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In order to develop the necessary planning ton support an event of this scale, EventScotland and Stirling Council are working together to appoint specialist consultants to work on a focused and short term project to develop the business planning aspects of Clans 2014.

I can confirm that a full report was prepared for and received by NHS Lothian from Balfour Beatty Workplace on 3 May 2012.

The full report, which outlines failings and also provides recommendations to minimise the likelihood of such an occurrence in the future, is commercially sensitive as it provides details of staff currently undergoing investigative procedure. It would therefore be inappropriate to publish the report at this time. Consort is currently preparing a summarised report, which captures the facts surrounding the incident as set out in the detailed report, and this will be released as soon as it has been received. Publication of the full report will be considered on conclusion of the ongoing investigative and disciplinary procedures.

The action plan from the report has yet to be fully agreed by NHS Lothian but, once agreed, NHS Lothian will work with its service provider to ensure that the action plan is implemented with an ongoing monitoring review process in place to monitor its effectiveness.

There are several funding options for postgraduate students. Support for postgraduate research students is generally provided through the Research Councils with support for vocational taught postgraduate courses provided largely through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). Postgraduate initial teacher training is supported through the main undergraduate student support programme and social work qualifications receive support through the Scottish Social Services Council.

SAAS does not hold information on which academic disciplines students study at postgraduate level.

The total spend on postgraduate students supported through the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme (PSAS) was £10.1 million in 2007-08, £10.7 million in 2008-09, £9.6 million in 2009-10, £7.7 million in 2010-11 and £7.6 million in 2011-12.

The living cost element of PSAS was discontinued in academic year 2010-11 to fund an increase in the number of students eligible to receive tuition fee support. The number of places available increased from 1,820 to 2,700.

Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS) has developed the planning performance framework to support planning authorities assessing and improving their performance and service standards across their planning functions. HOPS did not require legislation to assess or record their performance.

The resourcing of its planning service is a matter for each local authority. Establishing a performance link to fees will ensure that planning authorities place greater emphasis on the quality of service they provide to ensure income is maintained.

The planning performance framework, developed by Heads of Planning Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government, measures and reports on how planning is delivered as a public service. As such, it is focused primarily on actions taken by planning authorities in performing their development planning, development management and enforcement functions, rather than being explicit on the role of planning in delivering a range of objectives and obligations. Nevertheless, the framework includes provision for planning authorities to report on matters such as activity to influence high-quality development and customer engagement.

The planning performance framework was developed and published by Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS), with the support of the Scottish Government. In doing so, HOPS has engaged with a range of stakeholders from public, private and voluntary sectors.

The framework is to give a more rounded measurement of overall quality in the delivery of the planning service than the current statistical information published on speed of decision-making provides.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that we have the skills to capitalise on the opportunities that energy presents for jobs and growth in Scotland. We anticipate that the skills needed to meet the 2020 targets will come from the existing labour market supported by modern apprenticeships and college courses, as well as from both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Under the Postgraduate Students’ Allowances Scheme the Scottish Government provides tuition fee support to Scottish domiciled and EU students undertaking eligible vocational courses, generally 1 year postgraduate diplomas and the 9 month taught element of some masters courses. The eligible course list can be found in the following link –

http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/special_circumstances/postgrad_list.htm.

Eligible courses will be reviewed for academic year 2013-14 to ensure that they meet the Governments economic priorities.

We have consistently emphasised that there must be an inextricable link between higher planning application fees and guarantees over improved performance. A current Scottish Government consultation discusses a possible new fee structure and fee levels. This consultation paper also indicates the intention that fees and performance are to be linked. We intend to consult on how we establish and maintain the link and are considering how the planning performance framework can influence future choices on fee levels.