Fiona Hyslop

8 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-476 by Cathy Jamieson on 30 May 2003, what roles the proposed new prisons at Addiewell and Low Moss will play and how many prisoner places will be provided in each.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:</p><p>Each prison will provide about700 cells and be designed in a way which will, so far as practicable, enable themto house all categories of …

4 Sep 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2058 by Peter Peacock on 3 September 2003, how the statement that the timetable for submission by Her Majesty's Government of the next periodic report of the UN Convention on the rights of the child is by 14 March 2008 is consistent with the statemen…

Answer · Peter Peacock: The 14 March 2008timetable for submission of the next periodic report was set by the UNCRC intheir concluding observations on the United Kingdom’s 2nd Report. The committee hasasked the United Kingdom to delay its next report because of the pressure ofother …

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the employment of the 3,500 additional non-teaching staff to provide support for teachers.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The agreement <i>A TeachingProfession for the 21st Century</i> included a commitment to introduce approximatelythe equivalent of 3,500 support staff into schools by 31 March 2004. Authorities have been provided with £50 millionannually from March 2001. It is …

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the implementation of accreditation for prior learning under the McCrone agreement.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Good progress has been madeon making provision for the accreditation of prior learning (APL) as part of the Chartered Teacher programme. The Scottish Executive recently sent to allregistered teachers a leaflet describing the Chartered Teacher programme andthe…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much contact time probationary teachers have had in each local authority area in each of the last five years and what projections have been made for such contact time.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The Teacher Induction Scheme (the scheme), introduced in August 2002, offers probationer teachers a guaranteed one-year teaching post. Under the scheme, probationers have a class commitment of 0.7 full-time-equivalent (FTE), with the remainder of their time a…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether schools considering running supported study or homework classes after the end of the timetabled school day would have a guaranteed right of access to classroom facilities in schools managed under PPP or PFI schemes.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Access to facilities in suchschools out of timetabled school hours is for individual local authorities todetermine within the PPP contract.</p>

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many principal teacher posts have been merged as a result of the implementation of the McCrone agreement.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally. It is a matter for local authorities to determine staffing issues atlocal level.</p>

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been, and will be, carried out into the effects of supported study or homework classes.

Answer · Peter Peacock: In June 2001 the Department forEducation and Skills published a report entitled <i>The Impact of Study Support</i>containing the findings of a longitudinal study carried out by the Quality of EducationCentre at the University of Strathclyde. Four schools in S…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in each local authority area run supported study or homework classes after the timetabled school day.

Answer · Peter Peacock: A breakdown of the number ofschools participating in the Scottish Executive’s Study Support programme at March 2003 is given in thefollowing table. Information on supported study or homework classes funded fromany other source is not held centrally.</p><table…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what measures were put in place to support students and probationary teachers when the post of senior teacher was abolished.

Answer · Peter Peacock: None. There is no requirementfor a particular grade of teacher to be the nominated supporter for student teachersor probationer teachers. Support can be given by all levels of experienced teachingstaff.</p>

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pupils in mainstream education are taking prescribed medication to control or modify their behaviour.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not heldcentrally. Prescription data collected centrally are not patient-specific and donot record the condition for which the medicine has been prescribed.</p>

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many principal teachers of guidance have been employed in each local authority area in each of the last five years and what projections have been made for the employment of such teachers.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Information on the number ofprincipal teachers of guidance employed by local authorities for the last fiveyears is not held centrally. Incomplete data is available from the last teachercensus in 1998 and that is set out in the following table. The teacherwork…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many principal teachers have been employed in each local authority area in each of the last five years and what projections have been made for the employment of such teachers.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The following table gives thehistoric information requested. The teacher workforce planning exercise which iscarried out annually does not include projections of specific grades of teacher.</p><p>Number of PrincipalTeachers (Headcount) by Local Authority</p><…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that principal teachers have the experience and knowledge to carry out quality assurance and monitor effective teaching and learning in each subject area for which they are responsible.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We have recently published, andare in the process of issuing to all teachers, a document <i>Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment for Educational Leaders </i>which forms part of the National Frameworkfor Continuing Professional Development. The document was prep…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on faculty-style departments in secondary schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The agreement <i>A Teaching Professionfor the 21st Century</i> provides for an improved and simplified career structurefor all teachers. The agreement also provides for local negotiation and enhancesthe flexibility to determine staffing issues at local level.…

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether schools are able to offer additional payments to teachers for taking supported learning and homework classes after the timetabled school day.

Answer · Peter Peacock: This is a matter for local authorities.</p>

28 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the McCrone agreement has had on the ability of schools to offer supported study and homework classes after the timetabled school day.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The teachers’ agreement <i>ATeaching Profession for the 21st Century</i> introduced a 35-hour working week,which will be combined with a class contact time restricted to a maximum of 22.5hours per week by August 2006. The use of the remaining time is subject …

14 Aug 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is preparing a Scottish chapter to the five-yearly report on the monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to be submitted by Her Majesty's Government in 2004 to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; when it will publish this chapter, and whether…

Answer · Peter Peacock: The timetable for submission by Her Majesty’s Government of the next periodic report on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is by 14 March 2008. As this report, which will combine the third and fourth periodic reports to the UN Committee, is some co…

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the educational impact has been of reducing class si'es to 30 in P1 to 3 and what further research it will carry out in this area.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We are currently considering future research options regarding the impact of class sizes but we have not yet agreed the scope or specification of the research.

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in incorporating industry standard qualifications into the development of national qualifications.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: National Occupational Standards, developed by industry representative bodies, are embedded in all Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs).

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the current membership of the Lifelong Learning Forum is and how often it has met.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: I expect the first meeting of the Lifelong Learning Forum to take place later this year. The forum will provide the opportunity to bring together the key stakeholders in lifelong learning to discuss areas of mutual interest. I willannounce the membership of t…

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the situation of contract research staff in higher education institutions.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive commissioned a report on this issue from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council(SHEFC) which was published on 10 July 2003. As the report indicates, there have recently been a number of positive developments inthis area, includin…

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many teacher placements in business there have been as part of the Excellence in Education through Business Links programme in each year since the beginning of the programme.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and, in particular, Careers Scotland.

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of P1 to P3 pupils are taught in composite classes in each local authority area.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The percentage of P1 to P3 pupils in composite classes at the date of the 2001 school census is set out in the table. The results of the September 2002 school census will be published on 26 August 2003.<P>Number and Percentage of P1 to P3 Pupils in Composite …

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities on the use of composite classes as a tool for meeting targets for class si'es set by it and whether that guidance is different for multi-age composite classes and multi-grade composite classes.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Class size maxima are set out in secondary legislation for P1 to P3 and in nationally agreed teachers' terms and conditions of service. The Scottish Executive does not issue guidance on how local authorities should ensure compliance with those class size maxi…

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy on multi-age composite classes for developmental education is and how it will develop this policy.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Class organisation is a matter for education authorities taking into account the needs of individual pupils and schools. Class size maxima are set out in teachers' terms and conditions of service and secondary legislation for P1 to P3.

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its policy for multi-age composite classes differs from its policy for multi-grade composite classes.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Class size limits apply to composite classes whatever their composition.

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts will include adequate provision for smaller class si'es in both primary and secondary education.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The negotiation of contracts for school PPP projects is a matter for the local authorities concerned. Local authorities need to take a range of factors, including class sizes, into account in specifying their requirements for new and refurbished schools. The …

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact P1 class si'es of 25 will have on class management of other primary school classes.

Answer · Peter Peacock: We do not expect the introduction of class sizes of 25 in P1 to have any impact on class management of other primary school classes.

25 Jul 2003 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities on managing the transition from class si'es of 25 in P1 to class si'es of 30 in P2.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Any guidance that is judged helpful will be issued, if required, in advance of local authorities being expected to reduce class sizes. However, the transition between P1 and P2 is a matter for individual education authorities taking into account the needs of …