Chamber and committees

There was a discussion on the way forward for modern languages in the primary school under Curriculum for Excellence, including training for primary teachers, at the Cultural Organisations and Local Authorities (COALA) network meeting in October 2009, attended by Scottish Government officials. This topic was also discussed during the COALA meeting in January, but during the afternoon session when only local authority staff were present.

Minutes and papers from all meetings of the COALA network are available on the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research''s (SCILT) website:

http://www.strath.ac.uk/scilt/partnerships/coala/.

As employers, it is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure teachers are supported with the appropriate professional development to enable them to do their job effectively.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33129 on 22 April 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the numbers of hours of Modern Languages in the Primary School training offered by local authorities. However, as specified in my answer to your question S3W-31088 on 4 February 2010, we do engage closely with interested parties, particularly through meetings of the Cultural Organisations and Local Authorities (COALA) network, where issues around modern languages in the primary school, and other matters pertaining to the learning and teaching of modern languages in schools, are routinely discussed.

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.

As indicated in the answer to question S3W-32500 on 14 April 2010, we expect NHS boards to plan their service provision in line with the latest clinical guidelines.

We want all people in Scotland living with diabetes to be able to access and benefit from the best possible care. We therefore recognise the importance of ensuring that NHSScotland is both aware of, and able to take advantage of, the latest clinical research and technology.

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.

We expect NHS boards to make provision for interventions such as continuous blood glucose monitoring in line with the latest clinical guidance.

This is set out in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) Guideline 116 on the management of diabetes, published in March 2010. It recommends that these monitoring systems should generally be considered for use by patients who experience particular difficulties in maintaining normal glucose levels or who have been transferred to intensive insulin therapy (insulin pumps), as well as by women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes during pregnancy.

The information requested is not available centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32500 on 14 April 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

Projected total cost of the Fingerprint Inquiry is £4,014,126, based on the total spend to date and projected future expenditure estimated by the Inquiry.

In accordance with provisions of the Inquiries Act 2005, the actual expenditure after 31 March 2010 remains dependant on future decisions of the inquiry chair and may differ from the projected total.

Estimated total expenditure on the Fingerprint Inquiry to 31 March 2010 is £3,399,400.

Local authorities as employers have statutory obligations under current employment and equality legislation to promote open and fair competition. They also, however, have statutory obligations in relation to existing employees and their advertising strategy for individual posts, including access to supply lists will reflect their staffing needs and circumstances at the time.

The Code of Practice on the Use of Temporary Contracts for Teachers, developed by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, of which the Scottish Government is a member, states that employees on temporary contracts should not be treated any less favourably than those on permanent contracts. The Code takes into account the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Employment Relations Act 1999 and Employment Act 2002, as well as the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) and Fixed Term Workers Regulations (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) 2002.

In addition two of the recommendations of the Teacher Employment Working Group report published last year referred to post probationers and supply work. These are:

Recommendation 4: Local authority employers should wherever possible use post-probation teachers to fill supply vacancies

Recommendation 5: Local authorities should consider making more use of permanent supply pools to ensure stable employment opportunities are available to post-probation teachers.

The purpose of these recommendations is to help to develop more opportunities for those newly qualified by reducing the use of retired teachers in supply. The recommendations on supply are for local authorities as the employers of teachers to take forward while bearing in mind both employment and age legislation.