Tavish Scott, former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and MSP for Shetland, has learned that the Scottish Government did not consult with students, colleges or universities before introducing damaging changes to the student travel regime.

Tavish Scott MSPThe Scottish Government moved from a travel expenses grant scheme to a loan based system that does not take into account how far the student is travelling from.

Mr Scott has been contacted by students in Shetland who have lost travel expenses support. He raised this with the Scottish Government who confirmed that no consultation took place on this major change affecting students across rural and remote areas of Scotland.

In a letter to Mr Scott, Education Secretary Mike Russell said “there was no requirement to consult, rather Ministers decided to press ahead on the basis that overall, the change represented a better deal for students.”

However, this claim has been disputed by students who have seen their outgoings increase due to the changes.

Commenting, Mr Scott said:

“The Minister is choosing to ignore figures which tell the full story of students trying to manage on a tight budget.

“The system has changed from a travel grant of around £300 plus three return trips to a maximum loan increase of £350. How can most students be better off under this new system?

“Take my constituency of Shetland for example. I fail to see how the average payment to a Shetland student in 2009/2010 can be £395 when the Scottish average was £643 in the same year. The figures simply don’t make sense.

“The same must true up and down the country for students who attend universities many miles and many train, boat and plane journeys away from home.

“It is shocking that the Minister thought he could just change student support without any sort of consultation. Students are now being faced with increased costs at a time when they can least afford it.

“This, along with their cut to college funding that threatens 9000 places across the county, is just further evidence that the SNP is making the wrong choices when it comes to Scotland’s students.

“I have written to the Minister again to ask him to address my points in more detail.

“The Government keeps insisting that these changes will result in more money in students’ pockets but their promises amount to nothing more than magic beans.”