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-11394

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 12 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what tendering process took place prior to the appointment of Arthur Andersen to undertake a consultation on professional development for teachers.

An accelerated restricted procedure notice was placed in the Official Journal of the European Community on 1 November 1999, as required by the EC Services Contracts Regulations. This was also reproduced in The Scotsman and The Herald (17 and 16 November 1999 respectively). 13 pre-qualifying questionnaires were received within the set timescale.Following an initial screening process six organisations were invited to tender on 23 December 1999. Two tenders were received. Following Technical and Commercial and Financial Analysis the contract was awarded to a consortium led by Arthur Andersen, in partnership with the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde.

Question reference: S1W-11396

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 12 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what alternatives to the appointment of a commercial consultant were considered prior to the appointment of Arthur Andersen to undertake a consultation on professional development for teachers.

The tendering process for this contract was undertaken in accordance with EC Procurement Directives, allowing a wide range of individuals and organisations to apply. Following an initial screening process six organisations were invited to tender, four of whom were not commercial consultants. In carrying out the contract Arthur Andersen will be the lead body in a consortium which also comprises the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde.

Question reference: S1W-11239

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 12 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it will give to local authorities to ensure that its social inclusion objectives are being realised, with particular regard to ensuring the inclusion of children with disabilities and learning difficulties in school sports activities and after-school clubs.

The Scottish Executive Inclusion Programme is providing £12 million over two years from April 1999 to assist local authorities to include children with special educational needs in mainstream education.

The Scottish Executive provides funding to sportscotland who, amongst other things, work with Scottish Disability Sport, the governing body for sport for people with disabilities in Scotland. Both organisations, with some involvement by local authorities, run numerous programmes and initiatives which aim to benefit children with a disability during and after school hours.

Childcare providers/organisations are eligible for funding from the New Opportunities Fund for out of school care projects. Since its first awards in July 1999 the New Opportunities Fund has made grant commitments of £15 million in Scotland, of which £9.7 million has been committed under the Out of Schools Hours Learning programme and £3.8 million for Out of School Hours Child Care. Provision for children with special educational needs is included within these programmes.In addition, authorities are also using resources from the £4 million allocated to them to improve the childcare infrastructure, over this year and next, to improve access to out of school care for children with special educational needs.

Question reference: S1O-02766

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2001
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 11 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will apply to the implementation of the recommendations of the McCrone Committee report.

Question reference: S1W-11401

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 10 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Qualifications Authority regarding any continuing dissatisfaction among pupils and parents with the results of the appeal process.

The Scottish Executive is in close touch with SQA about progress with the appeals process, and has arranged for it to be independently monitored by representatives of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). Decisions on individual appeals are for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) as an independent awarding body but the Executive has discussed with SQA their arrangements for dealing with any concerns about the outcome of appeals.

Question reference: S1W-11340

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 10 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the mileage rate for transport expenses paid to teachers when attending in-service courses and similar events reflects the present cost of petrol.

The payment of travelling expenses to teachers attending training courses and similar events is a matter for the relevant local authority as the teacher's employer. National rates for the payment of such expenses are agreed annually through negotiation between the representatives of the teacher unions and the employers. Local authorities can choose whether to pay more than the nationally agreed rate.

Question reference: S1W-11261

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 10 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the current round of New Opportunities Fund ICT training for teachers and how much of the total cost was spent on the folder of materials provided to each course participant.

The New Opportunities Fund (NOF) allocated £23 million in Scotland to provide training for all serving teachers and school librarians in publicly-funded schools who want to undertake the training programme. Training is delivered by 12 approved training providers in Scotland, each of whom will have their own models of delivery. Schools choose training providers from a catalogue of training providers approved by the NOF. Any material given to participants will be a matter for the training provider concerned.

Question reference: S1W-11258

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 9 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how much New Opportunities Fund money will be distributed in Scotland in the current year and how much of this will be spent on school projects.

Since its first awards in July 1999, the New Opportunities Fund has made 201 awards totalling £16,248,000 in Scotland, of which £9.7 million has been committed under the Out of School Hours Learning programme. In addition over £32 million has been allocated for ICT training for teachers and public library staff and the building of the Public Library Network in Scotland. Information on the current financial year will be available at the end of March 2001.

Question reference: S1W-10945

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 8 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10350 by Iain Gray on 30 October 2000, what the "range of services provided" are which are in place for people with mental health problems in the South of Scotland; what support, financial and other, it has provided for such services in each of the past three years, and what advice and guidance it has made available to agencies providing or seeking to provide such services.

The resources available to Dumfries and Galloway Council and to Dumfries and Galloway Health Board in each of the last three years are as follows (£ millions):

	Allocation to Local Authority¹	Allocation to Health Board
1998-99	160.5	114.4
1999-2000	170.5	132.2
2000-01	176.0	132.9

Notes:

1. Total Grant Aided Expenditure allocation.

It is for the health board and the local authority to decide how much should be spent on mental health services and support, though the Scottish Executive expect a co-ordinated approach to be adopted. Comprehensive information on the range of services provided by the health board and the local authority from the resources made available to them are available from those agencies.

In the past three years 14 projects in Dumfries and Galloway have been supported by Mental Illness Specific Grant (£480,000 a year), and seven initiatives in the area have been funded from the Mental Health and Well Being Development Fund to a total value of £832,000.

Guidance on the best organisation of mental health services was published in the service elements section of the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland (bib. no.7392). A copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.

Question reference: S1W-10899

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 8 January 2001

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the outstanding sums owed to the Scottish Qualifications Authority as at 1 October 2000 had been outstanding for (a) more than one month, (b) more than three months and (c) more than six months.