Rhona Brankin

24 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when its review of the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s accommodation in Dalkeith will be concluded.

Answer · Keith Brown: At a time of increasing economic and public sector pressures, it is vital that all possible options are considered carefully to ensure that whatever decision is made will deliver the best possible balance between value for money and the effective delivery of …

18 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the “cuts imposed by the Chancellor” referred to on page 79 of Scottish Budget: Draft Budget 2010-11.

Answer · John Swinney: The cuts imposed by the Chancellor referred to in the Draft Budget are the Scottish Government''s Barnet share, amounting to £392 million, of the £5 billion savings announced by the Chancellor in the Budget on 22 April 2009, and the £1.3 billion cut to the De…

18 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will put the funding in place for new Lasswade and Newbattle high school buildings.

Answer · Keith Brown: Investment plans and priorities and funding for the replacement of individual schools are matters for Midlothian Council. The Scottish Government has just offered the council additional funding of two-thirds of the cost of replacing Lasswade High School, in t…

18 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects train services to start operating on the Waverley railway line between Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: It is currently anticipated that train services will commence in 2014. The target completion date will be defined in negotiations with bidders which will secure the best value for money delivery programme.</p>

17 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in respect of the recommendations in the report, Valuable Assets - the role and status of classroom assistants, published by the Equal Opportunities Commission in May 2007.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is participating fully in the meetings of the National Action Group, chaired by the EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission), which was established following the publication of the Valuable Assets report. The bulk of the recommendat…

11 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it remains committed to reducing class sizes to a maximum of 18 pupils in primaries one to three by 2011

Answer · Keith Brown: As stated in our concordat, we will continue to work with COSLA to deliver our class size commitment “ and we are already making significant progress. Across all schools we have a record low pupil teacher ratio of 13.1. In primary schools we currently have th…

3 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are being used to select the 55 schools to be built by 2018 under the Scottish Futures Trust.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop : <i > This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0903-01.htm">http://www.scot…

28 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to review the information given to women about the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Information given to women about the Scottish Breast Screening Programme is produced by NHS Health Scotland and they are planning to review this information in 2010.</p>

28 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of women over 70 requesting breast screening.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All women aged 70 and over are able to request breast screening by contacting their local Breast Screening Centre.</p> <p >Posters are displayed at a local level, for example in GP surgeries and local supermarkets, informing women between the ages of 50 and …

28 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase the number of women between 50 and 70 attending breast screening.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: All women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for breast screening. From 2005 to 2008, 76.2% of women invited attended for screening. The service is made as accessible as possible by including the use of mobile screening vans in local locations and targeting d…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether the procurement model for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, whereby 10% of contract value has to be carried out by social enterprises, should be adopted for suppliers approved by utility companies for insulation work in owner-occupied properties.

Answer · Alex Neil: The procurement model for the 2014 Commonwealth Games is the responsibility of the Organising Committee (Glasgow 2014 Ltd) and Glasgow City Council.</p> <p >Glasgow City Council have incorporated a community benefit policy into its approach to procurement. T…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that social enterprises ought to be included on lists of approved suppliers for insulation work in owner-occupied properties.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government believes that all work should be tendered in a fair and transparent way that complies with EU procurement guidance and supports social enterprises to be able to compete for work across a range of areas including insulation work.</p>

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with utility companies about access by social enterprises to lists of approved suppliers for insulation work in owner-occupied properties.

Answer · Alex Neil: As part of the implementation of the Energy Assistance Package (EAP) the Scottish Government has discussed with the utility companies how they are delivering their Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) programmes in Scotland, including their use of approve…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider distributing additional resources to local authorities to enable them to carry out draught proofing and insulation work in more homes before the advent of the next heating season.

Answer · Alex Neil: The scheme is continually monitored for effectiveness and efficiency and any opportunity to maximise impact from the resources available will be taken.</p>

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from the City of Edinburgh Council about a shortfall in, or lack of resources for, draught proofing and insulation work for domestic premises.

Answer · Alex Neil: City of Edinburgh Council applied for funding through the Stage 3 Social Sector scheme and an award was made. As part of its application, the council made clear the number of households it estimated could be improved in each financial year for which the award…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of waiting lists for draught proofing and insulation work for domestic premises and, if so, in which local authorities such waiting lists currently exist.

Answer · Alex Neil: As provision of this information is not a requirement of the scheme we are not aware of any waiting list which a local authority might hold.</p>

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from local authorities about any shortfall between the resources that it allocates for draught proofing and insulation work for domestic premises and the needs identified by local authorities for such work.

Answer · Alex Neil: As part of the allocation process, local authorities make officials aware at the outset of the number of properties they estimate can be improved in each year. As requests for funding exceed the available budget, some local authorities did not receive all tha…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it monitors the rate of spend by local authorities on draught proofing and insulation work for domestic premises in any given financial year to determine whether authorities are able to meet all reasonable demands for such work.

Answer · Alex Neil: As a condition of grant under Social Sector Stage 3 of the Energy Assistance Package, local authorities are required to provide an update on progress towards their targets each month and are encouraged to contact officials at an early stage if targets are unl…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what total amount of financial resource has been made available to each local authority for draught proofing and insulation work for domestic premises in each of the last four financial years.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table shows the resources made available to local authorities for insulation work and draught proofing, to their own properties, over the period requested, under the warm deal programme and the Social Sector Stage 3 of the Energy Assistance Pack…

27 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out the quality assurance process it carried out as part of Stage Four of the Energy Assistance Package.

Answer · Alex Neil: The quality expected for Stage 4 of the Energy Assistance Package is set out in the contract documentation and technical specification issued to the managing agent as part of the scheme.</p> <p >The managing agent inspects 100% of households receiving measur…

5 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase awareness among women of the risk factors associated with breast cancer.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Action is taking place to tackle the known risk factors for many cancers (including breast cancer) such as alcohol, diet, physical activity, smoking and deprivation.</p> <p >The Scottish Government is implementing a wide-ranging programme of action to encour…

5 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage women to check their breasts regularly for signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Based on current evidence, the Scottish Government does not actively encourage women to self examine their breasts. </p> <p >Opportunistic examination may however occur as a result of an interaction with a healthcare professional, for example during a consul…

5 Aug 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to promote better awareness among women of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: <i >Better Cancer Care: An Action Plan</i> published in October 2008, outlines the government''s commitment to improving cancer care in Scotland. </p> <p >Whilst no specific action is currently being taken to promote awareness of the signs and symptoms of br…

8 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review provision for young people with speech and language and communication impairments in Scotland in order to tackle unequal provision between areas.

Answer · Adam Ingram: A report on the review of funding and services for children in speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy for adults with learning disability was published by the Scottish Executive in 2003. The report…

8 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the children and young people in hospital were there for over three months, based on the most recent information available.

Answer · Shona Robison: For patients aged between 1 and 17 years, there were 37 acute NHS hospital stays of over 90 days (three months) in the financial year ending 31 March 2008.</p>

8 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the children and young people who were in hospital for over three months could have been cared for at home, based on the most recent information available.

Answer · Shona Robison: The requested information is not available centrally.</p>

8 Jul 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for inpatient stays for children and young people in hospital for over three months, based on the most recent information available.

Answer · Shona Robison: For patients aged between 1 and 17 years, there were 37 acute NHS hospital stays of over 90 days (three months) in the financial year ending 31 March 2008. The main reasons for these stays are summarised in the table below.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0…

23 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its news release of 11 June 2009 on national qualifications, how it plans to externally moderate reading skills in secondary schools.

Answer · Keith Brown: The qualifications will be awarded on the basis of a portfolio of learner''s work, collected across a number of curriculum areas and a range of contexts of learning, life and work. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and its partners will be working o…

12 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its news release of 11 June 2009 on national qualifications, how literacy and numeracy will be assessed in secondary one to three.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Literacy and numeracy skills will be assessed by teaching staff on an ongoing basis during secondary one to three and at earlier stages, to ensure that any issues are identified and addressed. We will publish an assessment framework and guidance on external m…

12 Jun 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its news release of 11 June 2009 on national qualifications, whether English and Maths teachers will teach literacy and numeracy.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Yes. Curriculum for Excellence places a responsibility for developing and assessing literacy and numeracy skills on all teachers working with children and young people from age three to 18. This was not the case under previous arrangements.</p>