- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 7 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland is represented in the European Commission's Culture 2000 programme and what projects have (a) been supported by and (b) received funds from the programme.
Answer
The Culture 2000 programme has EUCLID as its official Technical Information Office in the UK, providing support and assistance for potential applicants to the programme. The next Scottish workshop takes place in Glasgow on Wednesday, 4 June 2003. A range of projects in Scotland have been supported through this programme and full details of these can be found on EUCLID's website
www.culture2000.info.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 7 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any minister or official attended the meeting of sports ministers in Brussels on 24 and 25 February 2003 to discuss education, youth and culture policies and, if so, whether it will report back on the matters raised.
Answer
No minister or official from the Executive attended the meeting at which discussion focussed on the draft World Anti Doping Agency Code.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many three- and four-year-old children have been in pre-school education and what proportion of these received provision in centres run by (a) local authorities, (b) the voluntary sector and (c) the private sector in each year since 1995.
Answer
The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Year | Centre Type |
| Local Authority | Partnership | Independent | Other | Total |
| September 1995 | 100.0% | | | | 49,020 |
| September 1996 | 100.0% | | | | 50,117 |
| September 1997 | 100.0% | | | | 53,260 |
| February 1999 | 79.5% | 18.4% | 2.1% | | 79,361 |
| September 1999 | 75.1% | 23.0% | 1.8% | | 88,799 |
| January 2001 | 73.7% | 26.3% | | | 98,837 |
| January 2002 | 73.5% | 25.2% | | 1.3% | 98,769 |
Prior to 1998 data was only collected for children attending local authority nursery schools. In 2001-02, it was not possible to break down the data into those in the private and voluntary sectors, and those describing themselves as "other".
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 6 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its proposals for the future funding and organisation of the museum and heritage sector.
Answer
The Executive has not, as yet, decided when to make an announcement on the action plan for the museum sector. Eighty-three detailed responses were received and are being carefully considered.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many free places are available in local authority-run nursery schools for three- and four-year-old children and what shortfall in places is estimated compared with parental demand.
Answer
The Executive has delivered on its pledge to provide free pre-school education for every three- and four-year-old, whose parents want one.Local authorities are under a duty to secure sufficient pre-school education places to meet demand. Information supplied by local authorities shows that capacity exceeds demand.The maximum number of places available in local authority pre-school education centres is shown in Table 4 of the 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24310). In 2001-02 a total of 67,781 funded pre-school education places were available across Scotland. A further 35,689 funded pre-school education places are available in private and voluntary partner centres. As most centres cater for children on a part-time basis, it is possible for the minimum levels of pre-school education of 412.5 hours to be provided to more children than the total number of places available.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many qualified nursery teachers have worked in pre-school education in each year since 1995.
Answer
In January 2002, there were
2,190 qualified teachers working in pre-school education centres (1,384 full-time and 806 part-time). This equalled 1,645 full-time equivalent teachers. The total number of qualified teachers working in pre-school centres is not available from the censuses carried out since 1995, but full time equivalent figures are provided in the following table.
| Year | Total FTE Teachers |
| September 1995 | 1,068 |
| September 1996 | 1,079 |
| September 1997 | 1,240 |
| February 1999 | 1,382 |
| September 1999 | 1,566 |
| January 2002 | 1,645 |
Full-time equivalents have been calculated on the basis of a 35-hour working week. In January 2001, the
Census of Children's Daycare and Pre-School Education Centres was carried out for the first time, replacing the
Census of Pre-School Education Centres. Reliable data on teacher numbers are not available from the 2001 census.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average ratio of qualified nursery teachers to children is in pre-school centres run by (a) local authorities and (b) the private sector.
Answer
The 2002 pre-school and daycare census was carried out in January 2002. The statistics relating to the number of teachers and children in pre-school education from the census was published in September last year. A copy of the 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census, is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 24310).
| | Local Authority Centres | Private/Voluntary/Other Centres |
| Number of Children | 79,793 | 47,246 |
| Number of Qualified Teachers | 1,719 | 471 |
| Child:Qualified Teachers Ratio | 46 | 100 |
The majority of children attend on a part-time basis. Therefore the ratio of children to staff in centres at any given time will be lower than shown in the table.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the judgement in the case considered in the Supreme Court of the United States of America, Kumho Tire Co v Carmichael (US 137 1999); whether it agrees that a court's "gatekeeping" function in respect of the reliability of expert evidence applies to all expert evidence, whether or not it is given by scientists, and, if so, what steps it is taking to ensure that such a function is exercised in the same way in Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34146 today. 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: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the recent amendment to the Federal Rule of Evidence No 702 as adopted by the United States Congress which took effect on 1 December 2000 for courts in the United States of America and, in particular, the provision in this rule that states "if scientific, technical, or other specialised knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case"; whether it will assess the present rules of expert evidence in Scotland against these criteria; whether the Scottish rules fall short of this standard and, if so, in what ways, and whether it will bring forward proposals to improve rules of evidence based upon this standard.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34146 today. 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: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 March 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the Daubert judgement which currently governs the admissibility of expert testimony in courts in the United States of America and, in particular, the implications of the judgement with regard to the present means, technique and quality of similar evidence offered in Scottish courts, with particular reference to fingerprint evidence brought forward by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in criminal cases in the last five years from experts working in the Scottish Criminal Records Office.
Answer
We have considered the recent developments in the law of expert evidence in the United States of America, including the judgements in the Daubert and Kumho Tire Co cases and the Federal Rule of Evidence No 702. The rules of evidence in Scotland in relation to skilled witnesses are comparable in many respects, but we do not consider that they have any implications for the use of expert evidence, including fingerprint evidence, in Scotland.We have, however, set out proposals for the greater use of expert evidence in some types of case. These are contained in Vital Voices, Helping Vulnerable Witnesses Give Evidence: Policy Statement, paragraph 2.31, published by the Scottish Executive on 27 February 2003. Copies are available from the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26600).
