Parliamentary questions
Ms Rosemary Byrne
600 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what educational programmes are incorporated into advanced apprenticeship programmes.
Answer · Allan Wilson: There are no advanced apprenticeshipsin Scotland. These are available in England and Waleswith study towards an NVQ level 3 and are equivalent to a Scottish Modern Apprenticeship(MA).</p><p>On successful completion of anMA in Scotland, candidates achieve S/NV…
20 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what educational programmes are incorporated into apprenticeship programmes.
Answer · Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29189 on 31 October 2006. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…
19 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it plans to put into schools that are not meeting HM Inspectorate of Education’s standards in all aspects of inspection criteria.
Answer · Peter Peacock: As a result of devolved funding,both a school and its respective education authority have flexibility to divertresources internally to address potential areas of weakness. Additionally, whereschools are found by inspectors to be underperforming, Her Majesty’s…
19 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAAT) have set criteria for the prescription of methadone and what these criteria are for each DAAT.
Answer · Hugh Henry: Current guidance forprescribing methadone is based on the document <i>Drug Misuse and Dependence -Guidelines on Clinical Management</i>, issued by the Departments of Health ofall 4 countries in the UK in 1999.</p><p>The responsibility fordetermining the most …
19 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what monies have been allocated to address (a) educational, (b) housing, (c) health and (d) income deprivation issues in (i) East Ayrshire, (ii) North Ayrshire, (iii) South Ayrshire, (iv) Dumfries and Galloway, (v) Scottish Borders, (vi) South Lanarkshire and (vii) East Lothian in each ye…
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requestedhas already been provided in response to question S2W-26938 on 28 June 2006 andthe associated document laid in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40256) which provided figures onfunding allocated for the purpose o…
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit will be of the senior advisers appointed to support its “Determined to Succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The newly appointed SeniorAdvisers will join an existing team responsible for supporting localauthorities in developing and delivering Determined to Succeed (DtS) plans, and providingsupport to schools engaged in the Schools of Ambition (SoA) programme.</p><p…
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of any support staff appointed to assist the senior advisers being appointed to support the Executive’s “Determined to Succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We have no plans to recruit additionalsupport staff.</p>
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many support staff will be appointed to assist the senior advisers being appointed to support the Executive’s “Determined to succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: None. The new senior adviserswill make use of current administrative support.</p>
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the overall cost will be of appointing the senior advisers to support its “Determined to Succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: The cost of advertising theseposts in <i>The Times Educational Supplement Scotland</i>, <i>The Herald </i>and<i>Sunday Herald, The Scotsman</i> and <i>Scotland</i><i> on Sunday</i>,<i>The Press and Journal</i>, S1 Jobs and Jobs.Scotsman.com is £13,114.36, exc…
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive for how long the senior advisers being appointed to support its “Determined to Succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies will be employed.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We plan to offer successfulcandidates a one year fixed term or secondment opportunity, with the option toextend the position until March 2008.</p>
18 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many senior advisers are being appointed to support its “Determined to Succeed” and “Schools of Ambition” strategies.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: We hope to appoint two new senioradvisers to help with delivery of Determined to Succeed and Schools of Ambition. Thenew staff will replace two individuals who have now left the Executive.</p>
17 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the figures in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, what measures it is taking to reduce the number of children dependent on a recipient of job seekers allowance.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Help to find employment for Jobseeker’sAllowance recipients, including those with children, is the responsibility of theUK Government and is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions through arange of Jobcentre Plus services and programmes.</p><p>The S…
17 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the figures in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, what measures it is taking to reduce the number of children dependent on a recipient of income support.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has inplace a number of different measures across many departments which assist familieswho are on the lowest incomes, including those on Income Support.</p><p>These include the Working forFamilies Programme (helping to remove barriers …
17 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the figures in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, what measures it is taking to reduce the number of families in overcrowded housing.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is doing a greatdeal to provide more affordable housing across Scotland and reduce the pressureon existing stock. Through our current programme, we are investing some £1.2 billionin affordable housing between 2005 and 2008, which will provide ov…
17 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the figures in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, what measures it is taking to reduce the number of people aged 16 to 18 not in full-time education.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Tackling the issue of movingyoung people into education, employment or training is a key priority for the ScottishExecutive. More Choices, More Chances, the strategy to reduce the proportion ofyoung people in Scotland who are not in education, employment or t…
17 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the figures in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, what measures it is taking to reduce the number of working-age people with no qualifications.
Answer · Allan Wilson: Through our lifelong learningstrategy: Life Through Learning; Learning Through Life we are taking a wide rangeof measures to ensure that all Scots have the opportunity to gain the skills thatthey need to achieve their potential and play an active role in soci…
16 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many ministerial visits have taken place in the south of Scotland since 2003.
Answer · Tom McCabe: The information requested couldonly be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p>
16 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what public sector sites in the south of Scotland will receive broadband connectivity as a result of the Pathfinder project.
Answer · Nicol Stephen: All 201 schools in the southof Scotland pathfinder area will receive advanced broadbandconnectivity as a result of the Pathfinder Project. In addition a further 209public sites in the area, ranging from council offices to museums, librariesand leisure centres…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has how many households in rural Scotland do not have a bank account.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are estimated to be 20,000households in rural Scotland that do not have a bank account in 2004-05.</p><p>Bank accounts are defined asthose that accept Automatic Credit Transfers (ACT), which are defined as Basic BankAccounts, Current accounts, Post Offi…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has about how many households in rural Scotland are living on benefits.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: There are estimated to be 50,000households in rural Scotland living on income related benefits (Job Seeker’s Allowance,Income Support and Pension Credit) in 2004-05. These households may be receivingother benefits in addition to the income related benefits. M…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has about how many households in rural Scotland do not have access to a car.
Answer · Tavish Scott: Information about the percentagesof households in rural areas which do not have access to a car is given in Table1 of <i>Household Transport in 2005: some Scottish Household Survey results</i>,published by the Scottish Executive in 2006, copies of which are a…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in rural Scotland are living in fuel poverty.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish House ConditionSurvey for the year from October 2003 to September 2004 estimates that around 109,000households in rural Scotland are living in fuel poverty. This represents about 25%of households residing in rural Scotland, compared to 13% of hou…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in rural Scotland occupy accommodation with a poor energy rating.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish House ConditionSurvey for the year from October 2003 to September 2004 estimates that around 78,000households in rural Scotland live in dwellings with a poor energy rating. This representsabout 18% of households residing in rural Scotland, compar…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many damp houses there are in rural Scotland.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish House ConditionSurvey for the year from October 2003 to September 2004 estimates that around 30,000households in rural Scotland live in dwellings showing signs of rising or penetratingdamp. This represents about 7% of households residing in rural…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many severely deprived households there are in rural Scotland.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot available on a household basis.</p><p>The following information isbased on individuals in severe low income households which can be used as a proxy.</p><p>The official source of low incomedata for Scotland is the Households Bel…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many deprived households there are in rural Scotland.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested isnot available on a household basis.</p><p>The following information isbased on the number of individuals in low income households which can be used asa proxy.</p><p>The official source of low incomedata for Scotland is the Househol…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to alter the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in order to make it appropriate for rural communities.
Answer · Malcolm Chisholm: <b> </b></p><p>1. The Scottish Indexof Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) measures concentrationsof area deprivation across all of Scotland in a fair way and is appropriate for identifying concentratedareas of multiple deprivation in both urban and rural areas.…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign fee-paying students specialising in mathematics did not gain an immediate placement at the start of their postgraduate teacher training course in September 2006.
Answer · Peter Peacock: All student teachers in Scotlandon the one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in mathematicscourse were allocated a school place for their observation week which commencedon 25 September 2006 and their subsequent six-week block placement.<…
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many foreign fee-paying students specialising in English did not gain an immediate placement at the start of their postgraduate teacher training course in September 2006.
Answer · Peter Peacock: In total there are 3,362(1,599 primary and 1,763 secondary) student teachers in Scotlandundertaking one-year professional graduate diploma in education (PGDE) courses.All have been allocated a school place for their first six-week block schoolplacement which …
12 Oct 2006 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many students specialising in mathematics did not gain an immediate placement at the start of their postgraduate teacher training course in September 2006.
Answer · Peter Peacock: All student teachers in Scotland on theone-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in mathematics coursewere allocated a school place for their observation week which commenced on 25 September 2006 andtheir subsequent six-week block placement.<…