21381 and S1W-21382 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 18 January 2002, whether it could be held legally or financially liable for any malpractice resulting from grievance and appeals procedures at further and higher education establishments.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This would ultimately be a matter for the courts to establish.
24 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive , further to the answers to questions S1W-21381 and S1W-21382 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 18 January 2002, whether any legal impediments exist which prevent it from directing further and higher education establishments on their grievance and appeals procedures and, if so, whether it will de…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: In respect of further education colleges, section 21 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 enables the Scottish ministers to give college boards of management directions of a general or specific character with regard to the discharge of thei…
18 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what surveys other than the Central Scotland Transport Corridor Study (CSTCS) have been undertaken regarding road safety on the A80 at Cumbernauld, (b) how many accidents were reported on this stretch of trunk road in each of the last five years and (c) when it will publish the CSTCS …
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: A study resulting in preparation of the A80/M80 Crowwood to M80 Junction 5 Route Accident Reduction Plan was completed in March 1999. <P>Reported accidents over the last five years are as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=271><TR><TD WID…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many National Training Organisation employees are based in Scotland (a) in total and (b) broken down by (i) organisation (ii) Local Enterprise Company area and (iii) location.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: National Training Organisations (NTOs) operate on a UK-wide basis and two have their Headquarters in Scotland. The Scottish Executive does not hold details of the numbers of NTO employees based in Scotland.
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which National Training Organisations are (a) based solely in Scotland and (b) have representative offices in Scotland, broken down by Local Enterprise Company area.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: As UK-wide bodies, no National Training Organisation is based solely in Scotland. Seventy one National Training Organisations (NTOs) are currently recognised. Two have their Headquarters based in Scotland - the British Plumbing Employers Council (Edinburgh) a…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Modern Apprenticeships have not been completed by those undertaking such training in respect of each (a) Local Enterprise Company and (b) framework in each year since 1994.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not available.<P>I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-15345 on 23 May 2001.
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Modern Apprenticeship places have been available to candidates in each year since 1994 in respect of each (a) Local Enterprise Company and (b) framework and how many unfilled places there were in each case.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not available. Modern Apprenticeships (MA) are not allocated in quotas by the enterprise network or by industrial sector. The level of MA uptake reflects the demand for training opportunities by young people and the number of jobs…
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support it has provided for Modern Apprenticeships in each year since 1994 in respect of each (a) Local Enterprise Company and (b) framework.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Support for Modern Apprenticeships is provided from within the block grant-in-aid to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Decisions on more detailed expenditure are operational matters for those bodies.
15 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any directions it has given to any local authority to suspend its school capital repairs programme pending the outcome of its bid made under the Public Private Partnership/Private Finance Initiative and when any such directions were made.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has issued no such directions.
9 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-20257, S1W-20258 and S1W-20816 by Lewis Macdonald on 7 January 2002, what the legal barriers were, broken down by particular Act and section, that prevented it, as the author of the trunk roads maintenance contracts, from (a) requiring that the Sta…
Answer · Lewis Macdonald: TUPE is the UK Regulation which transposes the EC Acquired Rights Directive. The application of TUPE is a matter of law. The Scottish Executive were unable to state that a Transfer of Undertaking would occur on the award of the new contracts. Regulation 3 of …
9 Jan 2002 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland's current economic growth performance is adequate.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is committed to increasing the long-term growth rate of the Scottish Economy. We have set out our overall strategy in the documents <I>The Way Forward: Framework for Economic Development in Scotland </I>and <I>A Smart, Successful Scotla…
8 Jan 2002 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how students involved in higher education should fill the #700 funding gap which they will experience every year, as identified by Universities Scotland, once its bursary proposals have been implemented.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: In addition to the main student support entitlement, which for a young full-time student starting higher education in Scotland is worth up to £4,315, supplementary grants for students with children or other special needs are also available. These grants inclu…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students from each (a) university and (b) further education college found employment within an industry directly associated with their specific area of study upon graduation in each of the past five years, broken down by course classification type and shown as a percentage of the…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not available in respect of further education students.<P>Information on First Destinations of Graduates and Diplomates in Scotland is published annually by the Scottish Executive under National Statistics, the most recent data wa…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students at each (a) university and (b) further education college were over (i) thirty, (ii) forty, (iii) fifty and (iv) sixty years of age in each of the past five years, broken down by student population at each institution in each year.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Information on student numbers by institution and by age in further and higher education over the last five years can be found in the Standard Tables on Higher Education and Further Education in Scotland, published by the Scottish Executive under National Sta…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students accepted for full time (a) diplomate, (b) undergraduate and (c) postgraduate study at each (i) university and (ii) further education college applied for full financial support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in each of the past five years and how many …
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information cannot be provided in the format requested.<P>As well as means-tested loans and bursaries, the full financial support to which a full-time higher education student is entitled may include supplementary grants, such as Disabled Students' Allowa…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many former student loan-holders have incurred financial penalties for defaulting on their loans in each of the past five years, showing the average period of default and penalty imposed and expressed as a percentage of the total number of loan-holders in each year.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: At 31 March 2001, the most recent date for which figures are available, 14,537 student loan accounts held by Scottish domiciled students were subject to a financial penalty. This represents 7% of the total number of loans held by such students.<P>Information …
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students attending university or further education college (a) applied for and (b) received a student loan in each of the past five years, showing the average amount borrowed and expressed as a percentage of all Scottish students for that year.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Comprehensive figures in the form requested on the total numbers applying for a student loan, either through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) or direct to the Student Loans Company (SLC), could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. <P>Studen…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time academic staff at each (i) university and (ii) further education college were designated as having a physical disability in each of the past five years, broken down by subject category and shown as a percentage of all academic employees in each cat…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally for further education colleges.<P>Tables answering this question for higher education institutions, named "staff and disabled staff in HEIs", have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. No. 18529…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time academic staff at each (i) university and (ii) further education college possessed a recognised teaching qualification in each of the past five years, broken down by subject category and shown as a percentage of all academic employees in each categ…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information in respect of academic staff at further education colleges is only available for the academic year 1999-2000, when 4,036 full-time and 3,617 part-time staff possessed a recognised teaching qualification. These figures represent 58% of all acad…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time academic staff at each (i) university and (ii) further education college were (1) newly employed, (2) took early retirement, (3) were required to take compulsory retirement and (4) did not have their contracts renewed in each of the past five years…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not collected in this format for further education colleges.<P>For higher education institutions, information for point 3 is not collected and that for points 2 and 4 could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.<P>Tables relat…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was provided to each (a) university and (b) further education college in each of the past five years, also shown as a percentage of the gross national funding figure.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This is a matter for the Scottish Funding Councils for Higher Education and Further Education. The Information requested is not held centrally.<P>For further education colleges, funding allocations for the current academic year can be found on the Scottish Fu…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time academic staff were employed at each (i) university and (ii) further education college in each of the past five years, also shown as a percentage of the gross national employment figure.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Tables relating to these questions, named "Teaching Staff in FE and HE", have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. No. 18527)<P>The Gross National Employment figure for the last six years has been:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WI…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether every lecture hall in each university and further education college building has a loop system to assist students with hearing difficulties and whether it will detail any institution and lecture hall where this is not the case and the proposed date for rectififying the situation i…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally.
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether all university and further education college buildings provide access and egress for physically disabled people and whether it will detail any institution and campus building where this is not the case and the proposed date for rectifying the position in each case.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally.
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time students at each (i) university and (ii) further education college failed to complete their course of study in each of the past five years, broken down by course classification type and shown as a percentage of the overall student population at eac…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally in the format requested, and is not available for further education colleges.<P>Information on course completion in higher education institutions can be found in the Performance Indicators on Higher Education in the UK, …
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time students of each (i) university and (ii) further education college were designated as having a physical disability in each of the past five years, broken down by course classification type and shown as a percentage of the overall student population…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally for further education colleges.<P>Tables answering this question for higher education institutions, named "Students and disabled students in HE", have been placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. No.18526)<P>Mo…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students who have undertaken a course of study at each (a) university and (b) further education college have been direct entrants from the state school sector in each of the past five years, broken down by course classification type and shown as a percentage of first ye…
Answer · Wendy Alexander: This information is not held centrally in the format requested, and is not available for further education colleges.<P>Information on entrants to higher education institutions from state schools can be found in the Performance Indicators on Higher Education i…
21 Dec 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time students have undertaken study at each (i) university and (ii) further education college in each of the past five years, broken down by course classification type.
Answer · Wendy Alexander: Information on student numbers by institution and by subject in further and higher education over the last five years can be found in the Standard Tables on Higher Education and Further Education in Scotland, published by the Scottish Executive under National…