Question reference: S5W-36017
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any (a) updated reports it has received from institutions regarding the allocation of the Higher Education Discretionary Fund and (b) information it has received in relation to (i) demand and (ii) justifications for applications.
Answer
Further analysis of spending on the 2020-21 Higher Education Discretionary Fund is due to be undertaken at the end of this financial year. Officials will arrange to share this with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre once the information is available from the sector. This analysis will show the current demand on the Fund.
There are no plans to ask the sector to provide additional interim information concerning the specific reasons behind individual applications from students. That would place further administrative pressures on college and university staff at what is an extremely busy time for them. That level of information will form part of the annual returns from universities and colleges which is scheduled for the end of October.