- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 19 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether full-time students living in shared accommodation with other full-time students are liable to pay council tax.
Answer
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 .
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 19 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement on 17 April 2008 that higher education students pay council tax dependent on where they stay (Official Report c. 7686), what the relationship is between the location or type of accommodation of full-time higher education students and their liability to pay council tax
Answer
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 .
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 21 April 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between ministers and student groups since May 2007, who attended and what was discussed.
Answer
Meetings regularly take place between Scottish ministers and student groups. The following table provides details of all meetings which have taken place between Scottish ministers and student groups since May 2007, including who attended and topics for discussion:
| Minister | Meeting with | Topic | Date |
| Fiona Hyslop | HE, FE, student and union representatives | Roundtable Forum | 6 June 2007 |
| Fiona Hyslop | Presidents of Student Associations of each Scottish higher education institution, President of NUS and Convener of CHESS | Student Summit to discuss range of higher education issues | 31 August 2007 |
| Fiona Hyslop | HE, FE, student and union representatives | Roundtable Forum | 23 October 2007 |
| Fiona Hyslop | NUS Conference | Speech at the NUS conference | 1 March 2008 |
| Fiona Hyslop | President of NUS | Private meeting to discuss Joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities | 6 March 2008 |
| Fiona Hyslop | NUS and The joint Future Thinking Taskforce on Universities | NUS contribution to Taskforce | 16 March 2008 |
| Fiona Hyslop | Student representatives from around the country | Student Summit | 28 April 2008 |
| Jim Mather | UWS Student Union | Open Forum Q&A | 25 February 2008 |
| Nicola Sturgeon       | Stow College Graduation Ceremony | Address and present awards | 15 November 2007 |
| Nicola Sturgeon | Meeting Dental Students Aberdeen | Attending Dental Institute | 21 January 2008 |
| Nicola Sturgeon | Addressing Glasgow Caledonian Students re. development of policy in health and social care | Address | 4 April 2008 |
| Shona Robison | Scottish Youth Parliament Health Committee | Public Health Issues | 23 January 2008 |
| Maureen Watt | National Union of Students Scotland Conference | Roles of students and how NUS can work with Government | 21 November 2008 |
| Elish Angiolini QC Lord Advocate | Law School students, University of Edinburgh | Criminal Law | 6 November 2007 |
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be provided for (a) Education and Lifelong Learning, (b) further education, (c) higher education and (d) student support in each of the next three years and how much was provided in each of the last three years.
Answer
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:
.
The Scottish Executive Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 (page 31, 32), at:
.
The Scottish Executive Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 (page 30, 31), at: , and .
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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding has been announced for Education and Lifelong Learning since the spending review.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people will be affected by changes to the means test for higher education students from the 2008-09 academic year and how much the Scottish Government will save in total (a) annually and (b) over the next three years.
Answer
The number of people affected by changes to the means test for higher education students is unknown as the information on which this calculation needs to be made was not recorded by the previous Scottish Executive. I have therefore asked SAAS to record this data from 2008-09 onwards and my officials will closely monitor the numbers affected by these changes.
The changes to the means test are not intended to generate savings. They are intended to bring about a fairer system of student support for all our students. If any savings were to accrue from these changes, however, this money will be redistributed within the general student support system.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline further details of the £38 million package of grants for part-time learners in higher education, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933), showing (a) over how many years the funding will be provided, (b) the eligibility criteria for the funding, (c) the distribution mechanism used for the funding and (d) how many students will be eligible for the funding
Answer
(a) We will introduce a £500 part-time higher education (HE) grant from academic year 2008-09 for all new and existing students. Budget provision has been made for £12 million/£13 million/£13 million for this over the period of the spending review (£38 million in total). This includes an additional £1 million annually for the institutions'' discretionary funds.
(b) The eligibility criteria for the funding is that students must:
be ordinarily resident in Scotland
be over the age of 16
earn £18,000 or less or be on benefits
not be in receipt of a fee waiver from the learning provider
be studying at 50% or more of a full-time HNC, HND, or
undergraduate degree (SCQF Level 7-10). Â Â Â
(c) The part-time HE grant will be delivered through a simplified Individual Learning Account (ILA Scotland) model and the grant will be paid directly to the university or college.Â
(d) We expect that this new funding will benefit around 20,000 part-time HE students.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students will benefit from changes to the eligibility for the young students bursary from the 2008-09 academic year, including those under the age of 25 and with a child over three, and by how much in total.
Answer
It is only those students under the age of 25 and with a child over three who will benefit from changes to the eligibility for the Young Students'' Bursary from the 2008-09 academic year. I refer the member to the question S3W-10207 answered on 3 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at .
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide further details of the (a) £30 million available for 2010-11 to support students further and (b) consultation that is taking place, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933).
Answer
The Scottish Budget announced that an additional £30 million is to be invested in 2010-11 and the Scottish Government will consider how best to use this money as part of a consultation paper which will be launched later this year.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2008
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline further details of its increasing the threshold for the non-medical personal helpers element of the disabled students allowance by 60%, referred to by the First Minister on 24 April 2008 (Official Report, c. 7933), showing how much additional funding will be provided to students through this change and how many students will benefit.
Answer
Further details on the non-medical personal helpers element of the disabled students allowance can be found on SAAS'' website at:
.
In terms of the increase, the upper threshold for the non-medical personal helpers element of the Disabled Students'' Allowance (DSA) will from academic year 2008-09 rise from £12,420 to £20,000. In terms of numbers of students who will stand to benefit, last year there were around 39 students who reached the maximum threshold for non-medical personal help. The number of students who will benefit from the increased threshold in 2008-09 will be dependent on their assessed needs when they apply to SAAS for student support.
