Chamber and committees

Scotland is the only country in the UK which directly funds taught postgraduate students. I announced yesterday arrangements for the establishment of a pilot initiative in academic year 2009-10 which will benefit up to 150 part-time postgraduate students studying at Scottish universities. This will be the first time that student support will be available for part-time study at this level.

Over the last year the funding available to taught postgraduate students in Scottish universities has been under review. I will make an announcement on any longer term changes in due course.

I also announced yesterday the expansion of the Career Development Loans (CDL) scheme in Scotland from September 2009. The loan funding available will also be made more flexible. This will treble the number of learners able to benefit from CDLs in Scotland from around 1,200 each year to up to 3,600 by 2010. The majority of these new loans are likely to be taken up by taught postgraduate students. CDLs also enable people to undertake second degrees, providing financial support towards tuition fees and other costs. There are similar changes being proposed in England.

People doing second degrees on a part-time basis may be separately eligible for the part-time grant (ILA500).

The table below shows all modern apprenticeships starts entered to Skills Development Scotland''s Management Information system between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2008.

	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Total
MA Starts	20,649	21,349	20,266	16,930	15,772	94,966

 

For more detailed breakdowns of these numbers, I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-21436 through to S3W-21443 on 9 March 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Between May 2007 and last month there have been 152 schools either newly rebuilt or significantly refurbished.

The Scottish Government has invested over £11 million to date in a range of diversionary projects for young people. This represents £2.5 million to the Scottish Football Association, £3 million to YouthLink, £1.4 million to Scottish Rugby Union, £1.7 million to BasketballScotland, £2m to the Sports Facilities Fund and £0.6 million to Arts and Business Scotland. More announcements will follow. So far over 100,000 young people have participated in CashBack for Communities activities and tens of thousands more will benefit over the coming year.

Any release of beavers into the wild would require a licence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended. In advising ministers on any such licence, Scottish Natural Heritage would consider the potential effects on any special area of conservation and that consideration would be reflected in recommendations for conditions to be attached to the licence.

On 5 March Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister, announced that the Scottish Government was undertaking a police force projection study. We intend to publish the results within the next few weeks.

The Scottish Government is implementing the recommendations of the review of the arrangements for preventing, detecting and prosecuting wildlife crime Natural Justice. Revitalising the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime and strengthening law enforcement in this area will have a beneficial effect on birds of prey, which historically have been subject to significant levels of criminal activity.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on improvements to legislative protection which could be achieved by extending Schedules 1A and A1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to provide year-round protection for nesting sites and protection from harassment for specified birds, including some birds of prey of high conservation value.

The Scottish Government has also classified the following Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the EU Wild Birds Directive for birds of prey since May 2007: Renfrewshire Heights (classified December 2007 for breeding hen harrier), Strath Carnaig and Strath Fleet Moors (classified July 2008 for breeding hen harrier) and an extension to the Orkney Mainland Moors SPA (classified in July 2008 for breeding hen harrier and short-eared owl as well as for breeding red-throated diver).

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21044 on 10 March 2009. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Informal guidance from the European Commission has clarified their view that small populations of an animal species introduced deliberately or accidentally by man to locations to which they would not have spread naturally in the foreseeable future, should be considered to be outside their natural range. Consequently, any animals released in this way would not be covered by the provisions in domestic legislation which implement the strict protection measures specified in Article 12 of the Habitats Directive and which apply to species identified in Annex IV of the Directive including the beaver (castor fiber).

The Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Society plan to release beavers is subject to a licence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. An appropriate assessment of the proposals undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH as a result of which, and on the advice of SNH, the licence includes a number of conditions intended to safeguard significant environmental interests including those which relate to the interests of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).