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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-28466

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many higher education students domiciled in Scotland there were in Scottish institutions in each year since 1999-2000.

Number of Scottish domiciledhigher education students in Scottish institutions: 1999-2000 to 2004-05

Year	Total Number of Students
1999-2000	203,790
2000-01	206,580
2001-02	211,075
2002-03	203,205
2003-04	205,965
2004-05	206,550

Sources: Higher Education StatisticsAgency (HESA) and Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

Note:

1. Numbers have been roundedto the nearest five to protect confidentiality.

2. Numbers include higher educationstudents studying in Scottish higher education institutions or Scottish furthereducation colleges.

The data above includes thosestudying at sub-degree, degree or postgraduate level in the given academic year.

Question reference: S2W-28489

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Consolidated Resource Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2005, what factors caused the Student Awards Agency for Scotland's underspend to be less than predicted on student fees, support through the Quigley agreement, resource aspects of student loans and other schemes.

Question reference: S2W-28480

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean, (b) mode and (c) median student loan debt is for Scottish borrowers who ceased to be students during 2006.

The following table shows themean, mode and median student loan debt for Scottish borrowers who entered repaymentin 2006:

Student Loan Debt for ScottishDomiciled Borrowers, as at 31 March 2006

	Student Loan Debt
Mode	£4,214
Median	£4,259
Mean	£5,891

Source: Student Loans Company.

It should be noted that debtis calculated at the point of entering repayment (i.e. 31 March 2006) ratherthan at the point of graduation. Therefore, the majority of customers who have ceasedto be students in 2006 will not enter repayment until 2007 and we cannot providefigures for these students as yet.

Question reference: S2W-28468

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to improve the quality of its statistics on graduate destinations.

The data that the Scottish Executivecurrently holds on graduate destinations comes from two sources. Information ongraduates from Higher Education Institutions is provided by the Higher EducationStatistics Agency (HESA) from their Destination of Leavers from Higher Education(DLHE) survey. Information on graduates from Further Education Colleges is providedby the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and their First Destination of Graduates (FDG)survey.

The destination information currentlycollected gives details of graduates activities and location approximately six monthsafter graduating.

HESA have successfully piloteda longitudinal survey that aims to find out what graduates have been doing, overa longer period of time, since completing their studies. It will survey graduatesthree and a half years after graduation has been completed. The first full DLHELongitudinal survey will take place this winter. A sample of graduates from the2002-03 leaving cohort will be surveyed.

The FDG survey is currently carriedout by Scotland’s Further Education Colleges. The Scottish Funding Councilhas indicated that they are looking to implement a more standardised approach. Thiswill include internet access for students undertaking the survey. It is hoped tohave this structure in place next year, which would mean that students graduatingin 2007-08 would be the first to be influenced by this change.

Question reference: S2W-28454

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what sums it has paid to the purchasing banks in each year since 1998 in respect of the student loans sold by HM Treasury in 1998 and 1999 and what obligations were covered by these sums.

The information requested isgiven in the following table:

.	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
.	(£000) Subsidy	(£000) Write Off’s	(£000) Loans Repurchased	(£000) First Loss Claims	(£000) First Loss Repayments	(£000) Adjustment	Total
1998-99¹	6,438	0	0	0	0	-1	6,437
1999-2000	10,754	114	104	1	0	1,236	12,209
2000-01	12,471	52	83	1,596	0	638	14,840
2001-02	8,595	93	22	3,229	-44	-551	11,344
2002-03	8,610	95	25	2,349	-108	-326	10,645
2003-04	5,611	162	95	1,495	-221	-90	7,052
2004-05	5,075	193	41	1,134	-217	999	7,225
2005-06	4,712	461	30	1,630	-289	0	6,544

Note: 1 – Scottish Office Figures.

Column 1 – The subsidy is thepayment made to the purchasing banks to cover the difference between the commercialrate of interest the banks would normally charge and the rate of inflation theyare required to charge by the regulations.

Column 2 – Payments are madeto the purchasing banks for loans which are written off due to age or death.

Column 3 – Shows payments madefor loans which are “repurchased” and returned to the government portfolio for reasonsof permanent disability or being medically unfit for work.

Column 4 - First loss claims,reimburse the purchasing banks for loans which become 24 months or more in arrears,as these loans no longer attract the interest rate subsidy.

Column 5 - First loss repaymentsare deducted from the total Executive payment as loan repayments can still be receivedafter the first loss claim is put in place, i.e. after the bad debt is written off.

Column 6 - Adjustments can bemade to the figures in respect of year-end reconciliations between what has beenpaid by the DfES and the devolved administrations. Adjustments can also be madeto reflect accruals and differences in spend across financial years.

Question reference: S2W-28463

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what factors have caused the fall in the Age Participation Index since 2001-02.

Question reference: S2W-28488

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Consolidated Resource Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2005, why £38 million was received in student loan repayments when £29 million is shown as income applied for the Student Awards Agency for Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-28476

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student loan borrowers domiciled in Scotland, now in repayment status, had their payments outweighed by interest charged on their loans in the most recent year for which figures are available.

When considered in real terms,no student loan borrower in any stage of repayment will have payments outweighedby interest charged on their loans.

Thereal rate of interest on student loans is zero, as the interest charge simply coversinflation. Therefore, any repayment made, no matter how small, would always resultin a borrower owing less in real terms.

If no repayments were made, theborrower would still owe the same amount in real terms.

Question reference: S2W-28605

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Healthlink service bus link between West Lothian and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh will be registered under the Executive’s concessionary travel scheme so that pensioners can travel free for appointments and to visit relatives in hospital.

Although the Healthlink servicebus link runs two daily trips between West Lothian and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh,passengers must pre-book before travelling or the service will not run. It is notan eligible service under the terms of the Scotland-wide free bus travel schemefor older and disabled people and we have no plans to include non-registered servicesin the scheme.

While concessionary cardholdersare therefore not entitled to free travel on the service, they are eligible fora reduced return fare, which is currently £2.

Question reference: S2W-28477

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will expand on the statement by the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning on 14 September 2006 that “The Treasury in effect pays the loans” (Official Report, c. 27527).

Expenditure on student supportcan be split into two main categories. Expenditure from the Scottish Executive Budgetand expenditure from outwith Total Managed Expenditure i.e. funds which come directlyfrom HM Treasury and are outside the Scottish Executive Budget.

Expenditure from within the ExecutiveBudget includes the payment of tuition fees, grants, bursaries, SAAS running costsand costs associated with running the student loan schemes. This includes the studentloan subsidy, unwinding of student loan provisions and Student Loan Company administration.

Student Loan advances were madefrom outwith the Scottish Executive Budget and paid by HM Treasury and were outwithTotal Managed Expenditure.

Treasury has now re-classifiedstudent loan advances and repayments as Annual Managed Expenditure (AME) as from1 April 20006. This brings this net expenditure within the Scottish Executive’sTotal Managed Expenditure. All AME expenditure is met in full by Treasury.