Parliamentary questions

Ken Macintosh

1,334 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in establishing a standing commission on literacy.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Standing Literacy Commission has successfully been established and the first meeting took place on 18 May 2011.

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that the Educational Maintenance Allowance takes account of the needs of young carers.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government encourage flexibility in the local administration arrangements of the Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) to vulnerable young people, including young carers, in terms of attendance and time keeping and perhaps the number of hours th…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects the pupil-teacher ratio to be in 2012.

Answer · Michael Russell: We are committed to working with local government first to maintain the recent improvement before continuing with progressive reductions in class sizes and improved pupil-teacher ratios.

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the development of the Glow Scotland network and whether the next generation will be delivered by September 2012.

Answer · Michael Russell: Since its launch in October 2007, Glow has continued to evolve to meet the demands of users as new technologies emerge. More than 1 million resources have been added to Glow, being shared with the education community. Since their launch this session more tha…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce an education rights and responsibilities bill and what stakeholders will be consulted.

Answer · Michael Russell: No date has been set for introduction of this Bill. Appropriate stakeholders will be identified as part of the development process and will be consulted in due course.

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of Teaching Scotland's Future.

Answer · Michael Russell: As announced in the Scottish Government’s response to Teaching Scotland’s Future, published on 9 March 2011, a National Partnership Group has been established to take forward the ambitious agenda set out by Graham Donaldson in the report. The group, which is…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what support there is for initiatives such as nurture classes.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government funds the Positive Behaviour Team (newly located within Education Scotland), a group of seconded education professionals who work with local authority strategic planning groups on behaviour and relationships. The Positive Behaviour Tea…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made toward eradicating illiteracy and innumeracy since 2007.

Answer · Michael Russell: Good progress has been made towards improving Scotland’s literacy and numeracy skills. With the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence, all teachers have responsibility for the development of literacy and numeracy skills, and when we launched the Literac…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) financial and (b) other support it has offered to (i) schools and (ii) local authorities to deliver sufficient teaching posts for all probationers who complete their probation in summer 2011.

Answer · Michael Russell: The funding which the Scottish Government will provide to local government in 2011-12 is £11.553 billion. Included in this total is an additional £15m to cover the education costs associated with protecting, as far as possible, the number of teacher posts. Th…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Futures Trust regarding delivering greener schools in terms of (a) construction and (b) design.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government has regular discussions with the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) on a large range of issues relating to the school building programme. In order to receive funding from that programme, a local authority must demonstrate that its new school…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to introduce the European Union 1+2 model in schools in this parliamentary session.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: We will work with local authorities, schools, parents and learners, to develop a new languages model that will increase the opportunities for young people to benefit from learning two additional languages and to develop the confidence and skills that they nee…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on encouraging pupils and schools to use the public library network.

Answer · Michael Russell: Our Literacy Action Plan recognises the importance of reading as a valued activity from an early age, and the social, educational, and familial benefits of reading in the home. We continue to work with our partners to support measures to develop Scotland as a…

27 Jun 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made toward merging Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education and Learning and Teaching Scotland; when the merger will be completed, and how much money will be saved as a result of the merger.

Answer · Michael Russell: Education Scotland, which brings together Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), was launched on 1 July 2011 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. The agency’s creation was not primarily about mak…

2 Jun 2011 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of additional costs to local authorities in moving from capital grant to revenue funding for the school building programme.

24 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of proposals to close schools since 2007 where there is a higher proportion of pupils walking to school than at Robslee Primary in East Renfrewshire.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information on how children travel to school can be found in the Scottish Household Survey and the Sustrans “Hands Up” Survey, which is funded by the Scottish Government. However, this information is collected at local authority level and is not broken down i…

24 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of proposals to close schools since 2007 where there have been more placing requests than for Robslee Primary in East Renfrewshire.

Answer · Michael Russell: The practice of collecting placing request data was discontinued in 2010. Prior to that, the Scottish Government only collected data at a local authority level, not by individual schools. Therefore this information is not held centrally.

24 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of proposed school closures since 2007 where the pupil roll indicated a 74% take up or more and, if so, which schools.

Answer · Michael Russell: From 2007 to April 2010, the relevant legislation on school closures, the Education (Scotland) Regulations 1981, prescribed circumstances in which a local authority must refer a school closure decision to Scottish ministers for consent. These circumstances we…

24 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist Religious Education teachers have been employed in each year since 2001.

Answer · Michael Russell: The estimated number of teachers (excluding head teachers and deputes) with a qualification in Religious Education, employed in publicly funded schools, recorded in each of the 2004 to 2007 teacher censuses, is shown in the following table: 2004 2005 20…

17 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the needs of people with rare medical conditions.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In Scotland, rare diseases are largely managed through genetic services, which are subject to ongoing enhancement following the Calman review. In addition, there are long-standing commissioning arrangements to ensure people are able to benefit from speciali…

17 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set a date for complying with the European Council recommendation on rare diseases.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The UK is required to report its position regarding progress on the implementation of each of the actions in the European Council Recommendation on rare diseases by 2013.

17 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to decide on access to treatment for paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Treatment for paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria may consist of blood transfusions and/or drug therapy. Specific treatments required in individual cases are a matter for clinical decision between the responsible clinician and the patient.

17 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason not all patients with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria have access to treatment.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Patients with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria have access to treatment, which is usually recommended at an outreach clinic in Monklands Hospital, Lanarkshire, under the auspices of the UK designated specialist service based in Leeds.

16 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers have discussed the proposed budget reductions in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences with the Principal or staff of the University of Strathclyde.

Answer · Michael Russell: When I spoke to Prof. McDonald, we discussed the proposed changes during our conversation.

16 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what strategic advice it provides to (a) the University of Strathclyde, (b) the University of Glasgow and (c) other higher education institutions to ensure that decisions on budget reductions at each institution do not deny Scottish students access to a full range of undergraduate studies…

Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish ministers provide strategic guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), not to individual institutions. The SFC has a legal duty to secure coherent provision from the university sector as a whole.

16 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on proposals from the University of Strathclyde to withdraw degree courses in music, community education, geography and sociology.

Answer · Michael Russell: While this is a matter for the University of Strathclyde, not Scottish ministers, I am keen to ensure that any decisions taken by the University are only taken once the views of staff, students and academics have been fully heard.

16 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what meetings ministers have had with the Principal or staff at the University of Strathclyde in the last six months.

Answer · Michael Russell: Mr Mather, then Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, met Prof. Jim McDonald and Prof. Umit Bititci on 26 April. I spoke to Prof. McDonald on 11 May. The First Minister and Prof. McDonald also meet through the Scottish Energy Advisory Board, which the…

13 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the promised funding for the new Eastwood High School has been spent.

Answer · Michael Russell: To date East Renfrewshire Council have received £506,568 from their indicative offer of funding of £17.75 million from the Scottish Government.

13 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects pupils to move into the new Eastwood High School.

Answer · Michael Russell: Building work is due to be completed in time to allow pupils to move into the new school in August 2013.

13 May 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it can provide concerning building the new Eastwood High School.

Answer · Michael Russell: There has been significant recent progress with the Scotland’s Schools for the Future pilot project, which involves Eastwood and Lasswade High Schools. Tenders are currently being evaluated and it is anticipated that the contractor will be appointed during Ju…