- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total write-off of student loans debt has been since 1999.
Answer
Between financial years 1999-2000and 2005-06, a total of 1,206 Scottish domiciled borrowers have had their loanswritten off by the Student Loans Company, with a total value of £2,394,599.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time is to pay off a student loan debt through the taxation system.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28474 on 6 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many student loan borrowers domiciled in Scotland, now in repayment status, had their payments outweighed by interest charged on their loans in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer
When considered in real terms,no student loan borrower in any stage of repayment will have payments outweighedby interest charged on their loans.
Thereal rate of interest on student loans is zero, as the interest charge simply coversinflation. Therefore, any repayment made, no matter how small, would always resultin a borrower owing less in real terms.
If no repayments were made, theborrower would still owe the same amount in real terms.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean, (b) mode and (c) median student loan debt is for Scottish borrowers who ceased to be students during 2006.
Answer
The following table shows themean, mode and median student loan debt for Scottish borrowers who entered repaymentin 2006:
Student Loan Debt for ScottishDomiciled Borrowers, as at 31 March 2006
| | Student Loan Debt |
| Mode | £4,214 |
| Median | £4,259 |
| Mean | £5,891 |
Source: Student Loans Company.
It should be noted that debtis calculated at the point of entering repayment (i.e. 31 March 2006) ratherthan at the point of graduation. Therefore, the majority of customers who have ceasedto be students in 2006 will not enter repayment until 2007 and we cannot providefigures for these students as yet.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total current outstanding student loan debt is from Scottish borrowers.
Answer
At the end of the 2005-06 financialyear, the total amount outstanding, per the unaudited accounts, for student loansfrom Scottish borrowers is £1.659 billion.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what factors caused the fall in initial entry to degree level courses from 2004 to 2005.
Answer
The factors causing the fallin initial entry to degree level courses between 2003-04 and 2004-05 it are likelyto be complex. The Executive is engaging with the Scottish Funding Council and institutionsto discuss the issue in detail and will take appropriate action in light of thesediscussions.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what factors have caused the fall in the Age Participation Index since 2001-02.
Answer
The fall in the Age ParticipationIndex is likely to have been influenced by a number of factors. The Executive intendsto engage with the Scottish Funding Council and with colleges and universities todiscuss the issue in detail and will take appropriate action in light of these discussions.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has paid to date to the purchasing banks in respect of the student loans sold by HM Treasury in 1998 and 1999 whose borrowers subsequently satisfied one or more of the conditions for having their loans written off.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28454 on 6 October 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning’s statement on 14 September 2006 that “Since devolution alone, the number of Scots entering degree-level studies has increased by 12 per cent” (Official Report, c. 27507) took into account changes made in 2003-04 to the way in which Open University students are recorded.
Answer
The number of Scottish entrantsto degree-level study in Scottish institutions in 1999-2000 was 27,460. The numberin 2004-05 was 30,780, representing a 12 per cent increase. These figures were fromtable 13 of the Scottish Executive National Statistics publication
Students inHigher Education at Scottish Institutions 2004-05, which can be found at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/28100117/16.0For the purposes of this publicationthe Open University is not classed as a Scottish institution. Therefore, the changesmade in 2003-04 to the way in which Open University students are recorded wouldnot have affected the numbers that the Deputy Minister for Enterprise andLifelong Learning was referring to.
The above publication also containsinformation on the number of students at the Open University in Scotland in aseparate table, table 9, which can be found at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/28100117/12.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 6 October 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what sums it has paid to the purchasing banks in each year since 1998 in respect of the student loans sold by HM Treasury in 1998 and 1999 and what obligations were covered by these sums.
Answer
The information requested isgiven in the following table:
| . | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| (£000) Subsidy | (£000) Write Off’s | (£000) Loans Repurchased | (£000) First Loss Claims | (£000) First Loss Repayments | (£000) Adjustment |
| 1998-991 | 6,438 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 6,437 |
| 1999-2000 | 10,754 | 114 | 104 | 1 | 0 | 1,236 | 12,209 |
| 2000-01 | 12,471 | 52 | 83 | 1,596 | 0 | 638 | 14,840 |
| 2001-02 | 8,595 | 93 | 22 | 3,229 | -44 | -551 | 11,344 |
| 2002-03 | 8,610 | 95 | 25 | 2,349 | -108 | -326 | 10,645 |
| 2003-04 | 5,611 | 162 | 95 | 1,495 | -221 | -90 | 7,052 |
| 2004-05 | 5,075 | 193 | 41 | 1,134 | -217 | 999 | 7,225 |
| 2005-06 | 4,712 | 461 | 30 | 1,630 | -289 | 0 | 6,544 |
Note: 1 – Scottish Office Figures.
Column 1 – The subsidy is thepayment made to the purchasing banks to cover the difference between the commercialrate of interest the banks would normally charge and the rate of inflation theyare required to charge by the regulations.
Column 2 – Payments are madeto the purchasing banks for loans which are written off due to age or death.
Column 3 – Shows payments madefor loans which are “repurchased” and returned to the government portfolio for reasonsof permanent disability or being medically unfit for work.
Column 4 - First loss claims,reimburse the purchasing banks for loans which become 24 months or more in arrears,as these loans no longer attract the interest rate subsidy.
Column 5 - First loss repaymentsare deducted from the total Executive payment as loan repayments can still be receivedafter the first loss claim is put in place, i.e. after the bad debt is written off.
Column 6 - Adjustments can bemade to the figures in respect of year-end reconciliations between what has beenpaid by the DfES and the devolved administrations. Adjustments can also be madeto reflect accruals and differences in spend across financial years.
