Seòmar agus comataidhean

The table below shows the number of looked after children in foster care on 31 March, in each year between 1999 and 2003.

 

Local Authority Area	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Aberdeen City	210	155	120	130	95
Aberdeenshire	90	115	110	115	115
Angus	75	75	65	85	95
Argyll and Bute	35	30	25	30	40
Clackmannanshire	35	30	35	35	35
Dumfries and Galloway	120	105	125	125	145
Dundee City	125	150	120	120	125
East Ayrshire	30	55	70	65	85
East Dunbartonshire	5	10	10	15	10
East Lothian	55	65	80	75	80
East Renfrewshire	10	5	5	10	10
Edinburgh, City of	305	330	325	320	340
Eilean Siar	10	10	10	5	15
Falkirk	90	85	100	85	105
Fife	180	160	190	185	200
Glasgow City	655	685	640	715	705
Highland	180	115	110	105	95
Inverclyde	30	30	25	25	25
Midlothian	50	55	40	45	50
Moray	95	55	60	55	60
North Ayrshire	60	45	75	55	60
North Lanarkshire	120	135	145	140	135
Orkney Islands	5	5	10	10	5
Perth and Kinross	65	50	55	65	65
Renfrewshire	80	70	80	85	105
Scottish Borders	75	65	70	80	80
Shetland Islands	10	10	15	15	15
South Ayrshire	20	30	35	50	55
South Lanarkshire	80	80	70	75	80
Stirling	60	60	60	55	55
West Dunbartonshire	70	70	60	70	70
West Lothian	120	105	145	120	135
Scotland	3,155	3,058	3,084	3,170	3,288

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five, to preserve confidentiality.

2. Table excludes children on a planned series of short term placements.

3. Table includes rounded estimates for local authorities not able to provide information.

Decisions about the scaleand configuration of healthcare services are matters for NHS boards, withinnational priorities and guidelines. In planning services, boards are obliged totake account of the assessed current and future needs of patients, and the existingand planned pattern of service provision regionally, and, where appropriate,nationally.

The information requested isgiven on table number 6, page number 58 of the Student Loans Company annual report2001-02, published by the Student Loans Company in 2003, a copy of which isavailable in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 30921). The StudentLoans Company annual report 2002-03 will soon be published and copies will beplaced in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

The cost to each studentwill vary depending upon the personal circumstances of the individual, wherethey are studying within the UK and the level and length of their course. The Scottish Executive is, therefore, unable to provide an estimate of the average cost to aperson undertaking a course in higher education. The level of the graduateendowment is fixed at the beginning of the course and we estimate that up to50% of graduates will be exempt.

The Executive is about tocommission a Scottish-based student income and expenditure survey. This surveywill provide comprehensive data on theincomes, expenditure and anticipated debt on graduation of a nationallyrepresentative sample of full time and part time undergraduate studentsstudying in Scotland and attending publicly funded higher education and furthereducation Institutions during the academic year 2004-05.

The amount of student loan thata graduate repays each month and the period of time over which repayments aremade are linked to the level of the borrower’s income and the amount borrowed. Under the support arrangements introduced in2001-02, many students who will be liable to pay the endowment when theygraduate will have been eligible to receive the Young Students Bursary in placeof part of their loan entitlement. Most liable graduates will have borrowedless under these arrangements than they would have had under the previoussystem. No student should have borrowed more.

The Higher Education FundingCouncil for England (HEFCE) publish performance indicators for all UK highereducation institutions (HEIs) annually. The latest figures show that 10% of full-timefirst degree entrants to Scottish HEIs in 2000-01 failed to continue aftertheir year of entry.

Themechanisms in place to support students to the successful completion of ahigher education qualification are the responsibility of HEIs themselves; theseare supported through Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) grantsfor teaching and learning. The nature of these support mechanisms is notdetermined by SHEFC, as they are based on the local circumstances andpriorities of the institution in question. However, SHEFC introduced itsWidening Access Premium in 2001-02 in order to support institutions inimproving the retention and progression of students from under representedareas. The total allocated to the sector through this grant in 2003-04 is£4,236,000.

In August 2003, the ScottishFurther Education Funding Council (SFEFC) published performance indicatorscharting the achievements of Scotland’s 46 further education colleges, in relation to theacademic year 2001-02. The performance indicators show that 85% of studentsstaying at college beyond the first quarter of their course completed theirprogrammes.

The performance indicatorsenable individual colleges to benchmark their own achievement against that ofother colleges and thus lead to quality improvement. SFEFC recently consulted on proposals for its futureapproach to quality improvement and assurance. SFEFC has agreed to proceed with changes to achievea differentiated review model, with greater emphasis on the effectiveness ofstudent learning. A working group has been set up to manage the detaileddevelopment of the review methodology.

This information is not heldcentrally.

Any costs incurred by theStudent Loans Company (SLC) are met on a proportional basis by Her Majesty’sGovernment and the devolved administrations, based on the numbers of borrowerswho were domiciled in each country when they received their loan and value of thoseloans. Any additional development costs incurred by SLC as a result of policychanges by one administration are generally met by that administration.

While costs incurred by SLChave financial implications for student support budgets they do not have anydirect effect on students. Student loan borrowers only begin to repay theirloans when they have left full-time education and earn more than the specifiedincome threshold. The amount to be repaid is uprated by inflation to ensurethat it is the same, in real terms, as the amount borrowed.

In July, 1999, the Scottish Executive commissioned an independent committee of inquiry, headed by Mr Andrew Cubie,to conduct a comprehensive review of student finance, which in turncommissioned research to inform its report. Since then the Scottish Executive has not conducted research specifically on the effects of tuition feesand the graduate endowment scheme on attitudes towards study in further andhigher education. However, the Executive continues to make use of work conductedby academics and other researchers in the field of further and higher educationregarding student finance and possible barriers to participation. We alsomaintain close links with officials in DfES.

The table shows the average graduate debt since 1999.

 

Cohort	Average Debt
1999	£2,863
2000	£3,174
2001	£3,876
2002	£4,294
2003	£4,924

Source: Student Loans Company (SLC).

Statistics on debt were not maintained by SLC until the introduction of income contingent repayment loans in 1998.