Parliamentary questions

Claire Baker

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

29 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many calls Fife Constabulary responded to from 2002 to 2007 where the incident was due to excessive noise.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: This information is not held centrally. The Fife police force or local authority may be able to give you some information about such incidents.

27 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12348 by John Swinney on 22 May 2008, how many of the 388,560 students potentially liable to pay council tax would qualify to receive a (a) 100% discount or (b) lesser discount on their council tax.

Answer · John Swinney: It is by virtue of being full-time and not part-time that a student is disregarded for the purposes of council tax. Where a part-time student is disregarded or eligible for some form of exemption from council tax, this is unrelated to their part-time student …

27 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-8571 by Stewart Stevenson on 28 January 2008, when Scottish ministers will make a decision on the Fife Structure Plan.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Scottish ministers are still considering the Fife Structure Plan in the light of representations received on the Housing Land Requirement Re-appraisal and on other procedural matters.

22 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place since May 2007 with higher and further education institutions regarding changes to the school curriculum.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Representatives from Universities Scotland, the Association of Scottish Colleges and Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU) are members of the Scottish Government’s National Qualifications Steering Group which has considered a range of issues relating to the …

12 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12123 by John Swinney on 30 April 2008, what its current estimate is of how much the student population in Scotland as a whole would pay under the proposed local income tax.

Answer · John Swinney: The answer would depend on a range of factors and it would not be appropriate to seek to estimate these at this stage.

12 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12119 by John Swinney on 30 April 2008, whether that answer indicates that it has carried out an evaluation of the proposed local income tax and its effect on students.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12905 on 22 May 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/w…

12 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12118 by John Swinney on 30 April 2008, whether that answer indicates that it has carried out an impact assessment into the local income tax and its effect on students.

Answer · John Swinney: We have made initial estimates of the likely impact on students of the local income tax proposals which are currently the subject of a consultation exercise. We are consulting student representative organisations, amongst others, as part of that consultation.…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide calculations for the basis of the First Minister’s statements on 24 April 2008 that around 160,000 students are not liable for the council tax and that the vast majority of these students do not earn enough to pay the local income tax (Official Report, c. 7934).

Answer · John Swinney: As a point of clarification, the First Minister referred in Parliament on 24 April 2008 to around 160,000 students in Scotland not earning enough to pay local income tax. He did not say that 160,000 students are currently not liable for the council tax. …

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time students are in higher and further education and, of these, how many are not exempt from paying the council tax and what the reasons are for their not being exempt.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12341 on 22 May 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/w…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide further details of the (a) £30 million available for 2010-11 to support students further and (b) consultation that is taking place, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933).

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Budget announced that an additional £30 million is to be invested in 2010-11 and the Scottish Government will consider how best to use this money as part of a consultation paper which will be launched later this year.

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £12 million per annum to alleviate student hardship referred, to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933), is (a) additional funding and (b) time-limited.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The £12 million to which the First Minister referred on 24 April are the Discretionary Funds. These monies are made available by Scottish ministers and are intended to provide non-repayable assistance for students in financial difficulties in order for them t…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to institutions to alleviate student hardship in each of the last three years and how much it will provide in each of the next three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The total amounts allocated to institutions to alleviate hardship over the past three years is as follows: 2007-08: £14.7 million 2006-07: £14.4 million 2005-06: £13.7 million. The total allocation for 2008-09 has not yet b…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline further details of its increasing the threshold for the non-medical personal helpers element of the disabled students allowance by 60%, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933), showing how much additional funding will be provid…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Further details on the non-medical personal helpers element of the disabled students allowance can be found on SAAS'' website at: <a href="http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/special_circumstances/dsa_what_we_pay.htm">http://www.saas.gov.uk/studen…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline further details of the £38 million package of grants for part-time learners in higher education, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933), showing (a) over how many years the funding will be provided, (b) the eligibility criteri…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: (a) We will introduce a £500 part-time higher education (HE) grant from academic year 2008-09 for all new and existing students. Budget provision has been made for £12 million/£13 million/£13 million for this over the period of the spending review (£38 millio…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what publicity it has provided for its changes to the means test for higher education students from the 2008-09 academic year.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has publicised details of the changes to the means test for higher education in a number of ways. These include: Full details of the changes are set out on the Scottish Government''s website with an accompanying press release…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding has been provided to ensure that continuing students do not face reduced financial support following changes to the means test for higher education students from the 2008-09 academic year; when such funding will be provided and how it will be distributed.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10214 on 5 March 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…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students will benefit from changes to the eligibility for the young students bursary from the 2008-09 academic year, including those under the age of 25 and with a child over three, and by how much in total.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: It is only those students under the age of 25 and with a child over three who will benefit from changes to the eligibility for the Young Students'' Bursary from the 2008-09 academic year. I refer the member to the question S3W-10207 answered on 3 Marc…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will spend any savings from changes to the means test from the 2008-09 academic year for higher education students.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10210 on 5 March 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.par…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will be affected by changes to the means test for higher education students from the 2008-09 academic year and how much the Scottish Government will save in total (a) annually and (b) over the next three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of people affected by changes to the means test for higher education students is unknown as the information on which this calculation needs to be made was not recorded by the previous Scottish Executive. I have therefore asked SAAS to record this d…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will benefit from changes to dependents grant eligibility from the 2008-09 academic year and by how much in total.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10208 on 3 March 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.par…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether students' earned income will be assessed for providing support for (a) further and (b) higher education in the 2008-09 academic year and, if so, over what threshold.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The means test project paper which provides full details of the students'' income to be taken into account in higher education from 2008-09. This document has been published on the Scottish Government website at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/T…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding has been announced for Education and Lifelong Learning since the spending review.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following additional funding has been made available during the 2007-08 financial year and will affect expenditure during the spending review period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Free School Meal Pilots In March 2008 the Government announced tha…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be provided for (a) Education and Lifelong Learning, (b) further education, (c) higher education and (d) student support in each of the next three years and how much was provided in each of the last three years.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Information relating to Education and Lifelong Learning funding can be found in the following documents: The Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 (Chapter 22), which covers allocations for 2007-08 and projected allocations from 2008-09 to 2010-11, a…

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S3F-710 by Alex Salmond on 24 April 2008, whether it will provide details of the 400,000 students liable for council tax, broken down by (a) institution of study and (b) course, also indicating whether their study is (i) full …

Answer · John Swinney: While information is available by institution and by course for all students, information at the level of detail requested for the subset of students specified is not held centrally.

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average earnings are of working students (a) exempt and (b) not exempt from council tax.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This information is not held centrally.

2 May 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students did not take out loans to pay for the graduate endowment in each of the last three academic years, broken down by household income.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table shows the number of students who have chosen to pay their full graduate endowment in cash in each of the last three years. Decided to Pay Graduate Endowment in Full by Cash <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr…

25 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement on 17 April 2008 that higher education students pay council tax dependent on where they stay (Official Report c. 7686), what analysis it has made of where students live.

Answer · John Swinney: As a point of clarification, when the First Minister said that the number of higher education students paying council tax depends on where they stay, he was referring to the fact that some students live with non-students and partners and these students may be…

25 Apr 2008 · Written Question

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12347 on 2 May 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/wa…

25 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether full-time students living in shared accommodation with other full-time students are liable to pay council tax.

25 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement on 24 April 2008 that some 160,000 students in Scotland are currently not liable for the council tax (Official Report c. 7934), which categories of students are included in this calculation and how many students there are in each category.

Answer · John Swinney: As a point of clarification, the First Minister referred in the Parliament on 24 April 2008 to around 160,000 students in Scotland not earning enough to pay local income tax. He did not say that 160,000 students are currently not liable for the council tax.</…