Further to my response on to the answer to question S4W-29739 on 24 February 2016, we (Scottish Government officials) have begun early modelling work as a precursor to the policy development to be undertaken by the group. The group will meet once this is completed and a draft timetable will be developed and agreed by members as part of the terms of reference.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government welcomes Ofcom’s initial conclusions to the Strategic Review of Digital Communications. We believe they represent a positive step in improving digital communications in Scotland and are pleased that Ofcom intends to act upon a number of key issues on which we made direct representation. Ofcom’s conclusions did not specifically address the call we made for more extensive regional market analysis. I have asked Ofcom to consider this aspect as part of its work plan for the coming year, and we intend to follow up on this specific point with them in the coming weeks.

COSLA’s position on deposit return is a matter for COSLA.

As I set out in my previous response, there have been no formal discussions with COSLA specifically concerning deposit return systems. The potential impact on local authorities from deposit return is one of the issues I identified for further exploration in my announcement on 30 December 2015.

The responses to the Consultation on Provisions for a Future Islands Bill were published on 25 February 2016. The responses are currently being independently analysed. Once this is complete, the findings will help inform the development of a draft Bill.

Decisions on the introduction of a future Bill will be for the next Scottish Government to determine following the Scottish parliamentary elections in May 2016.

In 2012-13, the original maximum budget available to meet the Resource Accounting and Budget charge for providing student loans (excluding the Spring Budget Revision in readiness for the sale of the mortgage style student loan book) was £88.4 million.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the higher education sector, and with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. The 2016-17 draft budget allocation of over £1 billion was described in December 2015 by the Convenor of Universities Scotland, the representative body of all Scotland’s 19 higher education institutions, as “a good outcome in a time of severe financial challenges”. He went on to add that Universities Scotland “welcome the commitments expressed by Scottish Government to continuing support for an excellent, internationally competitive and widely accessible university sector”.

The Scottish Government has invested over £4 billion in the higher education sector over the last four years and, notwithstanding a very tough budget round, will continue to invest over £1 billion in our higher education institutions in 2016-17, ensuring that institutions receive financial support to enable them to deliver high quality teaching, world class research and knowledge exchange.

The Scottish Government is firmly committed to achieving its ambition that every child, whatever their socio-economic background, should have an equal chance of attending university. The letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council makes clear that there should be no diminution in efforts to widen access and our expectation that progress should be reflected in continued improvements in national measures. It is also important to recognise that there are a range of barriers and issues that affect access, many of which are not related to finance. The Scottish Government established the Commission on Widening Access to identify such issues and advise us on the steps necessary to drive further and faster progress.

The Scottish Government has invested over £4 billion in the higher education sector over the last four years and, notwithstanding a very tough budget round, will continue to invest over £1 billion in our higher education institutions in 2016-17, ensuring that institutions receive financial support to enable them to deliver high quality teaching, world class research and knowledge exchange.

The Scottish Funding Council confirmed in their indicative funding allocations to universities for academic year 2016-17 (published 19 February 2016) that funding for core research, through the Research Excellence Grant and the Research Postgraduate Grant, would be maintained at the same level as in academic year 2015-16 (£231.8 million and £34.6 million respectively). In addition, the Scottish Funding Council is continuing to provide substantial strategic funding for research and knowledge exchange through its ambitious programme of Innovation Centres, investing up to £120 million over six years (2013-19).

Promoting Scotland’s research strengths in collaboration with the business base is key to maximising opportunities and ensuring impact. The Scottish Government’s continued investment in research and the development and application of higher education research and innovation enables our universities to continue to attract research funding from a range of other sources such as UK Research Councils, Innovate UK, businesses, charities and Europe. As announced in the Scottish budget on 16 December 2015, as part of our next major reform, we will work with all our partners, including the Scottish Funding Council and universities to further align our approach to innovation, to pool funding and to simplify the innovation landscape and access to support.

Universities are autonomous bodies that receive income from a range of public and private sources, including the Scottish Government. Each institution is responsible for operational matters such as budget allocation and staffing.