Chamber and committees

None. Responsibility for the implementation of community planning sits with the partnerships themselves and it is up to individual partnerships to decide how they consider financial planning, within the overall context of Scottish Government priorities.

Statistics on Scottish Registered Social Landlords are published by the Scottish Housing Regulator. The most up to date information on housing association rents was provided in the Review of Scottish Registered Social Landlords 2006-07, which gave the average weekly secure rent of Scottish housing associations in 2006-07 as £51.76. It is available on the Scottish Housing Regulator’s website at:

http://www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/shr_reviewofscottishregistered.pdf.

The Scottish Government does not collect information about weekly rents for housing association properties in England. This information is available in table 6.3 of Housing Statistics 2007, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government and available at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/housingstatistics2007.

I refer the member to answer to question S3W-13464 on 13 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.

It is intended that single outcome agreements (SOAs) will develop over time and equality impact assessments will be part of that process. The Scottish Government would not delay signing off an SOA at this stage because the EQIA is not complete. However, we are emphasising to councils and Community Planning Partnerships their responsibilities in relation to the public sector equality duties, in particular toward 2009-10 when we expect SOAs will include Community Planning Partnerships.

The number of disabled students who applied and were not eligible for the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) for each academic years from 2001-02 to 2007-08 is provided in the following tables. The statistics contained within the tables are broken by the reason why the student was not eligible for DSA.

2001-02
Course not SAAS funded	4
Late Application / Report received too late	9
EU Students / not eligible residence	1
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	4
Total not eligible	18

 

2002-03
Course not SAAS funded	3
Late Application / Report received too late	2
EU Students / not eligible residence	2
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	4
Total not eligible	11

 

2003-04
Course not SAAS funded	3
EU Students / not eligible residence	4
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	6
Large Items paid previously	5
Total not eligible	18

 

2004-05
Course not SAAS funded	3
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	2
Large Items paid previously	1
Total not eligible	6

 

2005-06
Course not SAAS funded	4
Late Application / Report received too late	2
EU Students / not eligible residence	4
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	7
Total not eligible	17

 

2006-07
Course not SAAS funded	2
EU Students / not eligible residence	1
Total not eligible	3

 

2007-08
EU Students / not eligible residence	3
No confirmation of disability/no recommendations	2
Total not eligible (at this stage in the academic year)	5

Source: These statistics were manually collated from SAAS data.

The Scottish Government has no way of ascertaining how many disabled students chose not to apply for the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) for each academic year from 2001-02 to 2007-08.

However, the following table shows the number of higher education students at Scottish higher education institutions and colleges that have declared a disability. It is worth noting that these statistics are reliant on students choosing to declare their disability. The table also shows the number of students who have been in receipt of the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) for each academic year from 2001-02 to 2006-07.

The table does not contain statistics for 2007-08 as this data has not yet be published.

Academic Year	Students in Receipt of DSA*	HE students at Scottish Higher Education Institutions & Colleges that have Declared a Disability**
2001-02	1,645	10,955
2002-03	2,040	11,620
2003-04	2,410	13,125
2004-05	2,775	15,185
2005-06	3,165	16,090
2006-07	3,385	17,870

*Source: Students Awards Agency for Scotland.

**Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency and Scottish Funding Council.

Note: Student numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

The number of lone parent students who were not in receipt of lone parent grant is not held centrally.

Information on the financial circumstances of graduates who become lone parents is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government. However HM Revenue and Customs, who have responsibility for collecting the student loan debt, obtain financial information from all tax payers, including graduates who are lone parents.

Students who are not eligible to apply for the disabled students allowance (DSA) are:

· those who do not meet the residence conditions as set out in the Students’ Allowance (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended);

· those who are studying a course that the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) does not support;

· part-time students undertaking less than 50% of a full time course;

· Open University students studying less than 60 credits;

· students undertaking a course below HNC level (except those doing a SAAS funded adult education course at one of the UK’s adult education residential colleges);

· students who are receiving funding from their local education authority, and

· postgraduate students who are receiving funding from a research council or the social work department.

However, these students can receive support via other means. For example, students undertaking a further education course can apply for an additional support needs learning allowance. Colleges and universities also have a responsibility under the Disability Discrimination Act to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that students with disabilities are not at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students when attending their institutions. This can include providing, within reason, equipment, services, appropriate access to buildings and that adjustments are made to teaching practices and assessments. This duty means that the needs of all disabled students should be met whether or not they receive the DSA or the additional support needs learning allowance. In addition, institutions are also allocated additional funding through the disabled students premium and extended learning support to support disabled students. This funding can also be used to support students who are not eligible for the DSA.