Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-24400

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many students in 2013-14 in each of the lower income brackets claimed the relevant rate of Young Students Bursary, and how many claimed (a) the full and (b) a smaller amount of loan.

The following table shows how many students from each of the lower income brackets received the Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) in 2013-14.

Full-time undergraduate students 2013-14 receiving YSB support	Number of students
All	32,930
No income or income not declared/required	655
Up to £16,999	16,675
£17,000 to £23,999	7,570
£24,000 to £33,9999	8,025

23,065 of these students were assessed for the a) maximum loan available with 1,775 claiming less than the b) maximum loan available to them. 8,090 of the students did not apply for any loan.

Question reference: S4W-24404

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the average claim for Independent Students Bursary in 2013-14 was lower than the flat-rate grant available.

The bursary entitlement is assessed using the household income. If final evidence shows a difference in the original income declared, this may lead to an original bursary entitlement having to be revised. Any additional paid amount a student was not entitled to may be recovered as an overpayment. This could result in more or less bursary.

If a student withdraws after the fee cut-off date, they will be entitled to a pro-rata amount of bursary for the time they were in attendance. If a student withdraws before the fee cut-off date and received a balance of bursary for their time in attendance, we may deduct the amount they received from any future bursary entitlement.

Question reference: S4W-24402

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many students in 2013-14 in each of the lower income brackets claimed the relevant rate of Independent Students Bursary, and how many claimed (a) the full and (b) a smaller amount of loan.

The following table shows how many students from each of the lower income brackets received the Independent Students’ Bursary (ISB) in 2013-14.

Full-time undergraduate students 2013-14 receiving ISB support	Number of students
All	17,400
No income or income not declared/required	11,900
Up to £16,999	5,440
£17,000 to £23,999	45
£24,000 to £33,9999	15

14,780 of these students were assessed for the a) maximum loan available with 300 claiming less than the b) maximum loan available to them. 2,620 of the students did not apply for any loan.

Question reference: S4W-24401

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many students in 2013-14 received a total package of Young Students Bursary plus loan support worth £7,250.

Question reference: S4W-24405

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it calculated the figures set out at paragraph 108 of the Education and Culture Committee's report on the draft budget for 2013-14.

The table at paragraph 108 shows an estimate of the number of students who would be eligible for each level of bursary payment under the new student support system.

This was drawn from analysis conducted in 2011-12, which used Student Awards Agency Scotland data drawn from the application process showing students by status (e.g. young or independent); their household income levels and compared this to the proposed thresholds for different levels of bursary.

Question reference: S4W-24403

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many students in 2013-14 received a total package of Independent Students Bursary plus loan support worth £7,250.

Question reference: S4F-02610

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2015

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to allow schools to delay the implementation of the new advanced higher qualifications.

Question reference: S4O-03900

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 14 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the worst performing NHS boards to meet the referral to treatment targets for psychological treatments including tier 2 child and adolescent mental health services.

The Scottish Government provides support to all NHS boards, including those that will not meet the target, through the Quality and Efficiency Support Team, through the quarterly Psychological Therapies Implementation and Monitoring Group which represents a wide range of stakeholders, and through the creation of a Health Improvement, Efficiency Access and Treatment leads network to facilitate the sharing of good practice.

Question reference: S4F-02508

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2015

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on reports that it has abandoned its policies to protect teacher numbers and reduce class sizes.

Question reference: S4O-03832

Current Status: Withdrawn