Parliamentary questions

Rhona Brankin

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

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new teachers will have qualified by 2011.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The 2007 teacher workforceplanning exercise estimates that approximately 13,000 teachers will qualifybetween 2008 and 2011.

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new teachers will be required to deliver class sizes of 18 or below for primary 1 to primary 3 classes by 2011.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Under the terms of the concordatwith local government year-on-year progress will be made in reducing primary 1 toprimary 3 classes to a maximum of 18. The rate and scale of progress will vary betweenlocal authorities. The number of teachers required will vary…

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement to the Parliament on 15 November 2007 that there would be 20,000 new teachers in training by 2011 (Official Report, c. 3475), how many training places the Executive will have created by 2011 in addition to those already in training or planned for…

Answer · Maureen Watt: The figure of 20,000mentioned by the First Minister refers to those entering training between 2007and 2011. A comparable figure from the 2006 teacher workforce planning exercisewas 16,760 students.

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary 1 to primary 3 classes have 18 or more pupils, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Information on individual classsizes by school local authority is published on the internet. The latest informationis from the 2006 census and can be found at:<ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16412/PrimClassSizesSep06">http://www.sc…

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average class size is for primary 1 to primary 3.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The latest informationavailable on average class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3 is set out in theStatistical Bulletin Pupilsin Scotland 2006 and can be accessed at:<ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/167568/0046177.pdf">http://www.scotland…

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have average class sizes of 20 or fewer for S1 English.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The information requested isset out in the Statistical Bulletin S1 and S2 Maths and English Classes, Children educatedoutwith School, Pupil Projections and Provisional Pupil Numbers, 2007 published on 20 November 2007 and can be accessedat:<ahref="http…

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have average class sizes of 20 or fewer for S1 maths.

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of primary 1 to primary 3 classes have 25 or fewer pupils, also broken down by year.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The latest information availableon the percentage of primary 1 to primary 3 with 25 or fewer pupils is set out inthe Statistical Bulletin Pupilsin Scotland 2006 and can be accessed at:<ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/167568/0046177.pdf">…

19 Dec 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of primary 1 to primary 3 classes have 18 or fewer pupils, also broken down by year.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Information on individual classsizes from which the percentage of primary 1 to primary 3 classes with 18 or fewerpupils can be calculated is published on the internet. The latest information isfrom the 2006 census and can be found at:<ahref="http://www…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support out-of-school care and ensure that children can access quality school age childcare.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The ChildcareStrategy aims to ensure that there is sufficient child care available forchildren in all areas of Scotland. This strategy remains in place and willcontinue to support child care, including out-of-school care. In addition, theEarly Years Strategy,…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to monitor progress towards the acquisition of professional qualifications for the early years and childcare workforce.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Qualificationlevels of the early years and child care workforce are included as part of ourannual pre-school and child care census. Statistics are published on the Scottish Government website.

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will monitor progress on the Workforce Development Fund for early years and childcare services.

Answer · Adam Ingram: This funding willbe absorbed into the main local government settlement for 2008-09 and beyond. Wewill not be monitoring separately, instead we will receive a single annualreport from local government as agreed within the concordat.

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a legal requirement for childcare workforce development.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Regulation ofCare (Scotland) Act 2001 (the act) established the CareCommission to register and inspect all services regulated under the act,including day care of children services. When registering and inspectingservices it will take account of national c…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding exists for childcare workforce development in its budget.

Answer · Adam Ingram: In financial year2007-08 the Scottish Government made available £6 million for early years andchild care workforce development. From April 2008, this funding will beabsorbed into the local government finance settlement to give local authoritiesmore flexibilit…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on out-of-school childcare in the last budget period.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The informationrequested is not held centrally. For the period 2007-08, a Grant AidedExpenditure (GAE) assessment of £44.556 million was made to support the child carestrategy, which includes out-of-school care and other forms of child care. Childcare strateg…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it plans to allocate to out-of-school childcare in each year to 2011.

Answer · Adam Ingram: For 2007-08, a GrantAided Expenditure assessment of £44.556 million for the Childcare Strategy, includingout-of-school child care was allocated to local authorities.We will continue towork in partnership with local government partners to drive forward …

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will increase the number of modern apprenticeships from 35,000 to 50,000.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Skills forScotland: a Lifelong Learning Strategy sets out our ambitions for skills throughout lifewithin the context of our new economic approach.We will not limitour approach to solely increasing apprenticeships, but rather we will increasethe…

28 Nov 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its priorities are for education.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government’spriorities for education are to work with our partners to give Scotland’s childrenthe best start in life; improve life chances for children, young people and familiesat risk; support young people to become successful learners, confide…

22 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the spending plans already agreed for new schools.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Local authoritiesare responsible for the planning, procurement and construction of new schools andthe spending plans involved. Because these do not require the specific agreementof the Scottish Government we do not hold centrally information on detailed local…

22 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether its promised 50% increase in nursery provision can be delivered by childcare workers.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The ScottishGovernment is working closely with local authorities to deliver increasedlevels of pre-school entitlement, including consideration of associatedstaffing issues. Decisions about staff deployment in individual centres will befor employers.

22 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether acquisition of literacy skills is a priority for Scottish education.

Answer · Maureen Watt: Curriculum for Excellence identifies literacy skills as a key themeacross the curriculum with all teachers having a role in promoting language andliteracy development.

22 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will roll out the West Dunbartonshire Literacy Initiative across Scotland.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Research evidencefrom West Dunbartonshire Council’s Early Intervention Initiative is very encouraging.The government has acknowledged the success of the scheme and encourages other authoritiesto look at what has been achieved. Individual education authorities…

22 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the West Dunbartonshire Literacy Initiative to be effective.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Research evidencefrom West Dunbartonshire Council’s Early Intervention Initiative is very encouragingand provides a model of good practice. The Scottish Government has acknowledgedthe success of the initiative and would encourage other education authorities t…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether increasing entitlement to 475 hours a year for all pupils means that all pupils will receive an increase in their hours at nursery.

Answer · Adam Ingram: All childreneligible for free pre-school education are now entitled to 475 hours per yearfollowing the increase from August 2007.Previously theentitlement was for 412.5 hours although education authorities could choose toprovide additional hours. The <…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether HM Inspectorate of Education has found a correlation between access to a nursery teacher and quality of education in local authority early years provision.

Answer · Adam Ingram: I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6435 on 6 December 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether HM Inspectorate of Education has found evidence to show that local authority nurseries where children have access to a nursery teacher perform better than local authority nurseries without access to a nursery teacher.

Answer · Adam Ingram: HM Inspectorate ofEducation (HMIE) evidence from inspections shows, on the whole, higher quality educationalprovision for pre-school children in centres where a teacher is employed comparedto local authority and partner centres with no teacher. The HMIE repor…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the condition is of the colliery buildings at the former Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Mining Museum commissioned a Buildings Report in 2005, funded by Historic Scotland, whichsurveyed the buildings. The museum also launched a Strategic Development Plan in2007, including capital programmes, to develop the museum until 2011. The Sco…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises the international importance of the colliery buildings at the former Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Governmentis funding Scottish Museums Council to deliver the Museums Recognition Scheme andFund which recognises collections of national significance. The government congratulatesthe Mining Museum on being awarded recognised status. International…

15 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there is urgency attached to protecting the colliery buildings at the former Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange.

Answer · Linda Fabiani: The ScottishGovernment congratulates the Scottish Mining Museum on achieving recognitionunder the Museums Recognition Scheme and we will now consider, with ScottishMuseums Council and the museum, the case for affordable capital investment inthe museum as part…

14 Nov 2007 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, following the announcement by the then Minister for Health and Community Care on 29 March 2006, what progress is being made on new premises for Dalkeith Medical Centre.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Planning is well advanced.A business case has been completed and will be before NHS Lothian’s Finance andPerformance Committee for approval on 12 December.