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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-20429

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate was of the average time it would take for graduates to repay their student loans and how this compares to the actual time taken in each year since the student loans system was introduced.

Question reference: S2W-20439

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14023 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 February 2005, whether there were any variations to the contract for the administration of the student loan debt portfolio after the contract with the Student Loans Company expired in March 2004 and was awarded to another agency and, if so, what those variations were.

Question reference: S2W-20430

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14031 by Nicol Stephen on 25 October 2005, whether the Student Loans Company is a creditor for the purposes of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 and, if so, whether a bankrupt student loan borrower would be required to notify the Student Loans Company of their bankrupt status.

Question reference: S2W-20434

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student loan debts for Scottish-domiciled borrowers have been written off and what the total cash value was of the deleted debt in each year of operation of the Student Loans Company.

The information is given in the following table

	Scotland
Academic Year	Borrowers	Write-Off Amount
1-9-1998	2,567	183,822
1-9-1999	1,304	139,049
1-9-2000	1,598	208,853
1-9-2001	1,971	356,625
1-9-2002	2,214	319,785
1-9-2003	2,087	370,245
1-9-2004	2,031	439,132
1-9-2005	548	205,767
Grand Total	14,320	2,223,278

Source: Student Loans Company.

Question reference: S2W-20431

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student loan debts have been written off and what the total cash value is of the deleted debt.

The information is given in the following table.

	All UK
Academic Year	Borrowers	Write-Off Amount (£)
1-9-1998	29,371	1,481,792
1-9-1999	14,276	1,150,696
1-9-2000	17,448	1,591,242
1-9-2001	21,636	2,256,821
1-9-2002	23,958	2,930,677
1-9-2003	21,515	3,155,217
1-9-2004	19,294	3,622,648
1-9-2005	5,389	2,071,678
Grand Total	152,887	18,260,772

Source: Student Loans Company.

Question reference: S2W-20432

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it expects to pay in total in subsidies for student loans sold to banks in 1998 and 1999.

The subsidies are determined by a formula using daily closing portfolio value multiplied by a subsidy rate. This rate comprises three elements - the margin which is fixed for the life of the contract; the RPI interest rate which changes annually, and the one-month LIBOR interest rate. On this basis, no original total subsidy amount was agreed and no definitive outstanding amount can therefore be determined.

Question reference: S2W-20427

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is responsible for paying to purchasing banks the outstanding value of student loans of borrowers whose loans were sold by HM Treasury in 1998 and 1999 and who subsequently satisfied one or more of the conditions for having their student loan written off.

Question reference: S2W-20433

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many deferral applications from Scottish-domiciled students and graduates the Student Loans Company has received in each year of its operation, stating what percentage this represents of all Scottish-domiciled students and graduates due to be in repayment that year.

The information is given in the following table.

1. Date of Entry to Repayment (1st April)	2. Mortgage Style Customers entering Rep't	3. Number Deferring at 31 March
1. Date of Entry to Repayment (1st April)	2. Mortgage Style Customers entering Rep't	2002		2003		2004		2005
1991	88	6	7%	6	7%	4	5%	3	3%
1992	5,107	167	3%	127	2%	116	2%	94	2%
1993	7,184	525	7%	427	6%	364	5%	316	4%
1994	8,208	1,007	12%	881	11%	790	10%	635	8%
1995	8,491	1,705	20%	1,463	17%	1,261	15%	1057	12%
1996	11,608	2,822	24%	2,432	21%	2,149	19%	1864	16%
1997	12,223	3,930	32%	3,411	28%	3,027	25%	2570	21%
1998	14,476	6,310	44%	5,558	38%	4,960	34%	4328	30%
1999	13,277	6,864	52%	5,986	45%	5,363	40%	4669	35%
2000	15,262	9,323	61%	8,244	54%	7,250	48%	6179	40%
2001	16,085	11,642	72%	9,900	62%	8,824	55%	7294	45%
2002	14,669	-		10,513	72%	9,177	63%	7730	53%
2003	5,250	-		-		3,626	69%	2961	56%
2004	1,414	-		-		-		915	65%
Total	133,342	44,301	33%	48,948	37%	46,911	35%	40,615	30%

Source: Student Loans Company.

1. refers to the date of entry to repayment.

2. refers to the number of mortgage style customers entering repayment.

3. refers to the number and percentage of students in column 2 who are in deferment from 2002 to 2005.

Question reference: S2W-19865

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 9 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is acceptable that I received a reply from the Director of Corporate Affairs of the office of the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland regarding complaints made by a constituent which failed to answer these complaints, despite assurances in a letter of 13 April 2005 from the then Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development that "I have asked the Commissioner himself to write to the constituent, copied to you, at his earliest convenience explaining the situation and answering the points raised".

Question reference: S2W-19864

Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 October 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 8 November 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is acceptable for the office of the Water Industry Commissioner for Scotland not to respond fully to my letter of 9 June 2005 asking why it had failed to answer a constituent's letters, emails and recorded delivery letters since February 2005 about an interruption to the water supply.