Chamber and committees

As I said in my earlier reply the reconfiguration proposals from NHS Greater Glasgow are subject to my approval. In coming to a view I will need to consider the adequacy of the public consultation and the substantive proposals – in particular the consistency of the proposed reorganisation with national policy on the organisation of maternity services.

The Executive recognises the need to see further improvements in levels of retention in further and higher education institutions. Scotland’s retention rates for higher education compare well with other countries, with a completion rate of 83% compared to the OECD average of 77%. In relation to further education, the overall retention rate is 85%.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council currently monitors access and retention strategies through consideration of institutions’ strategic plans and reports on progress through a circular letter. It also discusses progress with higher education institutions through a programme of institutional visits. Both Further and Higher Education Funding Councils also monitor the annual performance figures on retention rates for colleges and higher education institutes and actively engage with institutions which appear to be underperforming in this area.

The Executive is also active in developing better collaboration between schools, colleges, Scottish Enterprise and careers guidance with a view to reducing the possibility of learners entering colleges and universities with misplaced aspirations.

The Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council recognise the additional cost of teaching students from non-traditional backgrounds and provide additional funding to support retention and completion from these groups.

The Executive is committed to ensuring that everyone has the chance to learn regardless of their background or current personal circumstances.

In support of our policy of widening participation in further and higher education, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council have put in place a range of measures designed to maximise participation. These include, help with fees for part-time students, child care funding, extra funding to colleges and higher education institutions to support students with learning difficulties or disabilities, extra funding for further education colleges who operate in remote or island areas of Scotland and a social inclusion premium to help colleges and higher education institutions attract and retain students from the most disadvantaged areas.

In addition the Scottish Executive in 2000 introduced free tuition for eligible Scottish domiciled students studying in Scotland and since 2001-02 have provided bursaries to young students from low income families to reduce the amount of debt they accrue during their studies.

Information on the full range of wider access grants can be found in the respective main grant letters to the HE and FE sectors. These are available at:

http://www.sfefc.ac.uk/library/fe1604 and http://www.shefc.ac.uk/library/he1004.

The councils are undertaking a root and branch review of widening access to both further and higher education which will report by the end of the year. This is being chaired by Professor Jim McGoldrick, a member of SHEFC. This group has membership from the HE sector, the FE sector, the NUS, Scottish Enterprise, and a local authority director of education.

The introduction of the Young Student’s Bursary in 2001-02 will help ensure that young students from low income backgrounds, who are more likely to be discouraged from applying to university because of fear of debt, will have less debt than they would have had under the previous support arrangements.

A survey of Scottish students’ income and expenditure has been commissioned to provide us with an accurate picture of the financial position of students to inform future policy development.

The Executive is supporting a significant number of community access and demand responsive bus projects, both in rural areas and in Scotland’s cities.

I would expect Greater Glasgow NHS Board to ensure that high quality care is delivered on all hospital sites in any reconfiguration of maternity services.

NHS Greater Glasgow’s proposals for the reconfiguration of maternity services include a proposal for the recruitment of two additional neonatal consultants in order to ensure neonatal support for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-8366 on 15 June 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

During the debate on the Acute Services Review (Glasgow) on 12 September 2002, I supported a commitment from Greater Glasgow NHS Board that a review of the accident and emergency services would take place in two years time involving staff, patient and community groups, Glasgow Health Council and the Scottish Royal Colleges. This will take place over the summer and the outcome of that review will be reported to the NHS board for consideration in the autumn. The review will focus on the robustness and appropriateness of the decision relatingto accident and emergency services in Glasgow and will test if the decision taken by the NHS board in 2002 remains appropriate.

Plans for the reconfigurationof maternity services in Glasgow include a proposal for the relocation of extra‑corporeallife support services (ECLS) from the Queen Mother’s Maternity Hospital to thePrincess Royal Maternity Hospital.