Chamber and committees

Based on information on background income, student characteristics, course type and study location, it is estimated that in academic year 2007-08 around 20,800 students were eligible for the maximum young student''s bursary (YSB).

This estimate is based on funding rules for 2007-08 and includes all students who were receiving the maximum YSB payment of £2,510.

This information is not held centrally. University provided student accommodation is under the control of individual institutions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-08248 on 29 October, which is available on the Parliament''s website and can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1029-02.htm#Col20691.

Through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, we are financially supporting at a cost of some £8.6 million, an estimated 10 percent increase in the number of students entering Scottish higher education this year. By accepting some 3,000 additional students, Scottish universities have used the flexibilities in our higher education system to respond positively to increased demand for places during the current economic downturn.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1008-01.htm.

Applications for support by Scottish students are being dealt with within published target times by both the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Student Loans Company Limited. Scottish students are not experiencing delays that have been reported elsewhere in the UK. It is not possible to say how many students have not yet received their loan since the situation changes by the hour. There are several reasons why students may not as yet have received a loan payment. These include cases in which students may have applied less than 28 days before the start of their courses, have completed their applications incorrectly or have not supplied necessary supporting information.

Each year the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) funds a number of places in universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs), expressed as full-time equivalents (FTE).

The following table shows the number of funded places for undergraduates and taught postgraduates at Scottish HEIs for the last three academic years.

	Funded Places
Academic Year	(FTEs)
2009-10	130,799
2008-09	130,238
2007-08	127,788

Source: Scottish Funding Council.

The SFC will announce funded student places for academic year 2010-11 in March 2010.

Systems for assessing and paying student support in Scotland are different to those in the rest of the UK. The Student Awards Agency for Scotland is delivering its normal levels of service and is processing applications within its published targets. Where delays occur, these are usually because applications have not been completed correctly or necessary supporting information supplied. The Student Loans Company has also been able to maintain its normal levels of service to Scottish students, with the exception of 39 cases in which an average payment delay of three days occurred due to a technical file transfer issue.

The discretionary funds for both higher and further education are a form of financial assistance paid under the Education (Access Funds) (Scotland) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990/1534). These funds are currently administered in accordance with the Regulations by ministerial determination.

The legislative consequences of replacing discretionary childcare funds with a centralised, demand-led childcare fund would depend on the nature of the proposed changes. If the proposed changes were significant then this may require an amendment to the Regulations. However, if the changes were not significant then an amendment to the Regulations might not be necessary.

We have taken account of the interest also shown in this issue by Jamie McGrigor, Bob Doris and Iain Smith. At the last tenancy deposit working group on 1 September the stakeholder members, representing the full range of interests, agreed that a single, national mandatory scheme for safeguarding tenancy deposits was the best way forward. Earlier in the summer the group had defined the criteria for any solution to the issue of unfairly withheld deposits.

The group will meet again in the next couple of months to consider the details of the scheme, the lessons to learn from schemes running in England and Wales and how best to provide for adjudicating disputes. This will allow the scheme to be defined so that the enabling secondary legislation can be prepared and come to Parliament in the spring.