Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S1W-04233

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 22 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the amount payable to Scottish teachers towards the purchase of a personal computer from #200 to the maximum of #500 available to teachers in England.

Question reference: S1W-04230

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 22 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of the total cost of teachers' salaries on a local authority by local authority basis.

Teachers' pay and conditions are a matter for local authorities and we do not hold this information centrally. The latest available information on gross expenditure on employee costs for teachers is for 1997-98 and is set out in the table below.1997-98 Gross Revenue Expenditure on Employee Costs: Teachers (£000s)

	Salary	Superannuation	National Insurance	Allowances & other costs¹	Total All
Scotland	1,223,212	86,434	93,308	23,305	1,426,259
Aberdeen City	45,281	3,031	3,424	763	52,499
Aberdeenshire	58,654	3,944	4,461	509	67,568
Angus	26,637	1,895	2,037	589	31,158
Argyll & Bute	23,450	1,626	1,828	220	27,124
Clackmannanshire	11,376	1,037	867	139	13,419
Dumfries & Galloway	36,987	2,695	2,827	570	43,079
Dundee City	37,082	3,075	2,876	404	43,437
East Ayrshire	30,689	2,061	2,360	129	35,239
East Dunbartonshire	27,981	1,888	2,121	123	32,113
East Lothian	18,921	1,329	1,445	454	22,149
East Renfrewshire	22,231	1,904	1,719	6	25,860
Edinburgh, City of	79,529	5,592	5,974	1,719	92,814
Eilean Siar	10,928	737	790	490	12,945
Falkirk	32,217	2,156	2,265	1,082	37,720
Fife	87,082	5,940	6,673	2,034	101,729
Glasgow City	132,180	8,978	10,162	4,056	155,376
Highland	59,484	4,218	4,726	545	68,973
Inverclyde	21,588	1,491	1,645	255	24,979
Midlothian	20,860	1,461	1,579	294	24,194
Moray	22,445	1,534	1,726	418	26,123
North Ayrshire	33,893	2,292	2,624	330	39,139
North Lanarkshire	85,853	6,597	6,640	181	99,271
Orkney Islands	7,001	492	529	247	8,269
Perth & Kinross	30,385	2,126	2,314	542	35,367
Renfrewshire	42,736	2,776	2,924	901	49,337
Scottish Borders	25,540	1,777	1,969	706	29,992
Shetland Islands	9,657	899	779	754	12,089
South Ayrshire	27,163	1,843	2,072	34	31,112
South Lanarkshire	72,804	5,306	5,634	3,555	87,299
Stirling	20,083	1,394	1,541	526	23,544
West Dunbartonshire	24,692	1,687	1,899	188	28,466
West Lothian	37,803	2,653	2,878	542	43,876

Source: As reported by Councils on Local Finance Returns (LFR1 Education).

Notes:

1. Includes relocation, interview and training expenses, advertising, severance payments, Pensions Increase Act, transfer values for unfunded schemes and employee related insurances.

Question reference: S1W-04231

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 18 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to distribute the #41.783 million in the excellence fund which has not yet been allocated to local authorities.

£28.333 million is being distributed through the programmes noted in the following table :-

Undistributed Excellence Fund	Amount (millions)
Reducing Class Sizes	£15.6
New Community Schools	8.0
Specialist Provision	4.733

Most of this funding has already been allocated and authorities have been advised about the procedures for claiming the rest.Authorities will be advised about the balance of funding, £13.45 million, in due course and following the report of the McCrone Committee.

Question reference: S1W-03979

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 18 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to give its response to the recent consultation on regulation of early education and childcare.

Question reference: S1W-03944

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 17 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3276 by Mr Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000, whether it will quantify the estimated end year flexibility within the Education, Culture and Sport budget and specify what it has been allocated to.

Question reference: S1W-03982

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what is the membership, remit and timescale for reporting of the proposed National Planning forum to oversee the development of a national strategy on parental involvement in schools education.

The remit of the group is:

To advise and assist the development of strategies in schools and education authorities designed to improve effective involvement of parents through:

understanding and assisting their children's learning;

addressing parental information needs at individual, school and authority level;

responding to parents - including complaints procedures and advice services;

seeking parental views on relevant issues.

The group will be made up of representatives from the Scottish School Boards Association, Scottish Parent Teacher Council, Scottish Consumer Council and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland. It will advise Ministers at regular intervals as necessary, and therefore does not have a fixed timescale for reporting.

Question reference: S1W-03978

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what is the membership, remit and estimated timescale for reporting of the Ministerial Strategy Committee on Continuing Professional Development for Teachers.

The Strategy Committee on Continuing Professional Development for Teachers will be chaired by the Deputy Minister for Children and Education. The membership is being finalised and, alongside practising teachers, will include eminent figures from business, education and other fields.The remit is as follows:

to oversee the development and implementation of a national strategy for teachers' continuing professional development (CPD);
to ensure that the strategy reflects national priorities for school education, in particular the raising of standards and improvement in levels of attainment;
to ensure the effective promotion and marketing of CPD to teachers, parents, policy makers and other stakeholders;
to ensure the strategy, and the standards and programmes forming part of the strategy, address future as well as current requirements of schools and teachers;
to consider any other strategic issues relating to teachers' professional development.

Working practices and timescales for particular tasks will be established at the first meeting of the Committee.

Question reference: S1W-03980

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive to provide details of the proposed consultation on national priorities in education.

Question reference: S1F-00076

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 3 February 2000

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Executive is taking to improve school buildings in Scotland.

Question reference: S1W-03833

Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 2 February 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the announcement by the Minister for Children and Education on 12 January 2000, whether it will confirm the membership of the working party set up to examine the proposed transfer of Department of Social Security resources for young people leaving care to local authorities.

The working party comprises the following people nominated by their respective statutory and voluntary organisations:

Association of Directors of Social Work	Monica Boyle
	David Heaney
	Fred McBride
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities	Steve Driscoll
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities	Anne Marie Stewart
Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum	Tam Baillie
Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum	Vivienne Boyle
The Association of Careers Service Companies in Scotland	Mary Carson
The Association of Careers Service Companies in Scotland	Jean Geddes
Who Cares? Scotland	Dierdre Watson
Who Cares? Scotland	Stephen McGinley
Scottish Council for Single Homeless	John Dickie

The working group will be chaired and supported by Scottish Executive officials.