Chamber and committees

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.

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 provides funding, via the Scottish Funding Council, to initiatives such as ‘Back on Course Scotland’ for the provision of advice and guidance for early leavers from higher education. The service is run by the Open University in Scotland.

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.

The Scottish Government also supports a wide range of programmes aimed at helping adults and young people into positive destinations. This includes 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships each year, the Opportunities for All guarantee of a place in employment or training for all 16-19 year olds, a commitment of £5 million in response to Developing the Young Workforce to support Scotland’s education system to connect young people to business more effectively and £88 million (over three years) to support small businesses create youth jobs.

NHS Lothian has never ran an immunology service directly, with services being provided by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS). The board has advised that it intends to transfer all services from SNBTS over the next few months, subject to successful recruitment of a consultant immunologist and a Clinical Lead for the laboratory.

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.