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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: S3W-13916

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Student Loans New Lending budget line represents a direct cost to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S3W-13904

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

The following table shows the number of students receiving full support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07. This number is also shown as a percentage of all students who receive any support from SAAS and as a percentage of all higher education students at Scottish higher education institutions and colleges.

Academic Year	Students Receiving Full Support from SAAS	% of Students Receiving Any Support from SAAS [1]	% All Higher Education Students at Scottish Institutions [2]
2004-05	28,370	24	10
2005-06	35,460	29	12
2006-07	35,310	29	12

Source: Student receiving support SAAS, higher education students Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Student numbers are rounded to the nearest five and percentages to the nearest whole number.

Notes:

[1] “Students receiving any support” includes Scottish students studying at institutions elsewhere in the UK and EU domiciled students. “Any support” refers to tuition fees, tuition fee loans, awards or maintenance loans.

[2] “All Higher Education students at Scottish institutions” include part-time students, international students and all postgraduate students studying in Scotland, not all of whom are eligible for funding from SAAS.

Students receiving full support have been defined as those who are:

1. Receiving the maximum Young Students bursary,

2. The maximum Young Students Outside Scotland bursary,

3. The maximum Students Outside Scotland bursary,

4. Aged 25 or over and are receiving maximum maintenance loan, or

5. Aged less than 25, are exempt from parental or spousal contribution to their support and are receiving maximum maintenance loan.

Nursing and Midwifery bursary scheme students are not included in the numbers receiving support from SAAS. Figures for academic year 2007-08 are not yet available.

Question reference: S3W-13920

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student places were available in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

Question reference: S3W-13919

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

The number of staff at Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) and colleges during the past three academic years is shown in the table below. The table includes both academic and non academic staff.

Number of Staff at Scottish Institutions

Academic Year	HEIs	Colleges
2006-07	38,295	21,586
2005-06	37,865	21,504
2004-05	37,000	21,615

Sources: HESA – excluding “atypical” staff; Scottish Funding Council.

The academic year 2006-07 is the latest year for which this information is available.

Question reference: S3W-13925

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of rising rates of earnings over the next three years when calculating its £12.748 million of efficiency savings under the SAAS Eligibility budget line.

Question reference: S3W-13922

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive to what “output(s)” refers in the description of the Scottish Funding Council’s efficiency saving in Efficiency Delivery Plans - May 2008, for the 2008-11 Efficiency Programme.

The key outputs from further and higher education are derived from the already well-established arrangements whereby, in return for the main recurrent grants paid to colleges and universities:

· institutions are required to deliver defined volumes of learning provision, and

· research-related funding reflects the volume and quality of research undertaken.

As noted in Efficiency Delivery Plans - May 2008, for the 2008-11 Efficiency Programme, the Scottish Government plans to deliver cash releasing efficiencies by delivering an actual resource efficiency through colleges and universities which will provide the same service at a reduced cost.

Question reference: S3W-13923

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the efficiency savings planned for the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council will be made in either the next three financial or academic years.

Question reference: S3W-13918

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that the £192 million of Scottish Funding Council efficiency savings do not lead to cuts in services at universities and colleges.

As noted in its Efficiency Delivery Plans - May 2008, for the 2008-11 Efficiency Programme, the Scottish Government plans to deliver cash releasing efficiencies by delivering an actual resource efficiency through colleges and universities which will provide the same service at a reduced cost.

These arrangements will ensure that there are no reductions in the volumes or quality of learning and research associated with funding for universities and colleges as a result of the efficient government programme.

This measure will contribute to Scottish ministers overall target of delivering a 2% increase in cash-releasing efficiencies each year amounting to £1.6 billion in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-13908

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students will receive any financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise as it anticipates, broken down by household income.

The Scottish Government does not produce estimates/forecasts on earnings growth with respect to student support. However, irrespective of how earnings may rise in the next three years, the number of Scottish students receiving support would be unaffected as under current funding rules all eligible students are entitled to at least a non-means tested loan.

The latest year for which data are available for students receiving some form of support is for 2006-07. The table below provides data on the number of Scottish students receiving support from Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in 2006-07 by parental/spousal residual income after allowable deductions. In 2006-07, 114,610 Scottish students received some form of support.

Income Band	2006-07
Income Not Declared/Required	34,300
< £10,000	11,180
£10,000 - £19,999	13,735
£20,000 - £29,999	12,115
£30,000 - £39,999	10,005
£40,000 - £49,999	7,160
£50,000 - £59,999	3,865
£60,000 - £69,999	2,075
£70,000 - £79,999	940
£80,000 - £89,999	485
£90,000 - £99,998	270
£99,999 and Above	655
Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution	17,830
Total	114,610

Source: SAAS.

Note: Student numbers have been rounded to the nearest five and monetary amounts to the nearest 1,000.

Question reference: S3W-13921

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008

To ask the Scottish Executive how many student places were unfilled in (a) universities and (b) colleges in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05.

(a) Higher Education Institutions:

Each year the Scottish Funding Council funds a number of places, expressed as full-time equivalents (FTE), in universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs), these are generally available to UK and other EU residents. HEIs are independent bodies who are free to recruit further students, from outside the EU when they can charge the full cost of providing the course, or, within certain limits, from within the EU when they would still be able to claim fees from the Student Awards Agency for full time students.

The following table shows the number of funded places for undergraduates and taught postgraduates at Scottish HEIs, and the number of students eligible for funding for the last four academic years.

	Funded Places	Students Eligible for Funding
Academic Year	(FTEs)	(FTEs)
2007-08	127,788	139,060
2006-07	124,826	135,099
2005-06	121,778	132,254
2004-05	120,653	131,788

Source: Scottish Funding Council; funded places includes places funded by the Scottish Government.

For all HEIs in Scotland taken as a whole there were therefore in each year more places taken up than funded. Within the overall funding framework institutions have some flexibility in the courses they provide, in response to demand. The total number of any places that remain unfilled at course level is not held centrally.

(b) Colleges

Colleges are not funded for a specific number of student places. Funding is allocated on the basis of activity delivered – a weighted number of teaching hours (WSUMs).

The total number of WSUMs targeted and delivered is shown in the following table.

	Teaching Activity Target	Teaching Activity Delivered
Academic Year	(WSUMs)	(WSUMs)
2007-08	2,301,703	Not Yet Available
2006-07	2,274,409	2,322,054
2005-06	2,172,311	2,215,861
2004-05	2,213,710	2,306,176

Source: Scottish Funding Council; the measurement method changed between 2004-05 and 2005-06; strategic growth target of 20,000 WSUMs from 2006-07 not included.

In all the above years delivery across Scotland exceeded targets. As there is not a fixed number of student places set for colleges it is not possible to say how many places were unfilled.