Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12905 on 22 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The answer would depend on a range of factors and it would not be appropriate to seek to estimate these at this stage.

Part-time students aged 18 and over are not exempt from paying council tax by virtue of their student status and so are potentially liable for council tax. Some full-time students in further education are enrolled on courses that do not qualify them for a council tax exemption as the course is not considered long enough to be full-time for council tax purposes, and they will also be potentially liable. On that basis, the numbers of part-time students that are potentially liable for council tax break down as follows:

Postgraduate	41,550
First Degree	15,985
Other HE	49,300
FE	281,725
Total	388,560

Note: This information is based on Higher Education Statistics Agency and Scottish Funding Council enrolment data, and excludes; dormant, visiting exchange, writing up and sabbatical students at HEIs, as well as those college students who failed to complete 25% of their course.

As a point of clarification, the First Minister referred in the Parliament on 24 April 2008 to around 160,000 students in Scotland not earning enough to pay local income tax. He did not say that 160,000 students are currently not liable for the council tax.

A breakdown of the estimated numbers of full-time students in 2006-07 who were potentially exempt from paying council tax is given below.

Postgraduate Students	30,040
First degree Students	117,600
Other Students in Higher Education	35,870
Students in Further Education	38,720
Total	222,230

Notes:

(i) Full-time students are exempt from paying council tax in most cases. Some full-time students in further education are enrolled on courses that do not qualify them for a council tax exemption as the course is not considered long enough to be full-time for council tax purposes. A number of other full-time students will be liable for other reasons, but the number of such students is not currently known.

(ii) The figures in the table above are based on Higher Education Statistics Agency and Scottish Funding Council enrolment data. They exclude dormant, visiting exchange, writing-up and sabbatical students at higher education institutions, as well as those college students who failed to complete 25% of their course.

As a point of clarification, when the First Minister said that the number of higher education students paying council tax depends on where they stay, he was referring to the fact that some students live with non-students and partners and these students may be contributing to council tax as part of a household. While we do not hold information at this level of detail, we are consulting student representative organisations, amongst others, about our proposals and we expect that to provide additional information. An analysis of the consultation responses will be published in the autumn.

There were 228,795 full-time students in Scottish institutions in 2006-07. Of these, 222,230 were potentially exempt from council tax. It is not possible to say that all were exempt because some may have made a contribution to council tax, for example if they were part of a household with other non-students shared or if they lived with a partner or spouse, or if they were a full-time student landlord, or if they were liable during the summer holidays as a consequence of the way the legislation interprets their enrolment information. However, we do not hold information on the numbers who may have been in these various categories. The remaining 6,565 students were liable for the tax because they were not on courses that were long enough to qualify for the exemption.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12347 on 2 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12347 on 2 May 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Information relating to Education and Lifelong Learning funding can be found in the following documents:

The Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 (Chapter 22), which covers allocations for 2007-08 and projected allocations from 2008-09 to 2010-11, at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/13092240/23.

The Scottish Executive Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 (page 31, 32), at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/30102402/11 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/30102402/12.

The Scottish Executive Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 (page 30, 31), at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/10/31084836/11, and http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/10/31084836/12.

The Scottish Government funds colleges and universities to deliver a range of levels of education and does not specify levels of provision of further or higher education. Therefore there are no specific figures for funding of further and higher education.

Colleges use their funding to deliver further education (including student support) and higher education and higher education institutions also deliver both teaching and research. It is for individual institutions to determine the balance of provision on the basis of demand and strategic direction.

Following spending review 2007, funding for schools has been transferred to revenue support grant (RSG) for allocation to local authorities.

The following additional funding has been made available during the 2007-08 financial year and will affect expenditure during the spending review period 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Free School Meal Pilots

In March 2008 the Government announced that it was committed to meeting the costs of extending the Free School Meal pilots from April 2008 to the end of June 2008 and made an additional £2 million available to the five authorities (Borders, Fife, Glasgow, East Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire) undertaking these Free School Meal pilots. This funding has been made available to ensure that the 5 authorities could continue the Free School Meal pilots to the end of the school term.

£10 Million Current Funding for HEIs

£10m of Current funding was made available to the higher education institutions (HEIs) to address cost pressures within the sector at the 2008 Spring Budget Revisions (SBR).

£20 Million Current Funding for FE and HEIs

An additional £20 million of current funding has been made available, split 50%50% between the two sectors before the 2007-08 year-end.

 - £10 million for HEIs to address cost pressures within the sector in addition to that made available at the SBR, and

 - £10 million for further education colleges to allow further strategic investment in key priority areas, such as supporting young people who need more choices and more chances; articulation, and innovative approaches to learning delivery.