Chamber and committees

The latest year for which the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) hold official data on full-time student numbers is 2014-15.

The number of college student enrolments on full-time recognised qualifications is published by the SFC in the National Statistics publication ‘College Performance Indicators’.

In 2014-15 there were over 79,000 full-time students at Scotland’s colleges – 16.5% more than in 2006-07. Over the last Parliament we maintained the commitment we made in 2011 – to deliver 116,000 Full-time Equivalent college places. We will continue this commitment, focused on purposeful, job-focused learning.

In October, the Scottish Government published its Fairer Scotland Action Plan, which contains 50 concrete actions the government will take in this parliamentary term to tackle poverty and inequality. This is a cross-Scotland plan, based on 200 Fairer Scotland conversations held across the country. This plan will provide a range of support to people, no matter where they live – for example, on tackling the poverty premium, helping low income parents with a range of support, addressing discrimination in employment, and promoting flexible working.

In terms of SIMD specifically, it is an area based measure for identifying people and households that are deprived, therefore an area which is identified as in the 20% most deprived will identify those individuals and households living in that area. SIMD identifies deprivation issues across the whole country.

Whilst the 20% most deprived areas for Scotland are commonly used in inequality analysis, this is only one way to look at deprivation in Scotland. Not all households experiencing deprivation live in the most deprived areas and likewise not every household living within a more deprived area experiences deprivation.

Therefore, Scottish Government policies are based on a wide range of resources to identify issues associated with poverty and deprivation. The SIMD team will be delivering training to policy and research analysts across all public sector organisations, including those in the Scottish Parliament, to use the full extent of information from SIMD and other government statistics in evidence gathering.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation uses reliable administrative data sources to identify relative deprivation across the whole of Scotland, not just areas commonly associated with poverty. Any planned changes to SIMD are recommended by the ‘Measuring Deprivation Advisory Group’, which is a group of experts from academia, local government, NHS and other services. The income aspects of SIMD relies on benefits and tax credits data from the Department of Work and Pensions and HMRC. The current limitations on sharing data with these UK government departments means it is not possible to look more closely at households' personal financial circumstances.

An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was conducted as part of the policy review process that led to this increase. Going forward, it will be refreshed as required to assess the on-going impact of the new policy and to take into account any relevant matters, such as further increases in the state pension age. In addition, the Programme for Government commitment to review the entire system of student support to make sure that it is fair and effective, will look at student loans and will include an EQIA.

The Scottish Government consulted a number of independent organisations, including Universities Scotland, NUS Scotland and the Scottish Older Person’s Assembly.

The Scottish Government took a wide range of evidence into account when considering its policy in this area including data from the Student Awards Agency Scotland, the Student Loan Company, and the Higher Education Statistics Agency. In addition, labour market and population data, the age cap policies in place elsewhere in the UK, the estimated cost to the Scottish Government of any change to the age cap, the findings of the EQIA and changes to the state pension and retirement age, were also considered.

Having a policy which contains a blanket rule, such as an age cap, is justifiable under the European Convention of Human Rights, provided that it is shown to be a rational and proportionate response to a particular aim of the policy.

The Scottish Government is satisfied that setting an age cap of 60 in relation to student maintenance loans is a rational and proportionate way to meet the aim of providing a student support system which is balanced and sustainable.

There are numerous reasons which contribute to recruitment and retention challenges in such areas of Scotland, and actions and solutions require the sustained and combined efforts of the Scottish Government, NHS boards, Medical schools and Medical Royal Colleges.

Providing a quality, sustainable health service is one of the Scottish Government’s top priorities, and the National Clinical Strategy provides the strategic framework for transformational change in the NHS over the next 10-15 years, based upon providing services around the needs of local communities; supporting people to manage their own conditions; working in multidisciplinary teams and restructuring how our hospitals can best serve the people of Scotland. It follows that the restructuring of service provision must drive the future workforce requirement, and workforce planning must adapt to better match our workforce capacity to overall demand in a sustainable and affordable way taking into account of the skill sets required.

In the short to medium term, there are a range of actions already being taken to support NHS boards recruit in remote and rural areas, from abroad, and also to encourage those who trained or worked in NHS Scotland to return and work in the health service. For example, we are supporting the development of flexible networks between rural and urban hospitals. This can be seen by the reciprocal surgeon rotation between Belford Hospital and Edinburgh or NHS Highland and Caithness. NHS boards can also use either the UK or the Scotland specific Shortage Occupation List to permits recruit from abroad where evidence of shortages exists, and we are regularly reviewing these lists to ensure boards can use these where the need exists. In terms of a more sustainable medical workforce, we have increased by 50 the SG-funded medical school places from 2016, and announced Scotland’s first graduate entry medical programme with 40 additional places starting from August 2018. The aims of these initiatives are to boost future supply, but also to increase the amount of time spent learning in remote and rural settings as such experience may help influence future career choices.

Consultant numbers in NHS Scotland are at a record high, with 5,202.3 WTE in place - a 43.1% increase under this Government.

While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each NHS board to plan its workforce to meet the needs of its population.

We are fully committed to providing sustainable, high quality patient-centred services in remote and rural areas, ensuring that care is delivered as close to the patient as possible when appropriate. That is why we are supporting the development of flexible networks between rural and urban hospitals.

Patient safety is, and will remain, paramount. We have committed to placing our innovative workforce planning tools on a statutory footing to ensure safe and sustainable staffing levels, including within remote and rural areas. Work will begin this year to consult with stakeholders on how best to take forward our commitment.

Eligible students on the MSc in Educational Psychology at Strathclyde or Dundee Universities can apply for a total support package of £7,900 for each year of their course. This support package comprises a £3,400 postgraduate tuition fee loan and a £4,500 living cost loan. The MSc in Educational Psychology is the only two year full-time postgraduate course in Scotland for which eligible students receive this funding for both years. Postgraduate students can also apply for financial support from the Discretionary Funds at the higher education institution at which they study.

Students may also be eligible for a Professional and Career Development Loan to help pay for vocational training leading to employment in the UK or EU. This bank loan can cover up to two years of learning and can be between £300 and £10,000.