- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 December 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20429 by Allan Wilson on 16 November 2005, when it expects all student loans referred to in the answer to be repaid and when it will therefore be in a position to provide a substantive answer.
Answer
It is not possible to give a definitive answer on when all student loans taken out since the introduction of student loans are expected to be repaid.
The nature of student loan repayments means that the majority of borrowers will be at different stages of repayment or deferment at any one time and that borrowers will repay over different periods of time depending on their salary and changing circumstances.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recent steps it took in shifting higher education funding from institution funding to funding per student as a result of the increases in tuition fees will be followed by further moves towards funding per student.
Answer
The Executive’s proposals on increases in tuition fees will, if accepted by Parliament, necessitate a transfer of resources from the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). This transfer is estimated to be in the region of £45 million in 2006-07.
This money and just over a third of SAAS’s £362 million budget for 2006-07 will protect our commitment to pay tuition fees for all eligible Scots domiciled higher education students studying in Scotland. The funding council will allocate the remainder of the £958 million allocated for 2006-07 to higher education institutions using the existing funding methodology.
In the strategic guidance letter I issued to the chair of the new funding council on 3 November 2005, I recognised the importance of avoiding action on funding which might destabilise any individual institution and our overall provision. I stated, however, that I expect funding to be related as closely as possible to the costs of delivery. I asked the council as a priority to consider, in partnership with colleges and universities, the best way of addressing this issue.
This was a statement of the strategic direction in which we expect funding allocation to go in the years ahead. Responsibility for the details of current and future allocation methodologies remains with the funding council.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments made by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning to the Enterprise and Culture Committee on 1 November 2005 (Official Report c. 2352), what the Student Awards Agency for Scotland's funding line in the budget would have been had it not been affected by the £28 million consideration as a result of the change to HM Treasury discount rate.
Answer
If there had been no change to the discount rate, the reduction in 2005-06 of £28 million would not have arisen. The Student Awards Agency for Scotland’s funding line in 2005-06 would be increased by £28 million from £368,639,000 to £396,639,000.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Student Loans Company Ltd hardship loans were paid out to Scottish domiciled students in 2003-04.
Answer
In 2003-04 the Student Loans Company paid out 2,555 Hardship Loans to Scottish domiciled students.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the operating surplus made by the Student Loans Company Ltd the Executive has received in each year since 1999.
Answer
The Student Loans Company operates as a non-departmental public body and therefore has no operating surplus or any reserves.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scottish domiciled student loan borrowers were in deferment in each year of the operation of student loans, broken down by year of entering repayment.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20433 on 16 November 2005. 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.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Student Loans Company Ltd part-time student loans were paid out to Scottish domiciled students in 2003-04.
Answer
In 2003-04 the Student Loans Company paid out 626 part-time loans to Scottish domiciled students.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 494,000 deferment application forms processed by the Student Loans Company Ltd in 2003-04 were from Scottish domiciled repayers.
Answer
Of the 494,000 deferment applications processed by the Student Loans Company in 2003-04, just under 70,000 were from Scottish domiciled repayers.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many customer accounts the Student Loans Company Ltd maintains for Scottish domiciled borrowers.
Answer
The Student Loans Company currently maintains the customer accounts for 312,800 Scottish domiciled borrowers with public debt.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total pay-out to Scottish domiciled students from the Student Loans Company Ltd was in 2003-04 and how many students received these payments.
Answer
In 2003-04 the total pay-out to Scottish domiciled students from the Student Loans Company Ltd was £223,332,000. The number of students who received payment was 123,445.
