Chamber and committees

This is an operationalmatter for the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, however Iunderstand that colleges may only apply their SFEFC funding for the purposesintended and must ensure sound financial management arrangements are in placefor the effective stewardship of this money. Misuse of funds by colleges canresult in money being clawed back from colleges by SFEFC.

Colleges’ external auditorsverify that all SFEFC funding has been properly applied.  Confirmation that allexternal auditors have been able to give that assurance is set out in SFEFC’sannual report and accounts.

In addition, colleges alsohave in place internal audit services and arrangements to secure the economic,efficient and effective management of resources. Through internal auditors’annual reports, colleges confirm to SFEFC that these arrangements are in place.

The total spend by the Executive and its agencies on services (rounded to the nearest £100) for the latest three full financial years is as follows.

Financial Year 2002-03: £7,400

Financial Year 2003-04: £4.300

Financial Year 2004-05: £16,900.

In addition, in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 the Executive provided over £1.3 million in core funding to the Met Office. However, as the core business of the Met Office lies largely within areas reserved for the UK Government it was agreed that from 31 March 2004 public expenditure for the majority of services from the Met Office would be transferred to Whitehall.

The Safe City Centres Initiative has undertaken a number of projects in Aberdeen city centre. For example, three car parks attained the Park Mark award under the Safer Parking Award Scheme. The total reported crime incidents in these car parks has reduced significantly compared with the previous year. Due to its success, the initiative intends to extend Park Mark to other city centre sites in the near future. The Safe City Centres co-ordinator was also involved in the application for the dispersal order at Beach Boulevard which has seen a reduction of nearly 13% in nuisance complaints over the last five months. Other initiatives such as car crime awareness schemes, proof of age cards and a retail crime network are also expected to have a positive impact on reducing crime and the fear of crime in Aberdeen city centre in the years ahead.

The Scottish Further andHigher Education Funding Council will continue to fund colleges andinstitutions using the same funding allocation methodologies as SFEFC and SHEFCcurrently use.

As part of SFEFC formulafunding, an additional element is awarded to those colleges which areclassified as “remote”. This remoteness funding recognises the additional costsassociated with operating in remote and sparsely populated areas of Scotland andaims to reflect the additional costs that remote colleges necessarily bear.

This is an operationalmatter for the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, however Iunderstand that funding allocations willcontinue to be allocated to colleges and higher education institutions usingthe same funding allocation methodologies as those currently used by SFEFC andSHEFC. Funding allocations are based onunits of resource applied to a fixed level of activity which provides a strongincentive for institutions to be efficient. If costs are too high thenmanagement must produce efficiencies since the Council will not condone poorquality or volume below target.

I recently wrote to Don TouhigMP, Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans to express concernsat the proposal to close the Met Office’s weather centre in Aberdeen and ask himto take account of the success and expertise of the Aberdeen Office and its uniquegeographical position when final decisions are taken on the future of the Met Officestructure. I have asked to be kept informed of any significant developments andmy officials are also maintaining close contact with their MoD counterparts.

The Strategic Framework for Inshore Fisheries and the Inshore Fisheries Groups which will be established are primarily fisheries management tools. On the basis that the aim is help to develop sustainable inshore fisheries which help to maintain communities while striking a balance between environmental, developmental and social pressures, I envisage that the application of the framework will elicit significant benefits for rural development and the environment.

I am delighted to announce thenew rates of support for students in further and higher education for academic year2005-06. I am today placing in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib.number 35558) details of the rates of those loans, bursaries and grants, which willbe available to eligible undergraduate and postgraduate students in full-time highereducation.

Ageneral uprating factor of 2.5%, in line with inflation, will be applied to theexisting schemes of support in 2005-06, thus maintaining their value in real terms.We are also increasing by the same factor the standard rates of tuition fee paymentsmade to institutions on behalf of eligible students by the Student Awards Agencyfor Scotland.

Thisincrease is consistent with that announced by the Secretary of State for Educationand Skills on 9 December 2004 for English and Welsh domiciled students.

ThePartnership Agreement contained a commitment to review student bursaries with aview to increasing the family income ceiling and review the amount of bursary available.I announced in January that this bursary has been increased by approximately 11% to£2,395 and that the income thresholds have been increased from £10,740 to £17,500for the maximum family income ceiling and from £28,000 to £31,500 for the minimumthreshold, therefore more students will receive the bursary and more will receivethe maximum amount.

The Scottish Further EducationFunding Council (SFEFC) has also agreed to maintain the alignment between the furtherand higher education sectors by, where appropriate, uprating the support availableto further education students by 2.5%. A copy of these rates is also being placedin the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 35558).

I recently decided that the followingservices should be designated as national services with effect from 1 April 2005:

the Paediatric Spinal SurgicalService, provided at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, but in close consultationwith Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow to ensure the best pre- and post-operative managementof the children requiring such surgery;

Paediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation,provided at Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow;

a National Managed Clinical Networkfor pancreatic/hepatobiliary cancer, and

a National Managed Clinical Networkfor Paediatric Renal Medicine.

These services provide highlyspecialised treatment for small numbers of patients, and therefore meet the criteriaestablished by the National Services Advisory Group (NSAG) for designation eitheras a national service or as a national Managed Clinical Network. The NSAG recommendationswere endorsed by NHS Board Chief Executives, who have agreed that the funding forthese services can be taken from their general allocations. In the case of nationalManaged Clinical Networks, the funding relates to the administrative and IT supportrequired by the Network, not to the full cost of providing the service.

This is an operational matter for the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, however, I understand that funding is based on a units of resource applied to a fixed target of activity. This provides a strong incentive for institutions to be efficient. If costs are too high then management must produce efficiencies since the Council will not condone poor quality or volume below target.