Chamber and committees

The number of students supported by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and the amount of support they received in the form of tuition fees, tuition fee loans, awards and entitlement to maintenance loans in academic years  2002-03 to 2006-07 is given in table 1 of the publication Student Awards in Scotland 2006-07, published on the Scottish Government website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/23093807/0. In 2006-07 the number of students supported (excluding discretionary and child care funds) was 121,990 and the total support assessed was £440.8 million; 97% of loan amounts assessed were paid out. (table 6b of the same publication). This publication does not include Nursing and Midwifery students who are funded through the Scottish Government Health Directorate''s Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary Scheme (NMSB).

The table below shows the amount spent to support higher education students through the Discretionary Fund (formerly Hardship Fund) and Childcare Fund (formerly Mature Student''s Bursary Fund) and the number of times support was provided. Discretionary funding is paid in addition to other forms of student support for Scottish domiciled students and is also available to eligible students from the rest of the UK who study in Scotland.

	Discretionary Fund		Childcare Fund
	Instances of Assistance	Amounts Issued by Institutions (£000)	Instances of Assistance	Amounts Issued by Institutions (£000)
2002-03	14,705	6,128	6,815	5,018
2003-04	10,775	6,415	6,180	5,899
2004-05	10,930	6,794	5,855	6,537
2005-06	12,395	9,970	1,715	3,094
2006-07	13,995	11,360	1,260	3,228

Source: Student Awards Agency for Scotland Discretionary Fund Management Information.

Note: Instances of Assistance have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, Amounts Issued have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

Individual identifying student details of payments from these funds are not held centrally and therefore there is a degree of overlap in the student numbers: students can receive help from both the Childcare and the Discretionary Fund in the same academic year; students are also able to receive help more than once from the same fund; student can receive discretionary funds and also receive the loans and awards reported in the first paragraph. The overlap does not affect amounts.

Academic year 2006-07 is the latest for which data on students supported by SAAS and through the Discretionary and Childcare Funds is available.

Since May 2007, one MP, Anne McGuire, has written once to Transport Scotland about this matter.

On 26 September 2008, Scotland hosted the 11th British Irish Council Summit. We had a very successful meeting attended by ministers from all the member administrations. The focus of the summit included useful discussions on energy, demography and the global economic situation.

As with previous summits, the meeting received progress reports and agreed a plan for future work on the other subjects currently being taken forward by council members. These are drugs; environment; minority and lesser-used languages; transport, and social inclusion.

The council agree to the establishment of a new work stream on Early Years and recognised the valuable work that had been achieved by the work streams on tourism, the knowledge economy, and eHealth and agreed that these three subjects could now be concluded.

I am placing a copy of the communiqu© that was issued by the British Irish Council after the meeting in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46719).

The energy proposal paper has today been lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46568).

The government are grateful to Waterwatch for this report which addresses a number of important issues. As is reflected in our draft statement of the Principles of Charging which was issued in May this year to inform the review of charges for 2010-14, we continue to regard the affordability of household water charges as a significant objective. The present concession for households in receipt of council tax benefit will continue.

The significant efficiency gains made by Scottish Water in recent years has ensured that average household charges in Scotland are rising by less than inflation at a time when above inflation increases have been the norm in England and Wales. Scottish Water''s charges are now the third lowest in the UK and we are confident that this positive trend of improvement will continue during the next charging period of 2010-14.

On the specific issue of social security benefit arrangements, we will make appropriate representations to the UK Government whenever it is in the interests of the people of Scotland.

I am meeting the Lord Advocate to discuss this issue on 4 September 2008.

Our aim is to find a solution which allows inquiries into the deaths of Scottish-based service personnel who are killed abroad to be held in Scotland.

At present, for operational reasons, bodies are returned to RAF airfields in the south of England by the Ministry of Defence. They then automatically become subject to the system of coroners'' inquests in England. Coroners'' inquests into the deaths of Scottish-based personnel killed abroad cannot currently take place in Scotland, and fatal accident inquiries can only investigate deaths occurring in Scotland.

These are difficult legal and policy issues. The Lord Advocate and I will work constructively with the UK Government to resolve them. All of us must remember that the objective is to reduce the stress and anguish for bereaved families in Scotland.

Because of the defence reservation in the Scotland Act, changes in the law would be required on both sides of the border.

Police forces have their own operating procedures in respect of policing issues when dealing with mental health issues, which give guidance to all officers. These cover all relevant legislation. In addition, training on mental health issues is currently provided to police officers both in-force and nationally. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) will shortly publish detailed guidance for officers on a number of diversity issues, including the use of powers contained in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to remove a person to a place of safety.

A Mental Health Act Review Group was set up by Shona Robison, the Minister for Public Health, in January this year. Members of the group are undertaking a limited review of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, which will include engaging with those who operate the act and report back to the Minister for Public Health with recommended changes.

Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 deals with the manufacture, sale, hire, lending and giving of specified offensive weapons. It covers possession only where possession is for the purposes of sale or hire. Section 141 already provides limited defences relating to museums and galleries, and lending by such institutions for cultural, artistic or educational purposes.

Section 60 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 contains amendments to section 141 including new subsections (11A) to (11E) which will provide defences relating to theatre, film and television. It also provides a power in new subsection (11G) for the Scottish ministers to vary the application of section 141 in relation to any description of weapon. That power could be used, if desired, to provide further defences on cultural, sporting or other grounds.

The weapons to which section 141 of the 1998 act applies are set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) (Scotland) Order 2005 and include knuckledusters, swordsticks and butterfly knives. That Order excludes antique weapons.

Section 47 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 1995 places prohibitions on the carrying of offensive weapons but allows the defence of having lawful authority or good reason.

Section 61 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 enables the Scottish ministers to prohibit the manufacture, sale, hire, etc. of swords, and to provide defences for religious, cultural and sporting purposes. No such prohibitions or defences are yet in place. The policy memorandum for the bill made it clear that use relating to historical re-enactment will be recognised as one of the defences. It is not relevant to these provisions whether historical re-enactment is a form of theatre.

However, section 60 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 does refer to theatre, and will provide a new defence in section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 relating to the manufacture, sale, hire, etc. of offensive weapons for the purposes of theatrical performances. Those defences will apply to all offences weapons covered by section 141.

The Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 does not change the law on the carrying of swords or other weapons in public. It is an offence under section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 to have any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed in a public place without good reason or lawful authority. Any individual instance will be a matter for the police, and ultimately the courts, but having a sword for the purpose of historical re-enactment would generally appear to be a good reason. Under section 47 of the same act it is an offence to carry an offensive weapon, which might for example be an axe or pike. Section 47 also includes a defence of “reasonable excuse” which has generally been seen to include historical re-enactment.

Section 61 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007 inserts new section 141ZA into the Criminal Justice Act 1988. It is not yet in force and no orders have been made.