- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students (a) qualify and (b) receive the Young Students’ Bursary, broken down by assessed income.
Answer
The number of students receiving Young Students'' Bursary (YSB) in the academic year 2007-08 was 34,200, as published in
Higher Education Student Support in Scotland 2007-08:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/21111027/0.
The breakdown by assessed residual income is shown in the following table. As YSB is a non-repayable grant it can be assumed that nearly all those entitled to it will also claim that type of support. The income threshold for receipt of YSB in 2007-08 was £32,515.
Number of Students Receiving YSB by Residual Parental or Spousal Income 2007-08
| Residual Assessed Income | Number of Students |
| Income Not Declared/Required | 2,175 |
| Up to £10,000 | 8,695 |
| £10,000 to £19,999 | 11,060 |
| £20,000 to £29,999 | 9,245 |
| £30,000 or over | 2,470 |
| Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution | 555 |
| Total | 34,200 |
Source: SAAS. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has changed its estimated costs of the “unwinding of discount on debt sale subsidy provision”, “cost of student loans”, “unwinding of discount on write-off provision” and “student loans interest subsidy to banks” budget lines in light of changes to the Bank of England interest rate and rate of inflation and whether any savings are anticipated for Scottish Government budgets.
Answer
The budgets for the unwinding of discount on debt sale subsidy provision and the unwinding of discount on write-off provision will be increased in accordance with the revised estimated costs at the 2009 Spring Budget revision reflecting changes in the Retail Price Index. The changes to the Bank of England interest rate and rate of inflation have no effect on the cost of student loans in the short term. The student loans interest subsidy to the banks budget is held outwith the Scottish Government''s Total Managed Expenditure and does not give rise to additional costs or savings.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 14 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be consequential funding from the new £6 million Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Greener Living Fund and, if so, how these funds will be spent.
Answer
There will be no new consequential funding from the new £6 million Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Greener Living Fund. When consequential funding occurs, those consequentials accrue to the Scottish block as a whole and do not fall to the Scottish portfolio equivalent of wherever the money is going in England. The Scottish Government decides its own priorities for the use of all money in the Scottish block.
The Scottish Government recognises the vital contribution that the third sector makes. We wish to secure the development of an innovative, sustainable and inclusive third sector which supports communities and contributes to high quality public services and to increased sustainable economic growth for the benefit of all the people of Scotland. To support this we are investing £93.6 million in the third sector during 2008-11.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many independent full-time higher education students there are, broken down by age and income.
Answer
The number of full-time higher education students classed as independent in the academic year 2007-08 was 22,560. An analysis by age and parental or spousal income, where this was declared to SAAS, is shown in the following table.
Independent-Full Time Students Supported by SAAS 2007-08 by Age and Residual Income
| Income group | Age Group |
| 20 and Under | 21-24 | 25 and Over | All Ages |
| Income not declared/required | 25 | 35 | 325 | 385 |
| < £10,000 | 25 | 100 | 740 | 865 |
| £10,000 - £19,999 | 25 | 90 | 895 | 1010 |
| £20,000 - £29,999 | 10 | 30 | 755 | 800 |
| £30,000 - £39,999 | 5 | 5 | 385 | 400 |
| £40,000 - £49,999 | 5 | 0 | 130 | 135 |
| £50,000 or more | 10 | 0 | 95 | 105 |
| Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution | 1,120 | 4,170 | 13,575 | 18,865 |
| Total | 1,225 | 4,430 | 16,905 | 22,560 |
Notes:
The income given is residual income, i.e. after the deductions allowed by SAAS.
Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it makes budgetary assumptions about an annual increase in the level of graduate debt repayment in setting policy on graduate debt and, if so, what it assumes the annual increase to be.
Answer
Graduate debt repayment is reviewed annually taking into account actual repayment information received from Her Majesty''s Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company. It is currently assumed that debt repayment will increase by £10 million per annum from 2008-09 but this will be subject to on-going review.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how decreased interest rates will affect the Scottish Government’s income and expenditure in subsidising student loan interest.
Answer
Changes to the interest rate and rate of inflation will have no effect on the cost of student loans for this spending review period.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive, in the event that the inflation rate is higher than interest rates, what the rate will be of student loan interest.
Answer
Regulation 14 of the Education (Student Loans) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 effectively provides that that the interest rate applied to Income Contingent Loans is to be the lower of:
(i) a rate equal to the annual percentage increase in the retail price index (RPI)
(the RPI rate), or
(ii) the highest of the base rates used by a pool of banks (including the Bank of
England) plus 1% (the Base Rate).
The recent reduction in the base rates of all of the banks in the pool to 2% has resulted in the RPI rate of 3.8% (for the year from 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009) exceeding the Base Rate of 3% (2%+1%). This means that the interest rate applied to Income Contingent Loans has reduced from 3.8% to 3% as of 5 December 2008.
Mortgage style loans are governed by different regulations than ICR Loans. These regulations which are made under the Education Student Loans Act 1990 do not require or allow the interest rate applied to mortgage style loans to change in line with any reductions in the Base Rate, so the RPI rate (3.8%) will still apply for the rest of the financial year.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the £7.5 million of accelerated capital spend for further and higher education will be distributed and which capital projects will benefit.
Answer
The basis on which the £7.5 million of accelerated capital spend for further and higher education will be distributed and the detail of which capital projects will benefit are operational matters for the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked the Scottish Funding Council to write to the member with this information.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funds to deliver the Leven to Thornton rail link project.
Answer
As I announced on 10 December 2008, the delivery of the Forth Crossing is the strategic transport priority for Scotland which will dominate our investment programme until its opening in 2016. Alongside this, we will deliver rail interventions such as the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Programme, improvements to the Highland Main Line and improvements between Aberdeen and Inverness.
The Levenmouth Feasibility Study was appraised during the Strategic Transport Project Review process, but was not determined as a priority for implementation as the benefits are focused at a local and regional level.
We will continue to monitor the work of SESTrans on this project.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 8 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it considers should next be taken to secure an upgrade of the Redhouse roundabout on the A92.
Answer
The Strategic Transport Projects Review has recommended 29 transport interventions over the next 20 years that will let us plan for the delivery of an efficient, integrated transport network fit for the 21st century.
Delivering the Forth Replacement Crossing is the key strategic priority for Scotland. Alongside this, we will also deliver further rail interventions such as the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Programme and improvements to the Highland Main Line.
These and the remaining interventions represent the clear priorities for this government over the next 20 years and will be delivered subject to subsequent spending reviews.
However, other interventions, including upgrading the Redhouse roundabout, could be delivered by interested parties such as regional transport partnerships, local authorities or developers, if they consider them to be viable and the proposals are consistent with strategic priorities for this trunk road route.
