Nigel Don MSP
Dear Mhairi
Thanks for your letter to Nigel. He has asked me to reply.
We think that the furore about graduate debt has obscured the very good things which we did deliver. The Bill to abolish the graduate endowment is in Parliament, we will begin the transition from loans to grants for part time students in 2009/10, and funding for higher education will grow 11.5 per cent in cash terms over the spending review period. In fact, Scotland’s Universities will receive a bigger share of Government spending than at any point over the last eight years.
So you don’t have to convince us that the Universities are crucial to Scotland’s future – we agree with you.
Best wishes
Jimmy Black
Researcher, Nigel Don MSP