- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study chemistry at Scottish universities were accepted in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students wishing to study chemistry at Scottish universitieswere (a) 338 in 2004-05, (b) 395 in 2005-06, (c) 443 in 2006-07 and (d) 476 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the UK Government about ensuring that electricity generated by Scottish renewable sources can be delivered to markets in England.
Answer
The First Ministermet the Chair and Chief Executive of Ofgem on 20 September 2007. He made the case for a fundamental reform of the transmissionaccess and charging regime, to end unfair barriers to Scottish generators. The FirstMinister will put a detailed case to Ofgem on the need for reform when he next meetsOfgem’s Chair and Chief Executive. The First Minister also plans to meet the UKGovernment’s Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), where he will likewise make this case.
The Scottish Governmentalso continues to discuss issues relating to access to the grid through BERR’s TransmissionWorking Group and is contributing to the current Transmission Access Review.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study chemistry at Scottish universities were accepted by students domiciled in Scotland in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students domiciled in Scotland, wishing to study chemistry at Scottish universities were (a) 238 in 2004-05,(b) 251 in 2005-06, (c) 297 in 2006-07 and (d) 298 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study physics at Scottish universities were accepted by students domiciled in Scotland in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students domiciled in Scotland, wishing to study physics at Scottish universities were (a) 198 in 2004-05,(b) 181 in 2005-06, (c) 214 in 2006-07 and (d) 231 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the cost of any network reinforcement work to ensure that electricity generated by Scottish renewable sources can be delivered to markets in England.
Answer
The Scottish Governmenthas not undertaken such an estimate. This is a matter for the transmission owners,and any such investment is approved by Ofgem.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study physics at Scottish universities were accepted in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students wishing to study physics at Scottish universitieswere (a) 265 in 2004-05, (b) 247 in 2005-06, (c) 318 in 2006-07 and (d) 332 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on the competitiveness of Scottish universities if the cap on tuition fees for English universities is removed and how it intends to respond to the findings of any such assessment.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis alert to the possibility that the cap on tuition fees for English universitiesmay be removed. It has assessed a range of information, including an internal reportby the Institute for Fiscal Studies commissioned during the previous administration.This report examines the competitiveness of Scottish universities and was deliveredduring the current administration.
Any review of thecap in England will of course be important to Scottish higher educationinstitutions and the Scottish Government. It is not a foregone conclusion that thecap will be removed or fees increased. We will take an active interest in the reviewand make a more detailed and informed impact assessment, as necessary, based onits outcomes.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make an announcement on its plans to support the upgrading of the telephone exchange on Stronsay to allow it to meet the demand for broadband connections on the island.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis aware of the unfulfilled broadband demand in Stronsay due to capacity issuesat the telephone exchange. We are aiming to deliver an upgrade with BT to this exchangeby the first quarter of 2008, which will resolve the current capacity issues. Allfurther updates will be provided on the
www.broadbandforscotland.co.ukwebsite in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make an announcement on its plans to support the upgrading of the telephone exchange on Eday to allow it to meet the demand for broadband connections on the island.
Answer
The ScottishGovernment is aware of the unfulfilled broadband demand in Eday due to capacityissues at the telephone exchange. We are aiming to deliver an upgrade with BTto this exchange by the first quarter of 2008, which will resolve the currentcapacity issues. All further updates will be provided on the
www.broadbandforscotland.co.ukwebsite in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3727 by Stewart Stevenson on the 13 September 2007, whether it will list the ferry routes to be considered by the consultants undertaking the study into the benefits of applying a road equivalent tariff to the fares on ferry routes under the (a) first and (b) third phases of the study.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-5199 on 25 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
