Parliamentary questions

Liz Smith

954 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

26 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have received extra-curricular music tuition in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not collected centrally.

13 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism will reply to the letter sent to him by Muthill and Tullibardine Community Council on 25 May 2010 in relation to the Beauly to Denny power line.

Answer · Jim Mather: Since the letter of 25 May 2010, my officials have met with representatives of Muthill and Tullibardine Community Council and further supporting information has been presented by them. This is currently being considered and a reply will be issued shortly.…

13 Aug 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider asking Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Ltd (SHETL) to accept Muthill and Tullibardine Community Council’s proposal to underground the Beauly to Denny power line in the vicinity of Muthill.

Answer · Jim Mather: I granted consent for an overhead line in the Muthill area following full and careful consideration of all the objections and representations received, the evidence produced to and submissions made at the inquiry and the inquiry report. The reporter''s report…

7 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to ensure that HM Inspectorate of Education inspection frameworks recognise and encourage outdoor learning as part of the Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Outdoor Learning Strategic Advisory Group, on which HMIE was represented, recommended to ministers that HMIE inspections should consider and evaluate outdoor learning provision in schools and other settings. HMIE are committed to evaluating the learning e…

7 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver outdoor education as part of the Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Learning and Teaching Scotland is developing a structured programme of continuing professional development events and resources to support teachers, educators and their partners as they implement the new guidance on outdoor learning. The programme will be ava…

7 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has given to schools to provide the necessary leadership and direction for delivering outdoor education as part of the Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning.

Answer · Adam Ingram: Curriculum for excellence through outdoor learning provides guidance to schools and centres on progressive outdoor learning experiences from ages three to 18. The guidance emphasises that all staff at every level of involvement with the education of c…

7 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers in each (a) primary and (b) secondary school in each local authority take part in residential outdoor education.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

6 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many probationer teachers have not successfully completed their probationary period and registered because of (a) misconduct and (b) incompetence in each year since 1999.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The following details relate to the period since the teacher induction scheme was introduced in autumn 2002. Comprehensive records are not available before this date. The following table shows: Column a “ Teachers who have not completed thei…

6 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have been struck off the teaching register in each year since 1999.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The table shows the numbers of teachers struck off the teaching register in each year. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td width=100 valign=top > 1999-2000 </td> <td width=48 valign=top > <p align=ri…

1 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve road safety on the A823.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The A823 is classed as a local road and is, therefore, the responsibility of those local authorities through whose area the route runs. We are making available almost £12 billion in funding for local authorities this financial year. Decisions about local roa…

1 Jul 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve road safety on the A822.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000179 EndHTML:0000006726 StartFragment:0000003110 EndFragment:0000006686 SourceURL:file:///\\cc02fd\writtenanswers$\To_Be_Processed\S3W-35049.doc <html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsof…

4 Jun 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) advice it has given and (b) time period it has recommended to Scotland’s Colleges regarding the review of bursaries for 2010-11

Answer · Keith Brown: It is the responsibility of the Scottish Funding Council to issue guidance on, and any changes to, its bursary policy before the start of each academic year. The council published the bursary policy for 2010-11 on 11 June 2010. Ministers ha…

20 May 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to be able to provide parents, teachers and pupils with full details on the new structure of the SQA examination system.

Answer · Michael Russell: SQA have released details of the design principles for the new National 4 and National 5 qualifications and have provided information on how they are taking forward the qualifications development process. They will provide the details of individual qualificat…

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on supply teachers in secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell : This information is not held centrally. </o:p

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on supply teachers in primary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school hours in secondary schools were taught by supply teachers in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.

25 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many school hours in primary schools were taught by supply teachers in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: This information is not held centrally.

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has established the sport volunteer programme with schools and after-school clubs as stated in the SNP manifesto and, if so, how many volunteers have been recruited in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government are working through our manifesto commitments having already delivered a significant number of measures to make Scotland wealthier, safer, healthier, smarter and greener. We have delivered over 30,000 volunteers in 2008-09 who…

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many exercise on prescription schemes there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not available. However, we have commissioned an audit of exercise referral schemes (ERS) across Scotland which will be completed by summer this year. The audit will supply us with key information on a number of different aspects of ERS, on…

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many visiting specialist PE teachers there have been in secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31310 on 15 February 2010. 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/App…

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many visiting specialist PE teachers there have been in primary schools in each year, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the qualification of centrally employed teaching staff who would fulfil the role of visiting specialists is only available from 2006 and can be found in the statistical bulletins Teachers in Scotland for the years in question. Links to …

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist PE teachers there have been in secondary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the number of teachers by local authority in secondary schools whose main subject is PE is only available from 2003. The information can be found in the statistical bulletins Teachers in Scotland for the years from 2003 onwards. Links t…

1 Feb 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist PE teachers there have been in primary schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Michael Russell: Information on the number of specialist PE teachers in primary schools by local authority is only available from 2003. The information can be found in the statistical bulletins Teachers in Scotland for the years from 2003 onwards. Links to the informa…

18 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it will give to local authorities to repair and resurface potholes following recent adverse weather conditions.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-9221 on 21 January 2010. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the official report can be viewed at: <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business…

18 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have received compensation from a local authority for damage to their vehicles in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government has no reason to hold this information.

18 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have requested a claim form from a local authority for damage to their vehicles in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government has no reason to hold this information.

14 Jan 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason ministers overruled the recommendations of the reporter for the public inquiry on the Beauly to Denny power line upgrade regarding the section near Glenside, Plean.

Answer · Jim Mather: On reaching my decision, I balanced the macroeconomic need for, and the benefits of, upgrading the existing line with the visual and landscape impact at locations along the whole route. The reporters found a compelling need and technical justifications for th…

14 Jan 2010 · Written Question

9 Dec 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses occupied by one person have (a) two bedrooms, (b) three bedrooms and (c) four bedrooms, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Alex Neil: The best source of data on household size by number of bedrooms is the Scottish House Condition Survey. Due to the size of sample in this survey, it is necessary to combine data from different years to get reasonable sample sizes for local authority areas.</p…

30 Nov 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage uptake of the baccalaureate is, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Keith Brown: Details of the percentage of schools in each local authority who have entered pupils for the Scottish Science and Languages Baccalaureates can be found in the following table: <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=…