Chamber and committees

Library services, whether public or school, are a matter for the local authorities, who must comply with Section 163 (2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which places a duty on local authorities to made adequate provision for library services within their area.

The Scottish Government does not collect specific details on plans for school or public libraries.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33398 on 12 May 2010. 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/apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Local authority expenditure details collected by the Scottish Government provides details of expenditure on public libraries. However, expenditure on school libraries is not separately identified.

The following table provides details of local authority 2008-09 net revenue and gross capital expenditure on library services, which covers: permanent libraries; mobile lending libraries and service to housebound library users; hire of rooms for local clubs and meetings and provision of reference material and, acting in the capacity as an information service, archives and records not kept under the Local Government and Planning Act 1982.

Library Services	2008-09
	Net Revenue Expenditure (£000)	Gross Capital Expenditure (£000)
Scotland	119,022	6,822
Aberdeen City	4,254	52
Aberdeenshire	4,448	204
Angus	2,185	19
Argyll and Bute	1,389	1
Clackmannanshire	1,042	0
Dumfries and Galloway	2,897	0
Dundee City	5,269	206
East Ayrshire	2,676	169
East Dunbartonshire	3,084	22
East Lothian	2,064	690
East Renfrewshire	2,402	62
Edinburgh, City of	11,509	890
Eilean Siar	953	0
Falkirk	3,306	637
Fife	9,061	242
Glasgow City	15,461	283
Highland	4,443	269
Inverclyde	1,338	115
Midlothian	1,483	0
Moray	2,156	10
North Ayrshire	2,654	23
North Lanarkshire	6,978	222
Orkney Islands	1,053	0
Perth and Kinross	3,923	44
Renfrewshire	4,542	131
Scottish Borders	1,901	8
Shetland Islands	1,186	67
South Ayrshire	2,176	308
South Lanarkshire	5,669	360
Stirling	1,983	128
West Dunbartonshire	3,033	612
West Lothian	2,504	1,048

 

This information is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33400 on 10 May 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the numbers of teachers receiving Modern Languages in the Primary School training, as this is the responsibility of local authorities.

Information on Modern Languages in the Primary School training from the final two years of the Languages Fund, 2006-07 and 2007-08, is provided in the following table. We are unable to provide information for previous years because the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Teachers Undertaking MLPS Training (from Local Authority Languages Fund Returns, 2006-07 and 2007-08)

	French	German	Spanish	Italian	Gaelic	Total
2007-08*	483	42	95	27	16	663
2006-07**	647	108	102	17	2	876

Notes:

*Based on Languages Fund monitoring exercise returns for 2007-08 received from 26 local authorities.

**Based on Languages Fund monitoring exercise returns for 2006-07 received from 31 local authorities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33400 on 10 May 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx

During the years where the ring-fenced Languages Fund operated (2001 to 2008), the Scottish Government requested annual returns from local authorities on how they used the funding. In 2007-08 this included information on the numbers of pupils studying modern languages at different stages; the range of languages offered; the numbers of teachers trained in Modern Languages in the Primary School (MLPS), and other information pertaining to specific priority outcomes highlighted for that year e.g. using new technologies, promoting interdisciplinary work and reflecting on the place of modern languages within Curriculum for Excellence as set out in Building the Curriculum 1 - the contribution of the curriculum areas.

Languages Fund awards were allocated on a broad basis to support learning and teaching of modern languages in schools - local authorities were responsible for deciding precisely how they would spend their allocations. In addition to funding MLPS training, local authorities used their funding for other purposes, for example to pay for foreign language assistants, employ additional teachers or develop language resources at local level.

This is an operational matter for the Scottish Children''s Reporter Administration (SCRA). The information requested is not held centrally. I have therefore asked the Principal Reporter to provide this information to the member.

As noted in my previous answer, it is not the practice of the government to disclose whether it has sought legal advice in relation to a particular matter. Disclosure Scotland has not had a legal challenge relating to the inclusion of information about supervision orders on certificates.