Des McNulty

19 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is to be no standardised means of communicating progress in literacy and numeracy to secondary schools at the transition stage under plans for implementing the Curriculum for Excellence, as stated by the President of School Leaders Scotland, and what the reasons are for its …

Answer · Michael Russell: Such an understanding of future assessment is incorrect. The standards and expectations within the curriculum guidance provide a common basis of understanding across sectors. One of the key aims of Curriculum for Excellence is to ensure well-planned and effec…

19 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is to be no formal mechanism for measuring progress in literacy or numeracy until the tenth year of a child's education under plans for implementing the Curriculum for Excellence, as stated by the President of School Leaders Scotland, and what the reasons are for its positio…

Answer · Michael Russell: Such an understanding of future assessment is incorrect. Through Curriculum for Excellence, for the first time since devolution, all teachers will have responsibility for improving the literacy and numeracy of all children. Literacy and numeracy will be devel…

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, whether further applications for funding have been received from the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Answer · Alex Neil: Scottish Government funding for the Scottish-Islamic Foundation was set out in the answer to question S3W-15005 on 3 September 2008. No additional funding will be provided over and above the original grants.</p> <p >All answers to written parliamentary quest…

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, what targets or objectives agreed between it and the Scottish-Islamic Foundation as conditions of funding when the £200,000 was awarded will not be met following the repayment of £128,000.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish-Islamic Foundation''s objectives are to enhance community cohesion, tackle negative attitudes and encourage greater engagement with Scottish Muslim communities through their Salaam Scotland and Etisal activities.</p>

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence there was between the Scottish-Islamic Foundation and ministers or their officials regarding the repayment of money to the Scottish Government.

Answer · Alex Neil: Officials wrote to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation on 7 April 2009 who responded on 1 June 2009 by providing a cheque for the unspent IslamFest allocation. Due to an error made by officials on how the payee was addressed, a replacement cheque was requested fr…

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, whether ministers asked that money be repaid by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Minister for Community Safety and I instructed officials to recall the funding as is standard and proper practice.</p>

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, for what purposes the £200,000 was awarded to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation; against what criteria the decision was made, and by which minister.

Answer · Alex Neil: IslamFest is designed to enhance community cohesion, tackle negative attitudes and encourage greater engagement with Scottish Muslim communities. I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15066 on 3 September 2008.</p> <p >All answers to written …

16 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, when the balance of the money paid to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation was repaid.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish-Islamic Foundation returned £128,000, which was the unspent balance of the £200,000 provided for the delivery of IslamFest, on 1 July 2009.</p>

9 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether a family home gaining protection under provisions of the draft Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill could be put at risk in the case where sequestration follows a trust deed, due to the action of an objecting creditor or the trust deed proposal failing later in the pro…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: If measures contained in the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill were introduced, it would be possible for sequestration to follow a trust deed where either it fails to become protected due to the action of an objecting creditor or as a result of…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it decided to remove specific references to encouraging and supporting children to engage in active travel from the final version of the Curriculum for Excellence and whether it considers that this goes against its target of achieving 10% of journeys by bike by 2020.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: References to encouraging and supporting children to engage in active travel have not been removed from the final version of Curriculum for Excellence. I refer the member to my answer to question S3W-27970 on 26 October 2009. I believe that the final publishe…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the outcome in the Curriculum for Excellence, “I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely” as a means of encouraging active travel or whether measurement of progress against this outcome would primarily be calibrated in terms of road safety indicators.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The experiences and outcomes within the health and wellbeing strand of the new curriculum will deliver positive benefits for active travel and road safety. Partnerships will have a vital role in supporting their delivery and will include school travel coordin…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the outcome in the final version of the Curriculum for Excellence, “I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely”, will achieve a more positive uptake of active travel than that in the draft version, “I am encouraged and supported to travel actively and safely…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I believe that by broadening the references to active travel, as outlined in my responses to S3W-27967 and S3W-27969 on 26 October 2009, it has a higher profile in the final version of the health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes which are at the heart o…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the outcome in the draft Curriculum for Excellence physical activity and sport section, “I am encouraged and supported to travel actively and safely to and from my place of learning”, was removed from the final published version.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The draft overarching statement I am encouraged and supported to travel actively and safely to and from my place of learning was simplified in the final published version of the experiences and outcomes to address concerns about the size and complexity of the…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the consultation on the draft Curriculum for Excellence, the outcome in the physical activity and sport section, “I am encouraged and supported to travel actively and safely to and from my place of learning”, was considered problematic and, if so, by whom and for what reas…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There was no specific feedback from the engagement process with local authorities, schools, teachers and partner organisations to suggest that the draft overarching statement I am encouraged and supported to travel actively and safely to and from my place of …

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the overarching statement in the draft Curriculum for Excellence, “I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely whether on foot, on a bicycle, in a motor vehicle or on public transport”, was removed from the final published version.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The draft outcome I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely whether on foot, on a bicycle, in a motor vehicle or on public transport was simplified to I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely to address concerns about the size and complexity of t…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether, during the consultation on the draft Curriculum for Excellence, the overarching statement, “I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely whether on foot, on a bicycle, in a motor vehicle or on public transport”, was considered problematic and, if so, by whom and for what reaso…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There was no specific feedback from the engagement process with local authorities, schools, teachers and partner organisations to suggest that the draft outcome I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely whether on foot, on a bicycle, in a motor vehicle …

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to ensure that local authorities employ measures to encourage active travel to and from school, such as school travel co-ordinators.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The ring-fenced grant for school travel co-ordinator posts was rolled up into the local authority grant settlement in 2008-09.</p> <p >The Scottish Government continues to provide local authorities with £9.09 million per year for Cycling, Walking and Safer S…

2 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25448 by Stewart Stevenson on 6 August 2009, whether it is concerned that school travel co-ordinator posts are decreasing and that the number of schools that each co-ordinator is responsible for is increasing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: As I said in my previous answer, it is entirely for each local authority to set its own priorities, allocate funding and deliver active travel outcomes as agreed in their single outcome agreements.</p>

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor the registers of interests of elected members in local government.

Answer · John Swinney: Councils have a duty to establish, maintain and make available for public inspection a register of interests of their councillors which the Councillors'' Code of Conduct requires to be registered. They must also appoint a proper officer to maintain the regis…

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with sources in the (a) Organisation of Islamic Conference and (b) Gulf Cooperation Council countries and whether such discussions have been facilitated by Osama Saeed or the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Answer · Alex Neil: No member of the Scottish Islamic Foundation has facilitated discussions between the Scottish Government and the Organisation of Islamic Conference, or the Gulf Cooperation Council.</p>

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on any contribution being made by sources in the (a) Organisation of Islamic Conference and (b) Gulf Cooperation Council countries to Etisal, the Scottish Government-sponsored event being organised by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-26626, on 16 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Scottish Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parli…

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding, including publicity costs, it is providing to Etisal, the Scottish Government sponsored event being organised by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government provided funding to support the initial development of the Etisal event and the series of events that will make up Salaam Scotland. A total of £72,000, from an initial grant of £200,000, has been spent on the development of both initia…

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the decision to postpone Etisal, the Scottish Government sponsored event being organised by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, was taken.

Answer · Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27917, on 29 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Scottish Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliam…

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason Etisal, the Government sponsored event being organised by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, was postponed from November 2009 to March 2010.

Answer · Alex Neil: The Scottish Government provided funding to support the initial development of the Etisal event. The delivery of Etisal is a matter for the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.</p>

1 Oct 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the names of its special advisers; their dates of appointment; previous employment, and salary band.

Answer · John Swinney: The names of the 10 special advisers currently in post and their dates of appointment are provided in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=189 valign=top > <p align=center >Name</p> </t…

25 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3F-1909 by Alex Salmond on 24 September 2009 (Official Report, c. 19971), whether it will itemise the works or other forms of expenditure that amount to £70 million, showing the costs ascribed to each item and the financial year in which it had been ant…

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The most recent costs (September 2009) for reprovision/compensation within the Glasgow Airport campus total £70 million (Q3/2013 prices), which is broken down by element in the following table:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <…

25 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3F-1909 by Alex Salmond on 24 September 2009 (Official Report, c. 19971), whether discussions were held with BAA to advise them that the Glasgow Airport runway would have to be moved to make way for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27760 on 21 October 2009. 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/Apps…

25 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3F-1909 by Alex Salmond on 24 September 2009 (Official Report, c. 19971), whether Transport Scotland advised the First Minister that the runway at Glasgow Airport had to be moved as part of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27760 on 21 October 2009. 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/Apps…

25 Sep 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3F-1909 by Alex Salmond on 24 September 2009 (Official Report, c. 19971), whether it wishes to clarify the statement that spending associated with Glasgow Airport Rail Link project would include removing the runway at Glasgow Airport.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The factual point that was made was that the Glasgow Airport Rail Link costs included £70 million of work at Glasgow airport, before a single metre of track was even laid. However, I can clarify that at no time was there any consideration of, or requirement t…

23 Sep 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings have taken place between ministers or their special advisers and Mr Osama Saeed or representatives of the Scottish Islamic Foundation since June 2008; which ministers or special advisers were present, and what matters were discussed at each meeting.

Answer · Alex Neil: <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/sor1001-01.htm">http://www.scott…