Chamber and committees

Using information from the Student Awards Agency Scotland and the School Leaver Destination Returns report, Skills Development Scotland can identify those who are no longer receiving student support but have not completed their degree. Leavers are also tracked by the universities themselves.

In the 2015-16 letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning emphasised the importance of retention and the need to ensure that the higher education sector makes more effective use of data to track student progress.

A new student support package was introduced for academic year 2013-14. The new package included an annual minimum income of £7,250, through a combination of bursaries and loans, for students with a family income of less than £17,000 and a revised minimum student loan amount for all eligible students. Expansion in the amount of money available to all students through loan resulted in an increase in overall lending during the first year of operation.

In 2014-15, the minimum loan amount has increased by a further £250. Factors such as increase or decrease in loan uptake and/or increase in student numbers make it difficult to provide exact figures on future total lending.

The Scottish Government has worked with Edinburgh University on the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime since 1998, including providing some funding to support analysis and reporting. More recently, we are engaging with the university to attempt to gain a better understanding of the educational attainment and outcomes of that cohort of young people and we will continue to work to develop this in the forthcoming year.

Information on the number of patients with primary immune deficiency expected to travel to Newcastle is not held centrally, however one young adult patient has been reviewed by the paediatric immunology team at Newcastle.

NHS Lothian has never ran a full immunology service directly. A limited clinical service was provided in Lothian by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) until the immunology consultant retired in 2009.

It is NHS Lothian’s ambition to transfer all of the immunology service from SNBTS over the next few months, and to provide a more robust clinical service for patients in Lothian and the wider region (in collaboration with neighbouring health boards), supported by a laboratory service. NHS Lothian has agreed to run the laboratory and has advertised for a Clinical Lead to manage the service. NHS Lothian is also currently recruiting a consultant immunologist.

In the meantime, NHS Lothian has approached the immunology service in Newcastle to discuss a short term visiting service to ensure that Lothian patients are seen by someone with the relevant expertise.

Information on the number of children registered with local authorities to receive their early learning and childcare entitlement is published annually in December.

We expect all local authorities to have enough places available, either in council nurseries or with partner providers, to accommodate the estimated number of children who will take up their early learning and childcare entitlement in the new school term.

The current Scottish Government supports students by providing free tuition and ensuring that any debt accrued for living costs is sustainable. Aside from free tuition, eligible Scottish domiciled students can access a support package featuring bursaries and loans. The ability to access a student loan provides choice in how living costs are met. This Scottish Government would intend to continue with the existing student support package after independence.

Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the collection of student loan repayments is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments.

Should the people of Scotland vote for independence, the collection of student loan repayments is a matter that will form part of transitional discussions between the Scottish and UK governments.