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The teaching activity target for colleges in 2008-09 is that 2,310,323 weighted student units of measurement are to be delivered.

This is set out in more detail in Annex A3 of the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) circular SFC/17/2008 Main grants to colleges for academic year 2008-09. This can be found at:

http://www.sfc.ac.uk/information/info_circulars/sfc/2008/sfc1708/sfc1708.html.

The SFC has not yet set targets for the following two years.

The following table shows higher education students who are receiving support, other than non means tested maintenance loan, from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and the amount of such support received broken down by parental/spousal income for academic years 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Academic Year	2004-05		2005-06		2006-07
	Number of Students	Amount of Support £000	Number of Students	Amount of Support £000	Number of Students	Amount of Support £000
Income Not Declared/Required	35,940	54,685	37,355	57,696	38,395	64,980
< £10,000	12,075	53,464	11,655	52,845	11,145	52,673
£10,000 - £19,999	14,330	60,128	14,120	62,355	13,705	64,118
£20,000 - £29,999	13,180	46,119	12,670	46,612	12,090	47,394
£30,000 - £39,999	10,715	29,412	10,325	29,577	9,985	31,081
£40,000 - £49,999	6,920	13,882	7,240	15,509	7,115	17,019
£50,000 - £59,999	3,320	5,290	3,475	5,746	3,710	6,884
£60,000 - £69,999	1,505	2,083	1,745	2,562	1,955	3,344
£70,000 - £79,999	655	862	715	936	855	1,365
£80,000 - £89,999	240	302	335	419	425	660
£90,000 - £99,998	145	182	185	237	235	376
£99,999 and above	310	435	420	568	525	842
Exempt from Parental/Spousal Contribution	17,820	80,331	17,645	81,752	18,950	87,134
Total	117,155	347,174	117,880	356,813	119,090	377,870

Source: SAAS.

Notes:

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

Students are included in the table if they receive support including tuition fees, or tuition fee loans if they study outside Scotland, and/or awards and/or means tested 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.

The following table identifies the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) for those transport projects committed to by the Scottish Government in the June 2007 statement to the Parliament:

Project	BCR
Rail Projects
Airdrie to Bathgate	1.92
Scottish Borders	1.32
Glasgow Airport Rail Link	1.28
Waverley Station Phase 1	2.06
Stirling Alloa Kincardine	1.10
Motorway and Trunk Roads Projects
M74 Completion	7.66
M80 Stepps to Haggs	8.68
M8 Baillieston to Newhouse	9.95
M8 Associated Network Improvements	19.22
Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route	4.79

 

On the basis of “Contracts Let”, the following schemes have also been approved since May 2007:

Project	BCR	Notes
Rail Projects
Laurencekirk Station	1.60
Motorway and Trunk Roads Projects
A9 Helmsdale to Ord of Caithness Improvements Phase 2	1.64
A77 Haggstone Climbing Lane and Glen App	0.85 and 1.61	Individual scheme assessment BCRs
M8 Harthill Footbridge Replacement	N/A	Replacement of existing footbridge to current standards. No BCR available.
A76 Glenairlie Improvement	1.05
A7 Auchinrivock	1.19
A737 Roadhead Roundabout	N/A	Minor road safety junction improvement. No BCR available.

 

In September 2007 the Scottish Government announced the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvements project, which includes a number of investment packages with BCRs ranging from 0.9 to 3.8.

In September 2007 the Scottish Government also committed a financial contribution to the Edinburgh trams project, with a BCR of 1.68 (excluding the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link), and awarded the contract for the replacement vessel for the Islay ferry services. This vessel has been commissioned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and will be funded by loans from the Scottish Government to CMAL. The appraisal, completed in 2003, showed the option being pursued to have a BCR of 0.48.

In December 2007 the decision to construct a Forth replacement crossing was announced to the Parliament. The BCR of the preferred option is 4.57.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14235 on 2 July 2008. Answers to written parliamentary questions can be found on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Yes.

The appraisal and subsequent prioritisation of transport projects within the strategic transport projects review is being carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG).

In terms of the economic criteria within STAG, the cost-benefit ratio is not the sole indicator of the worth of a scheme. Other factors taken into account include impacts on the environment, safety, integration, accessibility and social inclusion. Also, STAG now enables the wider economic benefits to be taken into consideration.

Transport Scotland expects to deliver its initial findings from the strategic transport projects review to ministers in August 2008. Ministers will need to give careful consideration to these findings before being in a position to make any public announcement.

The transport projects being considered by the strategic transport projects review (STPR) include those that have been developed specifically to meet the objectives of the STPR, through internal and external workshops, including the regional transport partnerships, and projects that have been suggested by various external interests which ministers have agreed to include.

An appraisal using Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) is required when government funding, support or approval is sought for justified proposals to change the transport system. There is no minimum benefit to cost ratio threshold set within STAG. STAG ensures that the contribution of transport improvements to the economy is fully assessed alongside contributions and impacts on the environment, accessibility and social inclusion, safety, and integration. Approval for funding is based on the assessment of the proposal across all five STAG criteria.

Staffing numbers for colleges and universities for the academic year 2007-08 will become available in January 2009.