§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an estimate of the number of students in Scotland presently living away from home who would be liable to pay a community charge if the scheme outlined in the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd. 9714) was in operation.
§ Mr. RifkindPrecise information in the form requested is not available. In 1984–85 it is estimated that some 52,000 students in further and higher education in Scotland (not including students domiciled in Scotland who were not in receipt of an award from the Scottish Education Department) were living outside the parental home. Some of these, however, would be under the age of 18 and would not be liable for the community charge: the form of liability for community charge payment of346W others living in communal accommodation will shortly be the subject of consultation with interested bodies, along with other operational aspects of the proposed new system.