- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study engineering and technology at Scottish universities were accepted in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students wishing to study engineering and technology atScottish universities were (a) 2,709 in 2004-05, (b) 2,468 in 2005-06, (c) 2,485in 2006-07 and (d) 2,652 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study physics at Scottish universities were accepted in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students wishing to study physics at Scottish universitieswere (a) 265 in 2004-05, (b) 247 in 2005-06, (c) 318 in 2006-07 and (d) 332 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many undergraduate degree places to study chemistry at Scottish universities were accepted by students domiciled in Scotland in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08.
Answer
The number of undergraduatedegree places accepted by students domiciled in Scotland, wishing to study chemistry at Scottish universities were (a) 238 in 2004-05,(b) 251 in 2005-06, (c) 297 in 2006-07 and (d) 298 in 2007-08.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on the competitiveness of Scottish universities if the cap on tuition fees for English universities is removed and how it intends to respond to the findings of any such assessment.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis alert to the possibility that the cap on tuition fees for English universitiesmay be removed. It has assessed a range of information, including an internal reportby the Institute for Fiscal Studies commissioned during the previous administration.This report examines the competitiveness of Scottish universities and was deliveredduring the current administration.
Any review of thecap in England will of course be important to Scottish higher educationinstitutions and the Scottish Government. It is not a foregone conclusion that thecap will be removed or fees increased. We will take an active interest in the reviewand make a more detailed and informed impact assessment, as necessary, based onits outcomes.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make an announcement on its plans to support the upgrading of the telephone exchange on Stronsay to allow it to meet the demand for broadband connections on the island.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis aware of the unfulfilled broadband demand in Stronsay due to capacity issuesat the telephone exchange. We are aiming to deliver an upgrade with BT to this exchangeby the first quarter of 2008, which will resolve the current capacity issues. Allfurther updates will be provided on the
www.broadbandforscotland.co.ukwebsite in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 1 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make an announcement on its plans to support the upgrading of the telephone exchange on Eday to allow it to meet the demand for broadband connections on the island.
Answer
The ScottishGovernment is aware of the unfulfilled broadband demand in Eday due to capacityissues at the telephone exchange. We are aiming to deliver an upgrade with BTto this exchange by the first quarter of 2008, which will resolve the currentcapacity issues. All further updates will be provided on the
www.broadbandforscotland.co.ukwebsite in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 26 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3727 by Stewart Stevenson on the 13 September 2007, whether it will list the ferry routes to be considered by the consultants undertaking the study into the benefits of applying a road equivalent tariff to the fares on ferry routes under the (a) first and (b) third phases of the study.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-5199 on 25 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take account of the potential removal of the cap on tuition fees for English universities when considering the funding settlement for Scottish universities in the comprehensive spending review.
Answer
There is no clearindication yet of what the UK Government’s intentions are in relation to the feecap. While the timescale for any change is also still unclear, it is unlikely toimpact before our consideration of the next spending review in 2009.
We believe that thereis currently broad parity between Scottish universities and those elsewhere in theUK in terms of funding even with the current introductionof variable fees in the rest of the UK.
Any review of thecap in England will of course be important to Scottishhigher education institutions and the Scottish Government and we will take an activeinterest in the review.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4458 by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2007, how it intends to ensure that the needs of science are fully taken account of in the comprehensive spending review.
Answer
Decision-making inthe Spending Review is informed by the Scottish Government’s on-going dialogue witha wide range of stakeholders in the science base. This is supplemented by submissionsfrom the Scottish Funding Council and other partner bodies and by further consultation,including with Whitehall Departments and the Research Councils. In making theirallocations in the Spending Review, ministers will be considering how science-relatedbudgets can help to deliver across all of the Scottish Government’s objectives andhow these budgets can work together optimally on priority areas for science investment.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-4458 by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2007, how it intends to ensure that the science and engineering departments of Scottish universities remain competitive with universities in England if the cap on tuition fees is lifted.
Answer
We believe that thereis currently broad parity between funding for Scottish universities and for thoseelsewhere in the UK. Any review of the cap in England will of course be important to Scottish highereducation institutions and the Scottish Government. We will take an active interestin the review due in 2009 and act to retain competitiveness across all subject disciplines.
