Parliamentary questions

Karen Gillon

705 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be to each local authority of delivering two hours of PE per week to every pupil.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is a matter for local authorities.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact assessment it has made of every pupil having two hours of PE per week on pupils’ educational attainment.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not carried out an impact assessment. It is for local authorities and schools to consider the impact of decisions on all aspects of health and wellbeing on the whole school community.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that delivering two hours of PE per week for every pupil is sufficiently ambitious to tackle the problem of childhood obesity.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Physical education (PE) alone will not tackle the problem of childhood obesity. Over the next three years the Scottish Government will be investing £56 million (£40 million new money) in a range of initiatives to tackle obesity, healthy eating and p…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for the recruitment of PE teachers in each local authority area to support the delivery of two hours of PE per week for every pupil.

Answer · Maureen Watt: No targets have been set. The employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities as employers. It is a matter for local authorities to employ adequate numbers of teachers to meet their educational objectives.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many PE teachers will require to be employed in local authority schools to deliver two hours of PE to every pupil.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities as employers. It is a matter for local authorities to employ adequate numbers of teachers to meet their educational objectives.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many PE teachers are currently employed in local authority schools.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The information requested is set out in the Statistical Bulletin Teachers in Scotland 2006-07 published on 19 March 2008 and can be accessed at: <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/91982/0058105.pdf">www.scotla…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what new funding it will make available to train additional PE teachers in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Advice to the Scottish Funding Council on intakes to secondary initial teachers education courses in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and the funding associated with these intakes will only be finalised once the annual teacher workforce planning exercises for these years …

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the intake for PE teaching will be at each higher education institution in 2008-09.

Answer · Maureen Watt: At present intakes to PE teacher training courses in 2008-09 are not known. The targets set by each university that runs such courses are as follows <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=222 valign=top > <p ali…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The number of newly qualified PE teachers joining the teacher induction scheme each year is shown in the following table. Numbers of Newly Qualified PE Probationers Joining the Teacher Induction Scheme <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when every pupil will receive two hours of PE every week.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not set a timescale for the provision of two hours good quality PE for each child every week. As part of Curriculum for Excellence, we expect schools to continue to work towards the provision of two hours good quality PE for each c…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the third supplementary to question S3F-697 by the First Minister on 17 April 2008, what aspect of the concordat with local government will ensure the delivery of two hours of PE to every pupil (Official Report c. 7694).

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12037 on 30 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which section of the concordat with local government refers specifically to the delivery of two hours of PE per week for every pupil.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Local authorities have committed to developing and delivering Curriculum for Excellence as part of our historic concordat with local government. As part of Curriculum for Excellence, Health and Wellbeing: planning for experiences and outcomes…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the draft single outcome agreements it has received detail how two hours of PE per week will be delivered for every pupil in that local authority area.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: All 32 local authorities in Scotland have submitted draft single outcome agreements (SOAs) that set out how they will contribute to the agreed national outcomes in relation to education provision. Those drafts are currently the subject of discussion. We aim t…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made on the number of additional facilities that will be required to deliver two hours of PE per week to every pupil.

Answer · Maureen Watt: It is a matter for each local authority to assess and decide whether upgrading of facilities, indoor and outdoor, is necessary to support this aspect of the curriculum in individual schools and then to prioritise investment according to the resources availabl…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the numbers of additional PE teachers required to deliver two hours of PE per week to every pupil.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The response to the report of the physical education review group included a commitment to provide 400 additional PE teachers to support the growing emphasis on physical education by 2008. Intakes to the professional graduate diploma course in PE were increas…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils are currently benefiting from two hours of PE per week broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This information is not held centrally.

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an audit of supermarkets to ensure that all fresh produce conforms to British welfare standards.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We are asking our pig industry task force to consider the need for possible actions to assist the pig sector, including an audit of standards, transparency and labelling of imported pork. We have also commissioned an advisory letter from the Farm Animal Welfa…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an audit of supermarkets to ensure that all fresh foodstuffs labelled as Scottish are Scottish.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We are keen to promote quality fresh local produce and to ensure that this reaches the supermarket shelf. Where products are Scottish we would wish them to be clearly labelled as Scottish and we are actively engaging with both producers and retailers to deter…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pig farms it believes are sustainable in Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: There are 945 pig holdings in Scotland, including 440 for breeding. Environmental legislation is in place to ensure environmental sustainability. Financial sustainability is heavily dependent upon commercial factors, including prices paid to farmers and the c…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects further support to be given to pig farmers.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has already given Quality Meat Scotland £30,000 for a strategic review of the Scottish pig sector and £300,000 to examine opportunities for adding value to the fifth quarter (offal products) in the red meat sector. Further funding is a…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about a reduction in expertise within the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as a direct result of its current pay and grading imposition exercise.

Answer · Michael Russell: The levels of knowledge and expertise required of SEPA staff, together with pay and grading, are all operational matters for SEPA''s management team, within overall financial limits set by the Scottish Government, and in accordance with policies and guidance …

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the draft single outcome agreement from South Lanarkshire Council specifies how many P1 to P3 classes in South Lanarkshire will be reduced to 18 in each of the next three years and, if so, what the details are of the agreement.

Answer · Adam Ingram: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12007 on 30 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the draft single outcome agreement from South Lanarkshire Council specifies how many P1 to P3 classes in Clydesdale will be reduced to 18 in each of the next three years and, if so, what the details are of the agreement.

Answer · Adam Ingram: All 32 local authorities in Scotland have submitted draft single outcome agreements (SOAs) that set out how they will contribute to the agreed national outcomes in relation to education provision. Those drafts are currently the subject of discussion. We aim t…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been given to South Lanarkshire Council to reduce P1 to P3 class sizes to 18 in Clydesdale.

Answer · Maureen Watt: We have signed an historic concordat with local government that provides record levels of funding of £34.9 billion over the spending review period. This represents an increase of 13.1%. In return, local government has agreed to reduce class sizes in primary 1…

18 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it believes that P1 to P3 class sizes will be reduced to 18 in Clydesdale.

Answer · Maureen Watt: We have signed an historic concordat with local government under which local government undertakes to make year on year progress on reducing primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18. The concordat recognises that the rate of progress will vary betwee…

4 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many vaccines it has bought to address the possibility of an outbreak of the bluetongue virus in Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is currently leading a procurement process to secure up to 12 million doses of vaccine.

4 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings has it held with stakeholders regarding the provision of vaccines against the bluetongue virus.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has been working closely with stakeholders over a range of bluetongue disease issues, including vaccine supplies. Minutes from the meetings held are available on the Scottish Government website, at: <a href="http://www.scotla…

4 Apr 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what provision it has made to deal with the possibility of a bluetongue outbreak in Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The plans in place for dealing with bluetongue, should it arrive in Scotland, were described previously in the answer to question S3W-4395 on 16 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the searc…

14 Mar 2008 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how the Parliament will support the Earth Hour event taking place at 8.00 pm on 29 March 2008.

Answer · Alex Johnstone: The SPCB has set a target to reduce energy consumption by 8% by March 2009 and is on course to achieve this target with energy consumption down by 6% by March 2008. Careful management of lighting in the building by switching non-essential lights off when not …

14 Mar 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its buildings will support the Earth Hour event taking place at 8.00 pm on 29 March 2008.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government did not specifically support the Earth Hour initiative on 29 March. It does, however, take steps to minimise unnecessary lighting in the buildings on its estate through a combination of automated control systems in some of the larger b…