Ms Rosemary Byrne

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address unauthorised absence from schools by pupils with a record of needs or individualised education plan, in light of their absence rates from mainstream schools as highlighted in Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools 2003-2004.

Answer · Peter Peacock: In 2003-04 the Scottish Executive was able to publish more comprehensive data than ever before on the nature of absence from school and the kinds of pupils involved. I am considering the findings and I take all absence from school seriously.</p><p>Home school…

17 Jan 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is to promote inclusion of children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream schools.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Under Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, local authorities have a duty to educate all children and young persons, including those with autistic spectrum disorders, in mainstream schools unless certain exceptional circumstances ap…

5 Jan 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish marine national parks.

Answer · Ross Finnie: We are currently considering options for the future management of Scotland’s marine environment following our wide ranging consultation exercise last year. We will make an announcement in due course.</p>

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in rural areas do not have access to a car, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: According to the 2001 Census of Population, the number of households in each local authority, in areas in the accessible rural or remote rural categories of the urban-rural classification used for the Scottish Household Survey, was as follows:</p><table borde…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the working population in rural areas earns the minimum wage, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The preferred source for earnings data is the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which is carried out by the Office for National Statistics. It is not possible to provide the number of people who are earning the minimum wage or below by local authorit…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households there were without any bank or building society accounts in rural areas in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Households without bank or building society accounts in rural areas are as shown in the following table. Information is available from the Scottish Household Survey Annual Report for the periods 1999-2000 and 2001-02. The data set for 2003-04 should be availa…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnancies there were to girls conceiving under 16 in rural areas in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Andy Kerr: Comprehensive information on teenage pregnancies, broken down by both NHS board and local authority area, is published by the Information and Statistics Division of National Health Services Scotland and is available electronically at: </p><p><ahref="http://ww…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were homeless in rural areas in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The table shows the number ofpeople assessed as homeless by the relevant local authority for the last five yearsfor those fourteen local authorities which are defined as rural. </p><p>Number of People Assessed asHomeless 1999-2000 to 2003-04</p><table class=M…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many households in rural areas received benefits in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information is not available in the precise form requested. However, the Scottish Executive does publish information for Scotland and local authorities about individuals (but not households) claiming social security benefits and tax credits twice a year. …

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many premature deaths there were in rural areas in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Tavish Scott: There is no standard definition of premature deaths. The information presented in the table covers deaths under 75 years of age. </p><p>Premature¹ Deaths in Rural² Areas, Scotland, 1999-2003</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households there are in rural areas in housing of below tolerable standard, broken down by local authority (LA) area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish House ConditionSurvey, which is the only consistent national source of information on houses belowtolerable standard, estimates that there were 20,000 households living in housesbelow the standard in 2002. Five thousand of these households were i…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in rural areas reside in (a) private rented and (b) public sector rented homes, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The table gives estimates for households in rural areas who reside in private rented and public sector rented accommodation by local authority, 2003. The Scottish Household Survey defines rural areas as being settlementsof fewer than 3,000 people.</p><p>House…

17 Dec 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in rural areas have (a) no wage earner, (b) an income of less than &#163;12,000 and (c) an income of less than &#163;15,000, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the number of households in rural areas by income band or with no wage earner by local authority is not available.</p>

24 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what publicity and other materials are available for people with disabilities.

Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive takes barriers to communication for disabled people seriously and gives due consideration to providing publicity and other materials in alternative formats on request e.g. braille, large print, audio cassette, easy read and electronic v…

24 Nov 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to bring civil service jobs to the Borders.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The Executive’s policy on relocation aims to bring the benefit of public sector jobs to all areas of Scotland. The Borders will be considered alongside other areas in all location reviews.</p>

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will raise awareness of climate change issues and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Ross Finnie: I am pleased to announce the launch today of a public consultation exercise on the review of the Scottish Climate Change Programme, which is designed to stimulate a public debate on climate change and seek views on the Executive’s response. The consultation p…

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to integrate climate change into its planning policies and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Johann Lamont: Climate change is already integrated into the Scottish Executive’s planning policies.</p><p>Scottish Planning Policy (SPP)1 The Planning System recognises the Executive’s wider commitment to tackle climate change and acknowledges that burning fossil fuel is t…

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to integrate climate change into its agriculture policies and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Ross Finnie: Research in Scotland into climate change and land use has been on&#8209;going for more than a decade, with an investment of over £5.5 million. Proposals for further climate change research will be published in the near future and our on&#8209;going review of …

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce energy efficiency standards for electrical appliances and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Energy efficiency standards for electrical appliances is a matter reserved to UK Government. The Scottish Executive supports measures being taken by the UK Government to pursue improvement in energy efficiency of appliances through a combination of product in…

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce energy efficiency standards for buildings and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Johann Lamont: Building regulations set demanding standards for new or altered buildings. After the introduction of the new building standards system in 2005, a further review of energy standards will be undertaken, including the issue of improvements to the existing housin…

22 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce the permitted greenhouse gas emissions for companies and what funds will be allocated for this purpose.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will be introduced from 1 January 2005 and will place limits on emissions of carbon dioxide from some of Scotland’s largest emitters. The Executive is working closely with the UK Government to implement the Scheme across …

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11878 by Ross Finnie on 15 November 2004, why nuclear sites are monitored by their owners instead of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA); why information about the numbers of staff involved in monitoring and cleaning up is not held cent…

Answer · Ross Finnie: Under the polluter-pays principle, the site operator is required to pay for regulation and for any clean up. The regulators are responsible for ensuring that the site operators are undertaking appropriate monitoring and will conduct reassurance monitoring as …

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how the provision of free fruit in schools is funded.

Answer · Euan Robson: The Free Fruit Scheme is funded by the Scottish Executive through the National Priorities Action Fund. We initially offered to provide £2 million per year forthree years (from 2003-04 to 2005-06) to enable local authorities to provide freefruit for all P1 and…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools provide free fruit for all pupils, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive has provided all local authorities with funding under the National Priorities Action Fund to enable them to provide all P1 and P2 pupils with one free piece of fruit three times a week. The January 2004 School Meals survey showed that 9…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many postgraduate students will be required to take up teaching courses over the next three years to achieve its target of reducing class sizes in (a) Primary 1 and (b) S1 and S2 mathematics and English.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The number of postgraduate students that will be required to take up teaching courses over the next three years to achieve the target of reducing class sizes is estimated to be (a) in Primary 520 and (b) S1 and S2 mathematics and English 560 and 570 respectiv…

19 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many students are in initial teacher training places, broken down by year group and including postgraduates.

Answer · Jim Wallace: In 2002-03, the most recent year for which data are available, there were 1,612 postgraduate students on one year initial teacher training courses at higher education institutions in Scotland. There were also 3,736 undergraduate students on Bachelor of Educat…

17 Nov 2004 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in reducing class sizes to 20 at S1 and S2 for mathematics and English.

Answer · Peter Peacock: Very good progress is being made.</p>

12 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing a national strategy for kinship care.

Answer · Euan Robson: Social Work Services Inspectorate has commissioned research into kinship care in Scotland as part of a wider review of services for looked after children. The research will be published as soon as it has been received by Ministers and the Executive will consi…

12 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning support teachers have been redeployed in each local authority area to provide cover in order to implement a reduction in class contact time in primary schools in line with the McCrone Agreement.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The method of implementing the commitment to reduce class contact time is a matter for education authorities to determine. This information is not collected centrally.</p>

12 Nov 2004 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have left the profession in the last five years other than for retirement or health reasons.

Answer · Peter Peacock: The information requested is set out in the following table:</p><p>Teachers Leaving the Profession, 1998-99 to 2002-03*</p><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> <p>Year**</p> </td> <td> <p align=center>Maternity Leave</p>…