Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is currentlyinvesting overall approximately £93 million per year in the employment of additionalsupport staff in schools through the core local government finance settlement. Thiscomprises of £36 million from 2002 for the classroom assistants initiative, £50 million from 2003 for additional support staff underthe Teachers’ Agreement and £6.9 million additional funding for support staff in2005-06. It is for local authorities to determine how these funds are used in thelight of local need.

In addition, officials wrote to all Directors of Education on 24 January 2005 advisingthem that additional funding of £7.5 million in 2005-06, £11.3 million in 2006-07 and £17.1 million in 2007-08would be made available to local authorities through the National Priorities ActionFund to employ additional support staff to improve discipline and behaviour in schools.The letter also offered guidance on the ways in which this funding could be used.I am arranging for a copy of this letter to be made available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 39197).

Over the last year and a halfwe have significantly increased the level of our teacher recruitment activity. Thishas included targeting students and graduates. Our recent advertising and promotionalwork has been in addition to the work of our teacher recruitment team that regularlyvisits careers fairs and universities to publicise and promote teaching in Scotland as acareer. Indicators of the effectiveness of our campaign include:

The average number of hits onthe Teaching in Scotland website has increased from 10,500 per month (Januaryto March 2005) to over 33,100 per month (October to December 2005) - an increaseof approx. 216%.

There has also been a significantincrease in the number of enquiries posted on the Teaching in Scotland mailbox- up from 20 per month in early 2005 to 182 per month in December 2005.

In 2005, 1,465 teachers fromoutwith Scotland registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland, comparedwith 1,051 in 2004.

The information is set out inthe following table:

Year	Average Age (In Years)
January – December 2001	34.72
January – December 2002	33.29
January – December 2003	32.51
January – December 2004	31.76
January – December 2005	30.52

 

It is for education authoritiesto decide whether, on what routes and how to provide such attendants. The ScottishExecutive’s school transport guidance makes clear the expectation that authoritieswill keep these matters under review.

I acknowledged to the EducationCommittee on 26 October that there is a lot that we can do to highlight what hasworked well in improving the situation on school buses, and said that we will workwith local authorities to identify and disseminate best practice across a rangeof school transport issues, including the use of attendants.

I have made clear to the EducationCommittee, in both written and oral evidence, my view that the statutory frameworkdoes not inhibit education authorities from adopting eligibility criteria that theyconsider appropriate to local circumstances.

The Leadership for Learning programmeis run by Learning and Teaching Scotland. It began in January 2004 as a developmentof the ICT Masterclass programme aimed specifically at head teachers and now hasover 700 participants. The programme is paid for out of the grant provided to Learningand Teaching Scotland for the operation of the ICT Masterclass programme.

Network Rail are continuing todevelop a programme for the early delivery of the double tracking for diesel serviceseast of Bathgate and they have regular discussions with Transport Scotland overthis issue.

As indicated in my statementon 16 March we have reached agreement with Network Rail for the delivery of theearly works. The final details of the agreement are still being developed. Oncethese details are finalised we aim to sign an implementation agreement by the endof 2006.

Transport Scotland hasthe operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more informationif required.

The support available forstudents studying abroad on programmes such as Erasmus mirrors the supportavailable for all other students attending abroad on a compulsory basis. Thisincludes tuition fees, student loans, young students’ bursaries and supplementarygrants, as appropriate. The Executive has no plans to increase this support.

We are working with the UKSocrates Council to explore ways of increasing the number of students who studyabroad as part of their degree course. This includes organising an event thisautumn for the Scottish higher education sector, to highlight the benefits forstudents of taking part in exchange programmes and discussing how to overcomeobstacles to increasing participation.

We have steadily increasedinvestment across the range of treatments in the last five years: £33.6 millionwill be allocated to NHS boards for drug and alcohol treatment services in 2006-07.The Executive’s Sure Start programmewill provide £57 million in 2006-07 to local authorities to enable them to workwith health services and other organisations to support our most vulnerablechildren and families. The Changing Children’s Services Fund will provide over£65 million in 2006-07 to support local authorities and their partners toimprove the quality and integration of services for children and young people,including those involved in or affected by substance misuse.

While every effort is madeto work within the family setting, the welfare of the child remains paramount. Thereare local procedures in place to assess whether or not removal would be in thebest interests of the child.