Chamber and committees

The rolling stockprocurement plan continues to be developed by Transport Scotland alongside the wider procurement plan to address the requirementsof both the Major Projects, including Airdrie to Bathgate, and the increasing demandsfor rail services. Transport Scotland is confident that it can successfully procurethe rolling stock needed to continue growing Scotland’s railways, and the procurement plan is on schedule to meet the deliverydeadline for the Airdrie to Bathgate project of December 2010.

The procurement ofrolling stock for the Airdrie to Bathgate project is an operating rather than capitalcost, and therefore has no impact on the £300 to £375 million capital cost projectionfor the Airdrie to Bathgate project.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area andcan be contacted for more information if required.

I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-3626 on 6 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can befound at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

New national guidanceon self-directed support which issued in July tasks local authorities with developinglocal infrastructures and is designed to increase uptake. This can be accessed onhttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/181224.

Along with my CabinetSecretary and ministerial colleagues, I am in dialogue with a range of stakeholdersto gather evidence and views on how we use the strategic spending review to setplans that will enable us to fulfil our purpose and achieve our strategic objectives.Increasing the uptake of self-directed support will be part of that consideration.

We welcome the wide-ranging10-year targets for each of the goals within the Equal Opportunities Commission’sGender Agenda, which was made publicly available on 23 August 2007.

As required by the Gender Equality Duty, which came intoforce in April 2007, the Scottish Government has published its Gender Equality Scheme,setting out the Government’s high level objectives for delivering on gender equality.These include objectives on some of the 10-year targets within the Gender Agenda.For example, there are objectives on closing the gender pay gap, addressing occupationalsegregation, ending pregnancy discrimination at work and violence against women.The scheme is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 42934).

We will, however,be considering how best to engage with the targets as set out by the EOC in thecoming months, this will be best achieved as part of the annual reporting processrequired by the Gender Equality Duty and our own commitment to revise the schemein light of the priorities of this administration. We will be revising and reportingon our Gender Equality Scheme between December 2007 and March 2008.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3626 on 6 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3626 on 6 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3626 on 6 September 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

As required by theGender Equality Duty, which came into force in April 2007, the government has publishedits Gender Equality Scheme, setting out the government’s high-level objectives fordelivering on gender equality. These include an objective to continue our actionto close the gender pay gap (both part-time and full-time) in Scotland by workingin partnership - with the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland, Scottish TradesUnion Congress, Scottish Enterprise and others - in the Close the Gap project.Close the Gap raises awareness about the gender pay gap and its various causes,and encourages action by employees and employers to tackle the causes and closethe gap.

Two other high-level objectives set out in the GenderEquality Scheme address main contributors to the gender pay gap, namely occupationalsegregation and pregnancy discrimination. In 2006 the government set up a Cross-DirectorateWorking Group to explore ways of tackling occupational segregation, and in 2008the group will produce its report, mapping out the range of factors involved andmaking recommendations for policy interventions that will help deliver change.

The government’s Gender Equality Scheme is available fromthe Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42934).

The Scottish Government will continue to act to eliminate gender discrimination andcontinue to provide support toimprove the availability of childcare across Scotland, both of which are important elements in addressing the pay gap.

The government hasalso been working with stakeholders to raise awareness about the Gender EqualityDuty and the opportunity for women (and men) to contribute to the development ofpublic sector policy, including on issues of pay.

Students domiciledin England, Wales and Northern Ireland are liable for a tuition fee of £1,735 peryear for general degree courses and £2,760 for medical courses. There are currentlyno plans to change this and no agreement in this area has been signed.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to tackling violence against women and within that domestic abuse.We have committed £8.6 million of funding to cover a range of issues in 2007-08and we will build on the work which has been undertaken to date in Scotland. We will continue to support women and children who experiencedomestic abuse and other forms of violence against women. To assist in that processthe Scottish Government is in the process of developing a National Violence AgainstWomen Strategy and action plan for broader work on violence against women.

The National Domestic Abuse Delivery Group for Childrenand Young People is also working on a plan for addressing issues for children andyoung people affected by domestic abuse.

The Scottish Governmentwill continue to work with key stakeholders on the National Group to Address ViolenceAgainst Women and the National Domestic Abuse Delivery Group for Children and YoungPeople to ensure that effective protection and support is available to those affected.