- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 13 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it has had with Her Majesty's Government on the terms of reference for the proposed commission on the coterminosity of parliamentary boundaries in Scotland, in particular on its membership, budget, staffing and timetable for reporting.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-4778 on 13 January 2004.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/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 13 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what recommendations it has made to Her Majesty's Government in respect of the proposal to establish a coterminosity commission, in particular on the principle of establishing the commission, its remit, composition, staffing and timetable for reporting
Answer
The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Her Majesty’s Government on a wide range ofissues, including those arising from its welcome decision to legislate in thecurrent session to maintain the size of the Scottish Parliament. In thisconnection, in line with a recommendation made by the Scottish Executive, Her Majesty’s Government announced in December 2002 that it acceptedthe principle of a commission to address associated issues: furtherannouncements on the detailed arrangements will be made in due course. Meantime,the Scottish Affairs Select Committee is undertaking an inquiry into thespecific issue of co-terminosity.
Copies of the Scottish Executive’s submission to the Scotland Office consultation exercise (Bib. number24078) and to the Select Committee Inquiry (Bib. number 30504) have been placedin the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 12 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what the current level of award to individual students' is from the disabled students' allowance as part of the programme for wider access to higher education; what plans there are to increase the current level of award from the allowance; how many students have been granted an award from the allowance in each of the last three years and during the current academic year; how much has been spent on the (a) disabled students allowance and (b) programme for wider access to higher education in each of the last three years and how much is planned to be spent on each in the current financial year and each of the next three years; how many applicants have been refused an award from the allowance in each of the last three years and so far this year; how many, and what percentage of, applicants to the allowance have been referred to access centres in each of the last three years and so far this year, and what the outcomes have been of such referrals in each of the last three years and so far this year.
Answer
Eligible full-time studentscan receive support from the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) of up to £12,070each year comprising a basic allowance of up to £1,490 and a non-medicalpersonal help allowance of up to £11,280. A further payment of up to £4,460 forthe purchase of major equipment allowance is available for the duration of thecourse.
The Executive is keen toensure that the current support arrangements are helping us achieve our goal ofwidening access. As part of the current funding of learners review in post-compulsoryeducation, we will work with our stakeholders to re-examine the supportavailable for students with disabilities.
| | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04* |
| No of DSA applicants | 1,253 | 1,646 | 2,801 | 1,996 |
| No receiving DSA | 1,253 | 1.646 | 2,798 | 1,996 |
| Unsuccessful applicants | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| No referred to access centres | 374 | 641 | 752 | 380 |
| % referred | 29.84% | 38.94% | 26.84% | 19.03% |
| Total awards | £3,082,691 | £4,043,293 | £5,128,226 | £2,163,670 |
*to date
The number of students whoseapplication for DSA is refused after being referred to an access centre is extremelysmall. If a student is referred he or she is already considered eligible to receivea DSA award. The purpose of referral to an access centre is to establish thestudents needs and the level of award required.
As DSA is provided as anentitlement, future expenditure will be dependent on the number of studentsapplying in future years and their assessed needs.
The Scottish HigherEducation Funding Council (SHEFC) continues to work with universities andcolleges to widen access to higher education in Scotland. There are variouswidening access initiatives at both national and local level including theWider Access Regional Forums established by SHEFC in 1999 as part of aninitiative to encourage wider participation.
SHEFCprovides core teaching grants to higher education institutes on condition thatthey have policies and actions to help widen access. As well as this core grantit provides specific grants to cover provision for initiatives such as theStudents with Disabilities Initiative, Disabled Students Premium and EqualityChallenge Grant. Decisions on the allocation of funding to these initiativesare made by SHEFC on an annual basis. The following table gives the amount ofgrant specifically for widening access allocated in the last three academicyears and the current year:
| | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 |
| Expenditure | £9,703,000 | £14,911,000 | £25,365,740* | £16,540,000 |
Note: *Figures for 2002-03include an additional £10 million Teaching Infrastructure Grant to enableinstitutions to develop their infrastructure to meet the requirements of theSpecial Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 12 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times since May 1999 chief constables have used their powers under Part III of the Police Act 1997.
Answer
The information requested iscontained in Annex A to the AnnualReport of the Chief Surveillance Commissioner to the Prime Minister and to the Scottishministers for 2002-03. The annual report is published by the Stationery Office,and a copy is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 29152).
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 12 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4398 by Peter Peacock on 9 December 2003, how funding for 2004-05 and 2005-06 will be split between additional teachers and the Spark project and what the estimated cost will be of introducing maximum class si'es of 20 in S1 and S2 and 25 in P1.
Answer
Overall the fundingallocation for 2004-05 and 2005-06 for additional teachers and the Sparkproject is £29 million and £49 million respectively. As the Scottish Executive is currently engaged in the procurement process for the projectformerly known as Spark, it is not possible to separate out funding for eachelement due to commercial confidentiality. However, the split is heavilyweighted in favour of recruiting additional teachers.
Our class size commitmentssit alongside our commitments to significantly increase teacher numbers to53,000 by 2007 and to increase the number of specialists working across theprimary secondary boundary. In later years the salary costs of our class sizecommitments will be approximately £45 million.
Any need for additionalclassrooms in particular schools, consequent on our commitment to reduce classsizes will be influenced by issues such as local school occupancy levels,future pupil numbers and effectiveness of timetabling. It is for educationauthorities to consider these issues in the first instance.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 12 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4399 by Peter Peacock on 9 December 2003, what targets it has for the number, and percentage, of classes with a maximum si'e of 20 pupils for each of the next four years.
Answer
There are no plans tointroduce class sizes of a maximum of 20 in primary schools. Practical classesin secondary schools already have a class maximum of 20. The Executive has setout its aim for class sizes in S1/S2 Maths and English to fall to a maximum of20 in time for academic year 2007-08. The partnership agreement sets no interimtargets.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 9 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to objective 5, target 9 of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning chapter of its Draft Budget 2004-05, which quartile of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries Scotland's proportion of the workforce that are graduates falls into; what percentage of the workforce are graduates, and what the trend has been in respect of the number of graduates in the workforce in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answer
1. In 2001, Scotland was17th in a 31-country sample with graduates making up 16% of the workforce(taken as 25- to 64-year-olds), placing it in the third quartile. 2001 is themost recent year this data is available for international comparisons.
2. The level and proportionof the workforce (aged 16+) that are graduates are:
| Year | Level | % |
| 2000 | 379,000 | 18 |
| 2001 | 424,000 | 18 |
| 2002 | 447,000 | 19 |
2002 is the most recent yearthis data is available covering the period March 2002 to February 2003.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how many development projects, of what value, have been delayed because of lack of investment or commitment to investment by Scottish Water, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
This is an operationalmatter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to writeto you about this matter.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 7 January 2004
To ask the Presiding Officer how many full-time equivalent legal advisers are employed or contracted to support the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and what changes are planned in the level of support in 2004.
Answer
As provided for under the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Act 2002, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body(SPCB) has approved the Commissioner having a contract with Anderson Strathernto provide independent legal advice to him in his capacity as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. It is not possible to provide the number of full-time equivalent legaladvisers as this will depend on the number of issues the Commissioner seekslegal advice on. All costs for legal support will be met from theCommissioner’s existing budget, and the contract has been let on a short-termbasis to allow the Commissioner and SPCB to consider the usage of such adviceand possible future options.
- Asked by: Alex Neil, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 6 January 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3973 by Mr Jim Wallace on 25 November 2003, how the statement that "in general terms, the implications for Scotland of UK membership of the Euro are similar to the UK as a whole" is consistent with the statement that "the specific effects of monetary union would be anticipated to differ across regions", particularly if no analysis has been carried out, or is planned, to assess the impact of UK membership on specific sectors within Scotland.
Answer
The
Scottish EconomicReport article reflects the fact that the UK and Scottish economies havesimilar structures, and that they share common macro-economic and fiscalregimes.
The statement that “ingeneral terms, the implications for Scotland of UK membership of the Euro aresimilar to the UK as a whole” refers to the fact that Scotlandshares the same macro-economic and fiscal regimes as the UK. As aresult, the fiscal and monetary policy levers available to deal with economicshocks will be similar.
The statement that “thespecific effects of monetary union would be anticipated to differ acrossregions” is based on the fact that all regions of the UK havevariations in their industrial structures. As a result – while the generalimpact would not be anticipated to vary greatly across the UK – it ishighly likely that there will be some distinction in the overall impact in Scotlandrelative to the other regions of the UK, as the impact of monetary union will vary acrosssectors.
