Chamber
Plenary, 28 Oct 2009
28 Oct 2009 · S3 · Plenary
Item of business
Student Support
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for her statement, although I do not fully understand why it has taken more than a year to agree on the distribution of a sum of money that, from the cabinet secretary's evidence to the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee this morning, seems to be a recycling or reallocation of savings from within the existing departmental budget—putting students' money back in their own pockets, as it were.
Could the cabinet secretary clarify the language that she used? She referred to rises of "up to £442" and "up to £622". Can she reassure me that all the 76,000 students identified will receive £442? If not, how many will be affected and how much will they receive?
Could the cabinet secretary clarify the language that she used? She referred to rises of "up to £442" and "up to £622". Can she reassure me that all the 76,000 students identified will receive £442? If not, how many will be affected and how much will they receive?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan):
SNP
The next item of business is a statement by Fiona Hyslop on student support.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning (Fiona Hyslop):
SNP
I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the Parliament announcing the decisions that I have reached on how the Scottish Government intends to impro...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement.
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab):
Lab
I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of her statement.Although I wish to welcome the statement, it must be acknowledged that it is because of t...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
One of the issues for a minority Government is responding to the views of other parties. Following the instructions that we had on 21 May, that is exactly wh...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. The £30 million on offer for student support is, indeed, welcome, although it of course fal...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
This Administration has increased the university funding share of the overall budget to 3.87 per cent in 2010-11, compared with the position inherited from t...
Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD):
LD
I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of her statement.For many months, the shared goal of the Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party, the Conserva...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The member makes an important point about the £2 million child care fund, on which we will obviously make progress as soon as possible. However, she must rec...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
SNP
If we can have short, focused questions, I will be able to get everyone in.
Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
The SNP Government came to power with the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. Today, Labour c...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
It is recognised that tuition fees have not been welcomed in Scotland. Indeed, the abolition of the back-end tuition fee through the abolition of the graduat...
Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab):
Lab
Like others, I welcome the cabinet secretary's announcement. I am pleased that she has responded to representations from Opposition parties and the NUS and w...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The independent universities and colleges are responsible for their own funding streams but, as Karen Whitefield will be aware, the Scottish Further and High...
Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
Page 9 of the cabinet secretary's statement says that she accepts "that the system of student grants and loans should now be examined more closely, to see wh...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
Although we are investing an additional £30 million for 2010-11, Elizabeth Smith will be aware that we are moving into a new spending review period and that ...
Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD):
LD
The minister is aware that Scottish students who study courses in England that are unavailable in Scotland are hit not only because they have to pay tuition ...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
Mike Rumbles has pursued the issue previously. Loans are available to help Scottish students to fulfil the tuition fee obligations that they have in England....
Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
What are the principles behind supporting independent students, who are a group that has never previously had direct financial support? What benefits will su...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
As I mentioned, the UCAS figures show that the number of independent students going to university reduced in previous years but has now increased. Financial ...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab):
Lab
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for her statement, although I do not fully understand why it has taken more than a year to agree on the distribution of a...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
Ken Macintosh perhaps misunderstood the comments that were made at the committee this morning—£30 million has been earmarked for student support from the sta...
Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
As the cabinet secretary said, we are now in the worst recession for a generation. Can she detail and confirm the support available to the universities and c...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The announcement today is about support for individual students, but in the university sector we have already introduced measures such as the ILA 500, which ...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab):
Lab
I, too, welcome the minister's statement, particularly with regard to the progress that has been made on support for poorer students. Further to Karen Whitef...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
We have increased the hardship funds in response to the demands that were being placed on them. The fact that there has been an increase of 17 per cent in th...