Monday 26 May 2008

That'll Do Nicely.


Mr Smith thinks there is a law about this situation which is demonstrated very effectively by an issue affecting students and reported in today's press.

"Thousands of Scotland's most talented students have been hit with a shock bill for more than £2000 each as a result of a Scottish Government measure, ironically intended to reduce debt. Some 3000 postgraduates from universities across the country have been told to fork out an immediate £2200 to pay a one-off charge called the graduate endowment - which they had previously been told to pay off at the end of their studies. The demand is an unintended consequence of the scrapping of the graduate endowment fee by the SNP-run Scottish Government. Because the scheme is being wound up, all outstanding debts are being collected by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), which administers the endowment on behalf of the government. In the case of postgraduate students, the debt amounts to £6.6m."

Usually the Law of Unintended Consequences kicks in when politicians don't think things through properly. That seems to be what has happened in this case. Scottish Government climbdown anyone?

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