Chamber and committees

The 2005-06 Scottish house condition survey estimates of the count of primary heating fuel used by people aged over 65 is shown in the following table:

Primary Fuel Used	Number of People Aged over 65
Oil	59,000
Gas	577,000
Solid fuel	28,000
Electricity	155,000
Communal Schemes	19,000
Total	838,000

 

The Scottish house condition survey collects data on domestic energy expenditure and, from this, the Scottish house condition survey team has carried out the calculation.

The last year for which survey data is available is 2005-06. Using that data as a base, we have raised the domestic energy expenditure estimates in line with domestic fuel prices.

We project forward from Scottish household survey estimates of 2005-06 that, on average:

Pensioner couple households spent £1,474 on domestic energy in April 2007 and £1,551 in April 2008.

Single pensioner households spent £1,113 on domestic energy in April 2007 and £1,192 in April 2008.

Low income households are defined as those households whose income lies in the lowest 20 percentile, i.e. in the bottom 2 deciles.

The Scottish house condition survey collects data on domestic energy expenditure and income and, using that data, the Scottish house condition survey team has carried out the calculation.

The last year for which survey data is available is 2005-06. Using that data as a base, we have raised household domestic energy expenditure estimates in line with domestic fuel price rises.

In May 2006, households in the lowest 20 percentile are estimated to have spent an average of £974 per year on domestic energy.

In April 2007, the same households are projected to have spent an average of £1,073 per year on domestic energy.

In April 2008, those households are projected to have spent £1,129 per year on domestic energy.

Assistant inspectors are appointed by HMIE to undertake a number of days’ work each year. They comprise retired HM Inspectors or others with up-to-date knowledge of and a background in education and services for children and young people, including experience in inspection and review procedures and quality assurance work.

HMIE first appointed assistant inspectors in 2003 and since then, has appointed 50. Of the 50, three did not take up their appointments and from the remaining 47, 32 had previously been teachers and eight were lecturers in further education colleges. This equates to 85% of the assistant inspector group.

Those assistant inspectors not involved in inspecting schools and reviewing colleges will be involved in other aspects of HMIE’s work i.e. community learning and development, services for children and as a consequence, will have qualifications and relevant experience in community education, health, educational psychology, criminal justice and social work.

The Guidance to Local Authorities, published by the Working Group on Marches and Parades in December 2006, makes clear that, if a local authority makes a case why a certain type of procession should be excluded from the notification process, the Scottish ministers will consider it and make an order if necessary. No applications have been received.

I published a consultation document on 6 June 2008 seeking the views of communities and marching organisations on the implementation to date of the marches and parades provisions of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 and associated guidance. We will consider the responses to this consultation before deciding if any changes to the legislation or guidance are required.

The A77 trunk road is the only road that has permanent average speed cameras. There are a total of 48 camera locations over a 32 mile length of the route and these cameras were first installed in July 2005.

There have been various temporary installations of average speed cameras through major roadwork sites following the fixed installation on the A77. The only temporary roadwork site at present is on the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass.

The potential to introduce more average speed cameras, and at what trunk road locations, will be informed by an assessment of the A77 average speed camera system.

The effectiveness of the A77 average speed camera system, installed in July 2005, will be fully assessed once three full years of data is available. A three year period is the norm when considering road safety interventions as it allows a greater degree of statistical confidence in the results.

Accident statistics for the three year period from July 2005 to July 2008 are expected to be published in October 2008. Full assessment of the A77 average speed camera system will commence after these statistics are published.

The Scottish Government holds accident rate information for all trunk roads in Scotland. The A77 trunk road is the only trunk road in Scotland with fixed average speed cameras; the accident rate for the A77 is listed below. The accident rate is broken down by single and dual carriageway.

The accident rate for the dual carriageway section is 7.7 accidents per 100 million vehicle km against the national dual carriageway average of 9.5 per 100 million vehicle km.

The accident rate for the single carriageway section is 17.7 accidents per 100 million vehicle km against the national single carriageway average of 20.9 per 100 million vehicle km.

No detailed breakdown of complaint figures are available before 2004-05. The number of inspection reports that have been subject to a complaint for the years 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2007-08, broken down by authority are set out in the following table.

Period	Education Authority	No. of Inspection Reports Subject to a Complaint
2007-08	Aberdeen City Council	1
	Aberdeenshire Council	3
	Angus Council	2
	Dumfries and Galloway Council	1
	East Ayrshire Council	1
	East Lothian Council	3
	City of Edinburgh Council	1
	Falkirk	4
	Fife	2
	Glasgow City Council	4
	Independent	1
	The Highland Council	9
	Inverclyde Council	2
	North Ayrshire Council	1
	North Lanarkshire Council	1
	South Lanarkshire Council	4
	Stirling	1
	West Lothian Council	1
Total no of complaints received		42
	Aberdeenshire Council	1
	Argyll and Bute Council	1
	Dumfries and Galloway Council	1
	East Ayrshire Council	1
	East Renfrewshire Council	1
	City of Edinburgh Council	2
	Falkirk	2
	Fife	4
	Glasgow City Council	2
	The Highland Council	1
	Inverclyde Council	1
	Independent	1
	The Moray Council	1
	North Ayrshire Council	1
	North Lanarkshire Council	1
	West Lothian Council	1
	unknown	1
Total no of complaints received		23
2005-06	Aberdeen City Council	2
	Dundee City Council	1
	East Dunbartonshire Council	1
	City of Edinburgh Council	3
	Glasgow City Council	3
	The Highland Council	2
	North Ayrshire Council	2
	Scottish Borders Council	3
	South Ayrshire Council	1
	West Dunbartonshire Council	1
Total no of complaints received		19
2004-05	Aberdeen City Council	1
	Aberdeenshire Council	1
	Argyll and Bute Council	1
	Dumfries and Galloway Council	1
	Falkirk	1
	Fife	2
	Glasgow City Council	2
	The Highland Council	2
	Midlothian Council	1
	North Lanarkshire Council	2
	Perth and Kinross Council	1
	Scottish Borders Council	2
	The Moray Council	2
	Western Isles Council	1
	West Lothian Council	1
	Independent	1
Total no of complaints received		22

 

HMIE monitors the feedback it seeks and receives on a constant basis from head teachers, staff and professional associations on its inspection processes. It also commissions regular external, independent research involving parents and other stakeholders. As a result and over a number of years, HMIE has taken positive action to address issues raised, including mitigating unnecessary pressure on teaching staff. Such actions have included reducing the notification period for inspections and reducing the amount of pre-inspection information requested from establishments being inspected.

HMIE works hard to ensure that inspections are as constructive and positive an experience as possible and that they lead to improvement for children and other learners. It invests heavily in induction training and continuing professional development of inspectors to ensure that inspections are conducted professionally and constructively.

Following initial internal development from January 2008, agreement was reached in March 2008 with Scottish ministers on the principles to be applied in the new models of inspection. Starting in April, HMIE entered a period of consultation with a wide range of stakeholders on these principles and the processes to be applied in the new inspections. This consultation exercise is still on-going and the approaches are presently being tested in a set of pilot inspections following which the stakeholders involved will be asked to provide feedback. Taking account of this feedback and to give all schools and education authorities detail about the new arrangements, HMIE will provide comprehensive public information on its plans to implement the new approach in time for the start of school session 2008-09. They have been designed to take account of the changing environment within which scrutiny of public services takes place as well as the feedback received on the inspection process, and the findings from research with external stakeholders. The new inspection models are designed to ensure that any inspection has maximum impact with minimum intrusion. Inspections will be shorter, more proportionate and involve the evaluation of a reduced number of quality indicators. To help reduce bureaucracy, the new inspections will require the preparation of less documentation by the school and will build more on the school’s own self-evaluation. Greater emphasis is also being placed on professional dialogue between inspectors and staff in these new inspections to promote better partnership working and provide support to bring about improvement for all learners.