- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
Efficiency savings planned by both the Students Awards Agency for Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council will be made in each of the three financial years up to 31 March 2011.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of full-time students who will see reductions in the financial support that they receive from government in each of the next three years due to efficiency savings in SAAS eligibility.
Answer
We have not made such estimates as the efficiency savings have not been calculated in this way. These efficiencies have been calculated based on the trends from recent years as SAAS has seen a reduction in the proportion of students applying for and receiving loan funding.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
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 |
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
We will be consulting later this year on proposals to move from loans to grants and on a minimum guarantee for students. As part of that exercise we will be seeking stakeholders’ views on the current income thresholds.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
We have not made such estimates as the efficiency savings have not been calculated in this way. These efficiencies have been calculated based on the trends from recent years as SAAS has seen a reduction in the proportion of students applying for and receiving loan funding.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that outlining £40 million of efficiency savings from converting loans to grants precludes the forthcoming consultation regarding the use of the additional £30 million announced for student support in 2010-11.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made clear its intention to move from student loans to a system of means-tested grants. To support this, we have allocated £30 million in 2010-11 to begin this transition. £40 million is the projected efficiency saving that would be made a result of this policy change.
By consulting on these issues later this year, we will open up a number of other possible scenarios. Should another option emerge as a preferred approach then this will be factored into our efficiency projections accordingly.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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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.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13921 on 16 June 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.
