Parliamentary questions
Claire Baker
1,724 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are provided for lone parents studying higher education courses at university or college and studying further education courses.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Full details of the support available to lone parents studying higher education courses at university or college can be found on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland''s website <a href="http://www.saas.gov.uk/">www.saas.gov.uk</a>. Lone parents wishing to a…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what legislative action will be required to implement each of the options in its Supporting a Smarter Scotland consultation paper.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: No legislative action would be required to implement Option 1, 2 or 3, but given the consultation is seeking the widest views possible, some respondents may suggest different changes to the student support system which would have legislative implications.</p>…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students would benefit from increased student support under option 3 in its Supporting a Smarter Scotland Consultation paper, broken down by income.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Option 3 of the consultation paper suggests a hybrid of options 1 and 2. The details of the policy will be developed following consideration of the consultation responses.</p>
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students would benefit from increased student support under option 2 in its Supporting a Smarter Scotland consultation paper, broken down by income and amount provided in each income decile.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Option 2 of the consultation paper suggests an increase of the minimum income available. An investment of £30 million could for example provide for an increase to a level of £5,500 for those from the lowest incomes. The details of the policy, including the nu…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students would benefit from increased student support under option 1b in its Supporting a Smarter Scotland consultation paper, broken down by income and amount provided in each income decile.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The consultation paper gives a number of principal options for investing £30 million. Option 1b suggests extending young students'' bursaries to more of the 23,315 independent students. The details of the policy, including number of students benefiting and th…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual spend on the Young Students’ Bursary has been since its inception.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: These statistics have been published for the years 2002-03 to 2007-08 in table 8 of <i >Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2007-08</i> available on the internet at:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/21111027/0">http:/…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students (a) qualify and (b) receive the Young Students’ Bursary, broken down by assessed income.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of students receiving Young Students'' Bursary (YSB) in the academic year 2007-08 was 34,200, as published in <i >Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2007-08</i>:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/21111027/0…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students received the additional loan of £590 in each of the last three years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: These statistics are provided in Table 6 of <i >Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2007-08</i>, published on the internet at:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/21111027/0">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students study at further education institutions, broken down by income.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: In 2006-07 there were 363,520 students at colleges, holding a total of 468,155 enrolments:</p> <p ><a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/DataTypeFEC">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learni…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what government financial support is available to independent students.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Full details of the government financial support available to independent students studying higher education courses at university or college can be found on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland''s website <a href="http://www.saas.gov.uk/">www.saas.gov.uk</…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many independent full-time higher education students there are, broken down by age and income.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of full-time higher education students classed as independent in the academic year 2007-08 was 22,560. An analysis by age and parental or spousal income, where this was declared to SAAS, is shown in the following table.</p> <p align=left >Indepen…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect changes to the interest rate and rate of inflation has on the “unwinding of discount on debt sale subsidy provision”, “cost of student loans”, “unwinding of discount on write-off provision” and “student loans interest subsidy to banks” budget lines.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Unwinding of Provisions:</p> <p >Student loan provisions are created and supplemented on a discounted cost basis, and each year the discount in the provision is unwound. This means that the balance of the provision is uprated by that part of the discounting …
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has changed its estimated costs of the “unwinding of discount on debt sale subsidy provision”, “cost of student loans”, “unwinding of discount on write-off provision” and “student loans interest subsidy to banks” budget lines in light of changes to the Bank of England interest …
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The budgets for the unwinding of discount on debt sale subsidy provision and the unwinding of discount on write-off provision will be increased in accordance with the revised estimated costs at the 2009 Spring Budget revision reflecting changes in the Retail …
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event that the inflation rate is higher than interest rates, what the rate will be of student loan interest.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Regulation 14 of the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 effectively provides that that the interest rate applied to Income Contingent Loans is to be the lower of:</p> <p > (i) a rate equal to the annual percentage increase in the retail p…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how decreased interest rates will affect the Scottish Government’s income and expenditure in subsidising student loan interest.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Changes to the interest rate and rate of inflation will have no effect on the cost of student loans for this spending review period.</p>
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that HM Treasury will fund an increase in student loan new lend through annual managed expenditure if the Scottish Executive decides to increase student loan amounts.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We have not held any discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or other ministers as this is not Scottish Government policy.</p>
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to increase the levels of student loans.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There are no legal restrictions in either primary or secondary legislation on the maximum amount of student loans which the Scottish ministers may award to students in higher education.</p> <p >Increasing the levels of student loans would have budgetary impl…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what evidence it has to suggest that student hardship discourages people from going to university.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The evidence base around individuals'' participation in higher education (HE) has identified a range of financial, cultural, institutional and dispositional factors that influence individuals in their choice of pursuing HE. This evidence does not specifically…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it estimates that student loan repayments will match student loan new lend and what its yearly estimates of new lend and repayment levels are to that date.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government estimates that, based on current trends being maintained in the future, it will be 2020-21 when we reach the point of new loans issued matching annual repayments. Estimates of repayments and loans issued can and do vary year-on-year du…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates that the level of graduate debt repayment will be for each of the next seven years.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The level of graduate debt repayment is expected to increase by £10 million per annum from 2008-09. The budgeted debt repayments for 2008-09 are £56 million compared with budgeted student loan issues of £180.3 million and student loan subsidy costs of £71.4 m…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it makes budgetary assumptions about an annual increase in the level of graduate debt repayment in setting policy on graduate debt and, if so, what it assumes the annual increase to be.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Graduate debt repayment is reviewed annually taking into account actual repayment information received from Her Majesty''s Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company. It is currently assumed that debt repayment will increase by £10 million per annum fr…
17 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of discussions it has had with HM Treasury regarding its plans to service Scotland-domiciled and resident-graduate debt.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not been able to allocate the resources required to service Scotland-domiciled and resident-graduate debt and we have therefore held no discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or other HM Treasury Ministers.</p> <p >The …
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it considers should next be taken to secure an upgrade of the Redhouse roundabout on the A92.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Strategic Transport Projects Review has recommended 29 transport interventions over the next 20 years that will let us plan for the delivery of an efficient, integrated transport network fit for the 21st century.</p> <p >Delivering the Forth Replacement …
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it considers should next be taken to secure the dualing of the A92 around Glenrothes.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19005 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps…
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it considers should next be taken to secure delivery of the Leven to Thornton rail link.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19000 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps…
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funds to upgrade the Redhouse roundabout.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19005 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funds to dual the A92 around Glenrothes.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-19004 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funds to deliver the Leven to Thornton rail link project.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: As I announced on 10 December 2008, the delivery of the Forth Crossing is the strategic transport priority for Scotland which will dominate our investment programme until its opening in 2016. Alongside this, we will deliver rail interventions such as the Edi…
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider funding transport projects not in the Scottish Transport Projects Review.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Strategic Transport Projects Review has considered the transport infrastructure requirements necessary to deliver the key strategic outcomes arising from the National Transport Strategy which in turn, support the Scottish Government''s economic strategy. …
15 Dec 2008 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons the project to upgrade the Redhouse roundabout on the A92 was not in the Scottish Transport Projects Review.
Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to answer to question S3W-19005 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Bus…