Chamber and committees

It is critical for the future success of this global industry in Scotland, both that the industry remains competitive and that Scotland remains a competitive place in which to do business. Accordingly, the aim of the scorecard approach is to develop a range of measures, which taken together, will provide insight into the international position of the industry. The scorecard is not an end in itself but a mechanism through which we can gain a better understanding of the underlying competitiveness of the industry in Scotland and its relative performance across a number of key measures. These measures will be agreed by the Financial Services Advisory Board following a review of existing practice in this area and the availability of appropriate measures both domestically and internationally.

The Executive’s comments on the European Commission’s Green Paper, Confronting Demographic Change: a new solidarity between the nations will be fed into the UK Government’s response. The European Commission’s normal practice is to publish any documents which it receives on its website

We are currently considering the issues raised in the green paper, and will be feeding our comments into the UK Governments response.

The Executive’s current activities to promote Fresh Talent overseas do not include attendance at any careers events in the United States of America. However, the Executive did have a stand within the Scottish Village in New York during Tartan Week, and this provided information about the Fresh Talent Initiative and was staffed by officials from the Fresh Talent team.

The Executives current activities to promote Fresh Talent overseas have included attendance at two careers fairs in Poland in March 2005.

The Executives current activities to promote Fresh Talent overseas do not include attendance at any careers events in Canada.

The Executives current activities to promote Fresh Talent overseas do not include attendance at any careers events in Australia.

I refer the member to the answersto question S2W-16063 on 27 April 2005. 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.

The Fresh Talent: Working inScotland scheme will enable non-EEA nationals who havesuccessfully completed an HND, degree course, Masters or PhD at a Scottish universityor college to apply to stay in Scotland for upto two years after completing their studies to seek and take work without requiringa work permit. We are intending to launch the scheme in summer 2005. Students arenot able to apply for the scheme until it is launched.

The data held by the Scottish Executive are obtained from a voluntary survey of leavers from full-time courses atScottish higher education institutions which is conducted for the Higher EducationStatistics Agency (HESA). The survey is conducted around six months after graduation.At present there are no follow-up surveys at longer intervals after graduation.

The survey covers all studentsof nationalities within the European Union who have successfully completed theircourse.

The table gives the percentagesof responding graduates from Scottish higher education institutions who were employedin Scotland six months after graduating, for the years 1998-99 to2002-03.

As the survey is voluntary, notall graduates respond. However, response rates are quite high, ranging between 76%and 84% in the period 1998-99 to 2002-03. Estimates of the numbers of graduatesin permanent and temporary employment in Scotland have been calculated on the assumption that those whodo not respond are as likely to be in employment in Scotland as thosewho do respond. The estimates should, therefore, be treated with some caution.

First Destination ofGraduates from Higher Education Institutions by Level of Qualification Obtained:1998-99 to 2002-03

Year	Permanent Employment in Scotland (% of Respondents)	Temporary Employment in Scotland (% of Respondents)	Numbers of Graduates1	Estimated Number in Permanent Employment in Scotland2	Estimated Number in Temporary Employment in Scotland2
Total
1998-99	36	10	38,800	13,950	3,900
1999-2000	36	11	42,310	15,250	4,650
2000-01	38	11	41,730	15,850	4,600
2001-02	35	18	44,105	15,450	7,950
2002-03	38	17	44,350	16,850	7,550
Postgraduate
1998-99	37	10	10,615	3,950	1,050
1999-2000	38	12	12,870	4,900	1,550
2000-01	40	12	12,110	4,850	1,450
2001-02	20	46	12,520	2,500	5,750
2002-03	30	38	13,595	4,100	5,150
First Degree
1998-99	33	11	24,930	8,250	2,750
1999-2000	35	12	25,630	8,950	3,100
2000-01	36	11	25,905	9,350	2,850
2001-02	35	15	26,260	9,200	3,950
2002-03	37	15	25,950	9,600	3,900
Sub Degree
1998-99	64	4	3,260	2,100	150
1999-00	47	5	3,810	1,800	200
2000-01	59	5	3,710	2,200	200
2001-02	53	4	5,325	2,800	200
2002-03	56	6	4,805	2,700	300

Source: Higher Education StatisticsAgency.

Notes:

1. Numbers have been roundedto the nearest five. Numbers may not sum to totals exactly due to rounding.

2. Numbers have been roundedto the nearest 50. Numbers may not sum to totals exactly due to rounding.

More information on graduatesfrom higher education courses and their destinations can be found in the Scottish Executive publication available at the following website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00388-00.asp.