Neil Findlay

24 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review corporate governance arrangements at NHS Lothian.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no plans to review corporate governance arrangements at NHS Lothian. The Scottish Governments seeks assurance on these arrangements from NHS Lothian’s external auditors, Audit Scotland.

24 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any failings in corporate governance at NHS Lothian.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government takes its assurance on the corporate governance arrangements of NHS Lothian from the external auditors; in this case Audit Scotland. The following is an extract from the most recent audit report, for the fiscal period 2010-11: Corpora…

24 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that NHS Lothian is in a position to oversee an external audit review of its waiting list times management process and, if not, whether this is due to elements of appropriate corporate governance in the board’s audit of the process being missing.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In the interests of appropriate corporate governance, the Scottish Government has taken over the management of the external audit. This will ensure not only that the governance arrangements for this piece of work are independent and transparent but that they …

24 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it continues to support NHS Lothian's decision to appoint an external auditor to examine its waiting list times management process.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: In the interests of appropriate corporate governance, the Scottish Government has taken over the management of the external audit. This will ensure not only that the governance arrangements for this piece of work are independent and transparent but that they …

24 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is regarding NHS Lothian's waiting list times management process.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: An external audit of NHS Lothian’s waiting times management process is currently underway. We await the findings of the final audit report and will expect the board to take forward any recommended actions to ensure that patients in Lothian receive the best po…

22 Feb 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Historic Scotland concerning staffing matters.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Government and Historic Scotland officials have met recently to discuss recent media coverage of bullying at the Agency. Historic Scotland takes allegations of bullying very seriously. Its policy on bullying and harassment in the workplace reflects t…

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who will take day-to-day responsibility for maintenance of the user base of the Glow replacement and who will operate the platform.

Answer · Michael Russell: The user base will be part of the scope for new authentication service for Glow, which is currently being procured. The contract will set out management responsibilities.

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the replacement system for Glow will incorporate commercial advertising that is visible to users.

Answer · Michael Russell: No.

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will protect the investment in resources on Glow to date when it is migrated to the new platform.

Answer · Michael Russell: The new Glow solution will connect users to existing national resources and they will continue to be able to access nationally procured content. There will also be a data migration solution available to users to transfer user generated content.

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the business rationale was for abandoning the Glow replacement procurement exercise.

Answer · Michael Russell: The development of Glow is based on engagement with the education community to establish a joint future vision for Glow. The decision to stop the procured solution for the next Glow was based on ensuring best value for money and educational outcomes from our…

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what system will replace Glow and whether this will retain the national user identity and authentication system.

Answer · Michael Russell: The new Glow solution will include a managed authentication service which will allow registered users to access an integrated applications suite comprising of tools, services and content. The procurement of the new Glow authentication service was announced o…

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an advisory group was set up to consider and advise on the future of Glow and, if so, when it was formed; how many times it has met; what organisations are represented on the group; what the membership is; what the selection criteria were for membership, and whether minutes were t…

Answer · Michael Russell: The development of Glow is based on wide ranging engagement with the education community including teachers, learners, parents and IT experts. I have listened to their advice and agree that Glow must evolve to become more dynamic and flexible, taking advantag…

21 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning has formed an advisory group to consider the future of online resources and a national intranet for education.

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05796 on 1 March 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybu…

20 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase paediatric junior doctor cover at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05774 on 5 March 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQ…

20 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional funding to allow permanent consultant and neonatal nursing cover at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05774 on 5 March 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQ…

20 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a shortage of junior doctors available to staff paediatric services at St John’s Hospital in Livingston and, if so, what impact this will have on these services.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-05774 on 5 March 2012. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQ…

20 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy has been advised by NHS Lothian of reports of a shortage of junior doctors available to staff paediatric services at St John’s Hospital in Livingston and, if so, (a) when this advice was given and (b) what subsequent …

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Patient safety is a top priority for the Scottish Government and NHS Lothian is committed to ensuring the continued provision of safe, effective and person-centred healthcare for children across Lothian. The Scottish Government is being kept informed of the s…

3 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to establish an equality and diversity working group for its Putting Learners at the Centre initiative and, if so, when this will be established.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government takes its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty very seriously and we continue to work to ensure that the policy and spending decisions we take pay due regard to their impact on equality and d…

3 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who carried out the equality impact assessment in relation to the further education sector section in the equality statement in the Scottish Spending Review and Draft Budget for 2012-2013.

Answer · Michael Russell: The chapter within the Equality Budget Statement in relation to the Further education sector was drafted by the appropriate Scottish Government officials.

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met teachers' trade unions to discuss teacher workloads.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government regularly meets with the teaching unions to discuss a wide range of issues including teacher workload. In addition, the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), the tripartite body comprising the Scottish Government, COSLA …

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many supply teachers each local authority has on its supply list.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Government does not collect information on local authority supply lists. Recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for the local authorities, as the employers of teachers, to determine.

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it provides to schools regarding classes that cannot be covered by a fully trained member of staff.

Answer · Michael Russell: Recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities, as employers, to determine. The Scottish Government does not provide specific advice to local authority employers. However, all local authorities are legally required to employ adequate…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how schools that are unable to recruit short-term supply teachers ensure that fully trained teaching staff are covering classes.

Answer · Michael Russell: All schools have locally agreed cover arrangements. Local authorities are legally required to employ adequate numbers of teachers who are registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what each local authority's success rate is in obtaining short-term supply teacher cover.

Answer · Michael Russell: Recruitment and deployment of supply teachers are matters for local authorities to determine and the information requested is not centrally collected. The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers is currently monitoring the implementation of all aspects o…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive in which local authority areas secondary school pupils will make their subject choice at the end of (a) second and (b) third year.

Answer · Michael Russell: Decisions around the delivery of education are the responsibility of each local authority. Schools review their own curriculum plans. Education Scotland has written to all Directors of Education and reminded them of the expectation that plans for the S1 to S3…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received requesting a delay in the introduction of the (a) Curriculum for Excellence and (b) new national exams.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Educational Institute of Scotland (http://www.eis.org.uk/) has called for some form of delay to the introduction of the new qualifications and met the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on 9 February 2012 to discuss this. The Cabinet Se…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has engaged with pupils to assess their views on the (a) Curriculum for Excellence and (b) new national exams and what assessment it has made of their preparedness for their introduction.

Answer · Michael Russell: Learners have been consulted on Curriculum for Excellence and the new qualifications. HM Inspectors gather young people’s views of their learning experiences during inspection and use their responses to inform inspection activities, discussions with staff and…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has engaged with local authorities regarding the introduction of the (a) Curriculum for Excellence and (b) new national exams.

Answer · Michael Russell: A local authority chief executive, director of education and Head of Children's Services were all on the original Curriculum Review Group who published A Curriculum for Excellence on 1 November 2004. COSLA is a member of the CfE Management Board. The Associat…

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has engaged with school communities and what assessment it has made of their preparedness for the introduction of the (a) Curriculum for Excellence and (b) new national exams.

Answer · Michael Russell: Curriculum for Excellence was successfully implemented in every secondary school in Scotland from August 2010. Education Scotland has gathered information on ongoing delivery through its inspections evidence which has been included in the CfE progress report …

2 Feb 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the preparedness of each local authority for the introduction of the (a) Curriculum for Excellence and (b) new national exams.

Answer · Michael Russell: Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) has been implemented progressively in every secondary school in Scotland starting with S1 in August 2010. Directors of Education have confirmed their schools are on track to deliver the new National Qualifications. Education Sc…