Michael Russell

17 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what training and support is given to teachers in schools with special educational needs units in connection with the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream teaching.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is providing £20 million under the Inclusion Programme in both 2002-03 and 2003-04. These resources are to facilitate the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools and to bring the length of the school w…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its projections are for teacher training places in universities for (a) primary teachers and (b) secondary teachers in (i) 2002-03, (ii) 2003-04, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2005-06, (v) 2006-07 and (vi) 2007-08.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the Scottish Executive's projections student output required from (a) primary and (b) secondary courses of initial teacher education to meet the deficit at the start of the following session:<P>Student output required to meet project…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its projections are for the number of (a) primary teachers and (b) secondary teachers in schools in (i) 2002-03, (ii) 2003-04, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2005-06, (v) 2006-07 and (vi) 2007-08, taking into account any reduction in teacher training places made in 2002 and what its projections…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the projected teacher deficit for the period 2002-03 to 2007-08:<P>Projected Teacher Deficit at Start of Session<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=548><TR><TD WIDTH="16%" VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT=5><P></TD><TD WIDTH="12%" VAL…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there were for each teacher training place for the academic session 2001-02, broken down by university and course.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The following tables show information on the number applications for teacher education intake places allocated by Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to higher education institutions (HEIs) by course in 2001-2002:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial saving will be made as a result of any reduction in the number of teacher training places from its original projections on 1 December 2001 and to what purposes any such saving will be applied.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The parties to the agreement <I>A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century</I> estimated that an additional 3,000 teachers will be required in order to implement all of its key elements by the target date of August 2006. Funding allocated to cover the provisi…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what reductions have been made since 1 December 2001 to the number of teacher training places to be made available from August 2002, broken down by university and course, and what the reason is for any such changes.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: In March revised guidance was issued to Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) on PGCE intakes following:<UL><LI>local authorities reporting not finding suitable training posts for the new teacher induction scheme they had expected (and upon which …

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its projection was on 1 March 2002 for the number of teacher training places to be made available for the year from August 2002, broken down by university and course.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: Advice offered to Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in March was that PGCE intake levels should be set at 404 in primary and 805 in secondary, and that this number would enable expected demand to be met, without producing an excess of supply which wou…

11 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its projection was on 1 December 2001 for the number of teacher training places to be made available for the year from August 2002, broken down by university and course.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: In December 2001 the Scottish Executive's projections for total student teacher output at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in session 2002-03 was 1,085 primary graduates and 1,152 secondary graduates; to be made up from holders of four year Bachelor of Ed…

9 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Crown will continue to rely on the expert testimony of the four Scottish Criminal Record Office fingerprint experts directly involved in the McKie and Asbury cases or whether any conditions have been placed upon the evaluation of such testimony.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The Crown's position in relation to this matter is still under consideration and the matter is being discussed with the Scottish Criminal Record Office.

9 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that BEAR Scotland Ltd and other contractors have bilingual Gaelic and English road signs on their routes in accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: Contractors employed to maintain or construct new trunk roads comply with the instructions of the Scottish Executive in regard to the signing that they provide. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24913 today.

9 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when bilingual road signs in Gaelic and English on trunk roads in the Highlands are to be erected in accordance with the undertakings made by Her Majesty's Government under Part III, Article 10, 2(g) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive presently permits Highland Council to use bilingual signs on local roads. The erection of signs is a matter for the local roads authority. On trunk roads, Gaelic boundary signs and bilingual direction signs are already in place on the A…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) public consultation documents, (b) responses to public consultation documents and (c) strategic plans or policy papers it intends to publish between 1 April 2002 and 1 May 2003; what subjects these documents will cover and what the estimated date of publication is for each do…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Decisions about the publication of consultation documents, strategic plans or policy papers are taken by the Executive on an on-going basis. Consultation papers are posted on the Scottish Executive website. Responses to consultation documents are logged and m…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many public consultations it has undertaken in each year since its inception which involved the publication of a document which was available to the public and/or radio or other media advertising.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Written consultation exercises undertaken by the Scottish Executive use a variety of document formats: letters, photocopied papers or published material. All of these documents are made available to the public via the Executive website, in addition to being d…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much each of its departments spent in each year since its inception to 31 March 2002 on (a) publishing and (b) promoting public consultation documents and what the budget for each department for such activities is for the period 1 April 2002 to 1 May 2003.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The costs associated with particular aspects of consultation exercises are met from the budget for a specific policy area and are not always separately identified. As there is no central record of such costs, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been in each year since its inception to 31 March 2002 for the (a) design, (b) print production, (c) advertising, (d) promotion and marketing, (e) distribution and (f) external assessment of responses, for all its public consultations and what the estimated budget…

Answer · Andy Kerr: Costs for different aspects of consultation exercises are not always identified separately within the budget for a specific policy area. As there is no central record of such costs, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of expenditure for particu…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the approval process is for spending on promotion and advertising in consultation exercises and what criteria are applied when making such decisions.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Decisions about the size of spend for promoting and advertising consultation exercises are taken by the Executive on an on-going basis, with advice on advertising and marketing from the Scottish Executive's Media and Communications Group and the specialist ag…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a detailed breakdown of all the costs of its National Debate on Education consultation in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24690 today. Of the activities quoted, work which was completed by the end of March 2002 cost £130,000. Costs for 2002-03 will also include sums for analysis of feedback and for events during the national…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) radio advertising slots and (b) poster sites have been booked for advertising its National Debate on Education consultation; what advice it was given regarding the choice of these slots and sites and by whom, and what fee or commission was charged by, or paid to, the agency o…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The National Debate on Education is being advertised on 13 commercial radio stations and 48 poster sites in key urban locations. Advice on the intensity, location and placement of media to ensure maximum participation in the debate was given by Executive offi…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is for (a) the design and production materials for public distribution, (b) radio and other media advertising, (c) display advertising including poster sites and (d) other promotional activities including postage and distribution, as part of its National Debate on Educ…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: Promotional activity for the National Debate on Education aims to maximise participation and generate a high level of feedback, which will be shared with the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. The costs are shown in the following table:<TABLE BORDER CELL…

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many investigations ordered by procurators fiscal into the owners of listed buildings are currently under way with regard to insurance fraud, any breach of planning laws, malicious damage or actions contrary to the listed status of their building and whether any of these also involved…

Answer · Colin Boyd: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many owners of listed buildings have been prosecuted in each of the last five years for insurance fraud, any breach of planning laws, malicious damage or actions contrary to the listed status of their building; what the outcome was of each prosecution and what properties were involved.

Answer · Colin Boyd: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

3 Apr 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what properties presently on, or being considered for inclusion in, its Buildings at Risk register being compiled by the Scottish Civic Trust, have in the last five years been the subject of reports to a procurator fiscal or investigatory actions ordered by a procurator fiscal with regard…

Answer · Colin Boyd: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that Shirley McKie is paid suitable and fair compensation for the damage to her reputation, career, life and health caused by the false evidence given in her trial regarding fingerprint identification and, given that the court case took place in 1999, whether it wil…

Answer · Jim Wallace: We are presently considering a claim for damages submitted on Ms McKie's behalf by her legal representatives.

21 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the decision of the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) that no errors were made by SCRO officers in the Shirley McKie case can be reconciled with previous statements by the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice and the Lord Advocate on this matter.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The conclusion of the Independent Scrutiny Committee, which was set up to be independent of SCRO and Strathclyde Joint Police Board, was that there were no matters of misconduct or lack of capability in the work surrounding the fingerprint comparisons made by…

20 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the report of the University Registrar's meeting held at Stirling University on 1 March 2002, which concluded that the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) is not able to "separately identify awards made to Scottish students. They do not collect information on…

Answer · Wendy Alexander: It is not normal practice for the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) or the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) to record the nationality of postgraduate students, as nationality is not used as a criterion in determining eligibility for student s…

19 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23494 by Cathy Jamieson on 12 March 2002, whether any local authorities or other local agencies have plans to involve private companies or private finance in assisting those who are temporarily or permanently excluded from school and what its positio…

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive does not hold information regarding any plans by local authorities' to involve private companies or private finance in assisting those who are temporarily or permanently excluded from school. <P>Funding allocated by the Scottish Executi…

18 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22764 by Mr Jim Wallace on 19 February 2002, why the information given in the answer differs from that provided by South Lanarkshire Council in its planning application report, considered by the Local Area Committee on 12 March 2002.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Question S1W-22764 asked what new facilities would be available after renovation that were not available before. The answer given provided that information and also referred to other upgrading of the court. The South Lanarkshire Council's planning application…

18 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Scottish Arts Council spent on the recruitment of its new director; how this compares to the recruitment costs of similar posts in other non-departmental public bodies, and what guidelines there are on recruitment processes and costs in respect of senior officers in public bo…

Answer · Elaine Murray: The amount spent on the recruitment of their new director is a question for the Scottish Arts Council themselves. Details on recruitment costs in other non-departmental public bodies are not held centrally. New guidance is being devised at present covering th…

14 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the view expressed in paragraph 23 of its Policy Memorandum on the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils' Records) (Scotland) Bill that the inclusion of accessibility strategies in the national priorities in education "would carry little weight" is reconciled with the view expr…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The National Priorities in Education define the key outcomes we want from school education. The inclusion of any issue in the priorities requires ministers, local authorities and schools to address it in planning and delivering school education. The inclusion…

14 Mar 2002 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how effective it is for an issue to be included within the national priorities in education, given the view expressed in paragraph 23 of its Policy Memorandum on the Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils' Records) (Scotland) Bill that the inclusion of accessibility strategies in th…

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The National Priorities in Education define the key outcomes we want from school education. The inclusion of any issue in the National Priorities requires ministers, local authorities and schools to address it in planning and delivering school education.<P>Th…