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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-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-13909

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 at the average rate for 2007-08, broken down by household income.

The latest year for which data are available for students receiving some form of support is for 2006-07. Similarly, 2006-07 is the latest year for which data are available for average earnings. The data show that median weekly earnings rose by 3.1% in the year to April 2007.

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 table below provides data on the number of Scottish students receiving SAAS support in 2006-07 by parental/spousal residual income after allowable deductions. The table also shows how these data would look if average earnings rose by 3.1% (figure based on growth in average median weekly earnings in the year to April 2007) in each of the subsequent three years. In 2006-07, 114,610 Scottish students received some form of support.

Income Band	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Income not Declared/Required	34,300	34,300	34,300	34,300
< £10,000	11,180	10,635	10,140	9,755
£10,000 - £19,999	13,735	13,390	13,170	12,940
£20,000 - £29,999	12,115	11,815	11,255	10,820
£30,000 - £39,999	10,005	10,030	10,270	10,220
£40,000 - £49,999	7,160	7,250	7,365	7,565
£50,000 - £59,999	3,865	4,285	4,640	5,005
£60,000 - £69,999	2,075	2,240	2,450	2,545
£70,000 - £79,999	940	1,115	1,310	1,485
£80,000 - £89,999	485	540	555	710
£90,000 - £99,998	270	305	375	385
£99,999+	655	880	945	1,050
Exempt from Parental Contribution	17,830	17,830	17,830	17,830
Total	114,610	114,610 =SUM(ABOVE)	114,610	114,610

Source: SAAS

Notes:

Constant Student Numbers are assumed.

The total number of students in the system has not changed.

Student numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

Question reference: S3W-13906

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 table below shows the total number of higher education students receiving any support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Academic Year	Number of Students Receiving Any Support
2004-05	120,525
2005-06	121,235
2006-07	121,990

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland.

Student numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

In the table “any support” is defined as tuition fees (or tuition fee loans if they study outside Scotland) and/or awards and/or maintenance loans.

These figures do not include nursing and midwifery bursary scheme students. Academic year 2006-07 is the latest for which figures are available.

Question reference: S3W-13911

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 full-time students will receive full financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise at the average rate for 2007-08.

The following table shows the number of students receiving full support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) in academic year 2006-07. It also shows the approximate number of students in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 who would receive full support if earnings rose by the 2006-7 average of 3.1% (based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ASHE).

Academic Year	Students Receiving Full Support from SAAS
2006-07	35,310
2007-08	35,267
2008-09	35,154

Source: Students receiving support, SAAS, higher education students, Higher Education Statistics Agency and Scottish Funding Council. 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. Constant student numbers are assumed from one year to the next.

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 on student numbers for academic year 2007-08 are not yet available. Similarly, earnings data beyond 2006-07 are not yet available. Also, income thresholds for 2009-10 have yet to be determined.

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-13910

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 full-time students will receive full financial support from government in each of the next three years if earnings rise as it anticipates.

Question reference: S3W-13905

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 much financial support was provided to students in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2004-05, broken down by (i) household income and (ii) numbers of students in each income band.

The following table shows a breakdown of the number of higher education students receiving any form of support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and the amount of support received by parental/spousal income for academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Academic Year	2004-05		2005-06		2006-07
Income Band	Number of Students	Amount £000	Number of Students	Amount £000	Number of Students	Amount £000
Income not Declared/Required	37,740	68,494	39,200	70,822	40,135	77,415
< £10,000	12,105	60,897	11,690	59,535	11,180	58,768
£10,000-£19,999	14,360	69,137	14,160	70,713	13,735	71,754
£20,000-£29,999	13,200	54,555	12,700	54,251	12,115	54,262
£30,000-£39,999	10,740	36,499	10,345	36,215	10,005	37,234
£40,000-£49,999	7,050	18,831	7,305	20,460	7,160	21,696
£50,000-£59,999	3,555	8,034	3,700	8,421	3,865	9,604
£60,000-£69,999	1,635	3,332	1,905	4,026	2,075	4,854
£70,000-£79,999	740	1,490	810	1,582	940	2,092
£80,000-£89,999	290	561	400	771	485	1,032
£90,000-£99,998	180	347	215	414	270	587
£99,999 and above	455	884	570	1,128	655	1,408
Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution	18,475	94,451	18,240	95,310	19,365	100,123
Total	120,525	417,511	121,235	423,648	121,990	440,829

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

Student are included in the table if they receive any form of support i.e. tuition fees, (or tuition fee loans if they study outside Scotland) and/or awards and/or maintenance loans. Income bands are based on residual parental or, in the case of students who are married or in a civil partnership, spousal income. This is income after deductions allowed by SAAS have been subtracted.

This table does not include students on the nursing and midwifery bursary scheme. Academic year 2006-07 is the latest for which figures are available.

Question reference: S3W-13950

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 much it estimates will be spent providing new-lend student loans and how much will be received from student loan repayments in each of the next three years.

The forecasts for Student Loans included in the Spending Review 2007 are as follows:

	2008-09 (£000)	2009-10 (£000)	2010-11 (£000)
Student Loan Issues	180,300	184,700	188,700
Student Loan Repayments	-56,000	-60,000	-64,000
Net New Lending	124,300	124,700	124,700

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-13914

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 plans it has to review the income thresholds for young student bursaries, student loans and additional student grants.