Parliamentary questions

Claire Baker

1,724 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it estimates will be spent providing new-lend student loans and how much will be received from student loan repayments in each of the next three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The forecasts for Student Loans included in the Spending Review 2007 are as follows: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=216 valign=top >   </td> <td width=84 valign=top > <p …

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent providing new-lend student loans and how much was received from student loan repayment in each of the last three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The amount advanced in new student loans through the Student Loans Company and the amounts received in repayment have been published on 12 June 2008 at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/PubStudentLoansHE…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of rising rates of earnings over the next three years when calculating its £12.748 million of efficiency savings under the SAAS Eligibility budget line.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We have not made such estimates as the efficiency savings have not been calculated in this way. These efficiencies have been calculated based on the trends from recent years as SAAS has seen a reduction in the proportion of students applying for and receiving…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the discretionary funding provided to each higher or further education institution is calculated.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Higher Education (HE) Discretionary Funds HE Discretionary Funds are provided to higher and further education institutions and consist of: the Higher Education Childcare Fund the Undergraduate Discretionary Fund t…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the efficiency savings planned for the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council will be made in either the next three financial or academic years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Efficiency savings planned by both the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council will be made in each of the three financial years up to 31 March 2011.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to what “output(s)” refers in the description of the Scottish Funding Council’s efficiency saving in Efficiency Delivery Plans - May 2008, for the 2008-11 Efficiency Programme.

Answer · John Swinney: The key outputs from further and higher education are derived from the already well-established arrangements whereby, in return for the main recurrent grants paid to colleges and universities: · institutions are required to deliver defined volumes o…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student places were unfilled in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: (a) Higher Education Institutions: Each year the Scottish Funding Council funds a number of places, expressed as full-time equivalents (FTE), in universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs), these are generally available to U…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student places were available in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13921 on 16 June 2008. 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/webapp/…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of staff at Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and colleges during the past three academic years is shown in the table below. The table includes both academic and non academic staff. Number of Staff at Scottish Institutions …

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the £192 million of Scottish Funding Council efficiency savings do not lead to cuts in services at universities and colleges.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As noted in its Efficiency Delivery Plans - May 2008, for the 2008-11 Efficiency Programme, the Scottish Government plans to deliver cash releasing efficiencies by delivering an actual resource efficiency through colleges and universities which will p…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the SAAS - Loans to Grants efficiency savings will lead to any reduction in revenue for the Scottish Government from (a) graduates, (b) the Student Loans Company or (c) elsewhere and, if so, how much that reduction will be.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The proposed loans to grants efficiency saving will not result in any net reduction in revenue for the Scottish Government, the Student Loans Company or elsewhere.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Student Loans New Lending budget line represents a direct cost to the Scottish Government.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: No. Student loans are classified as annual managed expenditure which is agreed with and met in full by the Treasury each year.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that outlining £40 million of efficiency savings from converting loans to grants precludes the forthcoming consultation regarding the use of the additional £30 million announced for student support in 2010-11.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has made clear its intention to move from student loans to a system of means-tested grants. To support this, we have allocated £30 million in 2010-11 to begin this transition. £40 million is the projected efficiency saving that would b…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the income thresholds for young student bursaries, student loans and additional student grants.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We will be consulting later this year on proposals to move from loans to grants and on a minimum guarantee for students. As part of that exercise we will be seeking<s> </s>stakeholders’ views on the current income thresholds.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the income thresholds will be for full-time students to receive (a) young student bursaries, (b) student loans and (c) additional student grants in each of the next three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Thresholds for bursaries, loans and additional grants are uprated on an annual basis based on the underlying rate of inflation (The Retail Prices Index excluding Mortgage Interest Payments or RPIX). It is not possible to provide income thresholds for…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of full-time students who will see reductions in the financial support that they receive from government in each of the next three years due to efficiency savings in SAAS eligibility.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students will receive full financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise at the average rate for 2007-08.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of students receiving full support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic year 2006-07. It also shows the approximate number of students in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 who would receive full support if…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students will receive full financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise as it anticipates.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not produce estimates/forecasts on future earnings growth with respect to student support. Therefore, there are no estimates available on how many students will receive full financial support in the future.

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students will receive any financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise at the average rate for 2007-08, broken down by household income.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The latest year for which data are available for students receiving some form of support is for 2006-07. Similarly, 2006-07 is the latest year for which data are available for average earnings. The data show that median weekly earnings rose by 3.1% in the yea…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students will receive any financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise as it anticipates, broken down by household income.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not produce estimates/forecasts on earnings growth with respect to student support. However, irrespective of how earnings may rise in the next three years, the number of Scottish students receiving support would be unaffected as u…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how and when it will distribute its planned £12.748 million of efficiency savings over the next three years from the SAAS Eligibility budget line.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The planned efficiency savings of £2.156 million in 2008-09, £4.265 million in 2009-10 and £6.327 million in 2010-11 have already been factored and redistributed into the relevant budgets as part of last year’s spending review. These efficiencies have contrib…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The table below shows the total number of higher education students receiving any support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td wid…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial support was provided to students in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2004-05, broken down by (i) household income and (ii) numbers of students in each income band.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows a breakdown of the number of higher education students receiving any form of support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and the amount of support received by parental/spousal income for academic years 2004-05 to 2006-…

5 Jun 2008 · Written Question

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of students receiving full support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07. This number is also shown as a percentage of all students who receive any support from SAAS and as…