Questions and answers

Question reference: S1W-29977

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 12 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for implementing the commitment given in Working together for Scotland - A Programme for Government to reduce primary 3 classes si'es to 30 or smaller.

The reduction of class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3 is underpinned by the Education (Lower Primary Class Sizes) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/1080). These regulations placed a statutory duty on authorities to reduce class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3 by prescribed dates. Funding of £78 million over the period 1999-2004 is also being provided. Future school censuses will continue to monitor class sizes.

Question reference: S1W-31061

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 11 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish universities and colleges with regard to their approach to pupils applying for entry from Scottish schools who have A and AS level qualifications as well as Higher and Advanced Higher level qualifications.

The Executive has had no discussions with universities and colleges on this issue. Institutions are autonomous bodies and specific admissions policies are a matter for them. Through its new condition of grant and scrutiny of the Strategic Plans of higher education institutions, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council requires institutions to demonstrate how they deliver equality of opportunity in their application, selection, admissions and support policies.

Question reference: S1W-31062

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Iain Gray on 11 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that pupils from Scottish schools applying for entry to universities and colleges in Scotland are not at a disadvantage if they hold A and AS level passes as well as Higher and Advanced Higher passes.

Question reference: S1W-29878

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 11 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of pupils did not reach 5-14 attainment levels relating to their stage of primary and secondary education in each local authority area in each year since 1999, broken down by age cohort and subject.

The following tables show the percentage of pupils in each local authority who did not reach the target 5-14 attainment level for their stage in the school years 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01. The school stages where there are target levels of 5-14 attainment are P3, P4, P6, P7 and S2; therefore figures are shown for these stages only. The results for each subject are shown separately. The information was obtained from the annual survey of 5-14 attainment levels in publicly funded schools where data was collected by school stage and not by pupil age. 5-14 Attainment of P3 and P4 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not Attaining Stated Level by End of the Stage

Reading	% of P3 roll			% of P4 roll
Reading	Not Reached Level A			Not Reached Level B
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	19.4	15.4	12.8	29.1	24.9	21.3
Aberdeen City	21.1	16.8	14.1	29.7	28.0	24.1
Aberdeenshire	18.4	17.0	13.0	27.3	25.4	22.5
Angus	18.7	12.3	14.3	30.1	23.6	21.0
Argyll and Bute	34.0	12.1	14.0	36.3	19.4	19.1
Clackmannanshire	23.4	13.1	10.4	35.1	27.7	22.0
Dumfries and Galloway	20.7	18.9	15.1	30.6	30.5	25.9
Dundee City	20.7	19.5	14.0	33.7	27.4	25.0
East Ayrshire	20.0	17.0	13.1	27.7	25.8	23.7
East Dunbartonshire	10.6	7.0	5.3	18.7	13.9	10.2
East Lothian	17.9	14.0	8.7	25.6	25.5	22.1
East Renfrewshire	9.5	7.2	5.3	16.8	12.6	11.1
Edinburgh, City of	18.4	15.7	12.2	28.9	24.3	20.0
Eilean Siar	27.6	11.5	4.4	17.3	14.9	16.0
Falkirk	17.4	17.3	14.6	32.2	25.4	20.6
Fife	28.5	24.5	19.5	39.1	32.6	27.7
Glasgow City	20.2	15.6	15.1	31.9	28.7	23.1
Highland	19.2	15.8	13.9	26.9	24.0	21.6
Inverclyde	20.6	16.1	11.0	27.8	22.9	23.0
Midlothian	22.5	21.0	12.0	33.8	30.4	27.4
Moray	16.7	16.4	12.5	22.4	23.3	22.4
North Ayrshire	17.2	12.5	11.3	26.6	24.0	22.8
North Lanarkshire	17.6	13.1	11.6	28.5	24.8	21.0
Orkney Islands	13.8	9.8	5.6	21.3	17.9	18.0
Perth and Kinross	15.7	15.2	12.4	23.5	23.4	19.3
Renfrewshire	18.4	12.3	10.6	33.2	19.4	19.4
Scottish Borders	14.5	12.1	12.7	23.2	20.3	16.3
Shetland Islands	14.3	9.0	8.2	17.8	20.9	11.3
South Ayrshire	15.6	13.4	9.6	21.7	21.3	18.9
South Lanarkshire	17.2	13.0	9.9	26.6	19.9	17.3
Stirling	20.3	14.2	9.5	29.6	24.5	18.8
West Dunbartonshire	22.1	10.8	10.6	28.0	24.5	18.7
West Lothian	20.7	16.9	15.1	30.4	28.9	21.6

5-14 Attainment of P6, P7 and S2 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not Attaining Stated Level by End of the Stage

Reading	% of P6 roll			% of P7 roll			% of S2 roll
Reading	Not Reached Level C			Not Reached Level D			Not Reached Level E
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	24.5	20.1	17.1	36.1	33.7	29.7	55.5	46.9	43.6
Aberdeen City	24.8	22.3	17.7	36.3	33.8	28.7	48.9	44.0	43.3
Aberdeenshire	19.3	17.0	15.7	28.4	31.1	27.7	41.7	39.3	37.3
Angus	23.9	21.2	20.8	38.3	37.2	31.1	51.2	42.8	41.8
Argyll and Bute	37.4	16.3	12.7	37.5	28.1	23.8	75.4	37.9	36.4
Clackmannanshire	29.5	22.1	19.7	45.6	41.7	35.7	59.4	56.1	51.6
Dumfries and Galloway	24.1	24.5	19.7	36.6	36.5	34.0	49.7	45.3	47.5
Dundee City	31.3	27.2	22.1	44.2	41.7	35.1	55.8	55.8	50.0
East Ayrshire	24.6	21.1	16.7	38.0	35.7	34.8	62.8	49.7	46.3
East Dunbartonshire	14.6	9.7	9.4	25.2	20.8	16.0	69.5	36.3	31.5
East Lothian	24.7	19.2	15.9	34.6	33.5	29.2	50.5	44.9	39.1
East Renfrewshire	16.0	13.1	11.3	25.6	24.7	19.6	40.6	30.8	31.8
Edinburgh, City of	24.9	20.2	16.7	35.7	33.4	28.4	57.1	51.7	47.0
Eilean Siar	20.1	16.0	4.3	28.8	25.5	19.5	33.9	33.5	28.2
Falkirk	25.7	18.4	17.4	36.0	34.5	28.4	52.8	49.1	43.8
Fife	29.9	26.2	20.7	43.5	41.4	36.8	61.5	53.2	49.1
Glasgow City	26.0	23.8	19.9	40.7	37.6	33.4	67.6	60.3	53.5
Highland	19.7	17.0	17.8	31.7	29.3	28.4	44.1	41.6	33.7
Inverclyde	24.5	20.0	18.3	35.1	29.7	30.8	50.5	40.3	35.0
Midlothian	30.0	26.9	20.7	43.8	37.2	40.6	49.5	51.6	56.7
Moray	20.0	17.7	16.5	32.3	28.5	26.9	55.2	45.1	49.1
North Ayrshire	24.1	19.8	17.6	37.4	35.9	27.3	56.6	52.5	47.9
North Lanarkshire	23.8	19.6	15.9	35.1	33.2	28.8	62.1	50.9	50.2
Orkney Islands	18.0	19.1	14.1	29.4	24.7	35.3	28.0	33.3	29.3
Perth and Kinross	20.5	15.4	16.4	31.0	30.2	25.6	40.9	36.2	35.6
Renfrewshire	30.5	17.6	15.6	40.5	34.1	28.4	68.4	40.9	36.7
Scottish Borders	21.5	18.0	14.0	30.7	32.4	26.9	37.1	31.7	35.6
Shetland Islands	22.6	16.7	11.4	27.5	27.3	26.4	31.9	30.5	28.6
South Ayrshire	16.8	15.3	13.4	28.8	27.8	23.8	50.6	42.8	37.8
South Lanarkshire	23.2	16.3	13.8	32.0	31.1	27.0	51.6	45.4	41.1
Stirling	22.9	20.9	18.2	33.4	33.6	28.4	48.7	40.6	35.3
West Dunbartonshire	28.9	19.1	17.9	40.6	31.1	28.7	62.9	47.3	48.3
West Lothian	24.6	22.9	19.2	37.6	35.2	32.8	54.3	49.6	43.2

5-14 Attainment of P3 and P4 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not Attaining Stated Level by End of the Stage

Writing	% of P3 roll			% of P4 roll
Writing	Not Reached Level A			Not Reached Level B
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	29.8	21.4	17.2	39.9	33.3	29.1
Aberdeen City	27.0	22.1	18.6	39.7	36.1	33.5
Aberdeenshire	31.5	23.5	17.4	36.9	35.8	31.6
Angus	26.0	21.2	22.3	42.4	34.6	31.2
Argyll and Bute	43.6	16.4	16.3	47.3	27.9	24.3
Clackmannanshire	37.3	22.2	15.9	47.6	34.5	32.3
Dumfries and Galloway	27.4	24.2	18.9	40.7	35.8	34.2
Dundee City	35.4	26.0	21.3	47.4	36.3	33.7
East Ayrshire	35.3	25.0	19.3	40.0	33.1	27.3
East Dunbartonshire	21.0	13.4	6.7	27.6	20.3	15.9
East Lothian	21.6	17.6	11.7	32.7	33.2	28.8
East Renfrewshire	15.7	10.8	7.9	26.3	20.0	15.0
Edinburgh, City of	25.6	20.6	15.3	35.1	31.9	26.2
Eilean Siar	33.3	13.8	6.7	31.7	14.9	17.3
Falkirk	28.7	22.1	14.7	38.9	31.6	26.0
Fife	38.1	29.4	23.6	51.2	43.3	36.8
Glasgow City	35.6	24.0	20.8	46.2	36.8	32.0
Highland	27.9	21.5	18.8	37.1	32.6	28.1
Inverclyde	30.8	23.7	16.3	43.9	36.2	29.3
Midlothian	33.6	24.7	17.7	48.0	39.6	32.9
Moray	22.8	19.2	15.5	33.7	28.6	26.8
North Ayrshire	27.2	22.2	17.4	40.4	31.7	30.7
North Lanarkshire	30.8	21.0	15.0	40.5	35.0	30.6
Orkney Islands	19.8	14.8	9.5	31.2	20.9	22.0
Perth and Kinross	26.6	19.0	16.7	33.3	30.0	27.7
Renfrewshire	28.5	17.6	14.6	41.0	26.1	27.2
Scottish Borders	15.8	15.6	18.0	31.4	28.8	24.3
Shetland Islands	16.2	12.3	14.3	22.4	25.1	25.7
South Ayrshire	21.4	15.7	12.2	30.2	27.2	25.2
South Lanarkshire	29.8	18.9	16.2	36.5	29.6	26.5
Stirling	30.0	20.3	10.5	39.8	37.9	25.3
West Dunbartonshire	35.0	21.6	18.4	41.5	35.6	26.4
West Lothian	30.0	20.3	20.3	39.9	34.6	30.8

5-14 Attainment of P6, P7 and S2 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not Attaining Stated Level by End of the Stage

Writing	% of P6 roll			% of P7 roll			% of S2 roll
Writing	Not Reached Level C			Not Reached Level D			Not Reached Level E
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	37.9	32.1	28.7	52.7	47.4	43.7	62.0	56.5	54.1
Aberdeen City	35.1	33.8	29.0	52.9	47.1	45.0	62.2	58.3	58.4
Aberdeenshire	33.1	29.9	27.9	47.6	44.7	43.1	54.9	53.6	49.7
Angus	39.2	33.0	38.0	54.7	50.9	46.3	59.5	47.3	49.6
Argyll and Bute	50.7	23.8	24.5	58.4	43.8	38.3	80.3	47.4	46.5
Clackmannanshire	47.8	38.0	36.8	64.4	59.3	48.9	63.9	69.7	60.7
Dumfries and Galloway	36.1	37.8	31.3	47.6	49.1	48.4	58.5	51.6	57.1
Dundee City	43.9	39.7	35.4	57.1	51.8	47.6	56.7	59.1	56.3
East Ayrshire	38.0	31.4	26.9	56.5	50.9	43.8	65.1	62.3	57.9
East Dunbartonshire	32.0	21.2	17.8	40.7	36.5	31.0	74.4	60.2	43.3
East Lothian	36.1	27.1	24.6	50.2	44.3	38.4	58.6	57.9	51.0
East Renfrewshire	28.7	21.6	20.8	37.7	32.9	33.1	44.2	38.7	42.7
Edinburgh, City of	36.6	31.3	26.9	46.2	44.4	40.0	61.7	59.3	58.6
Eilean Siar	33.3	27.0	7.1	34.5	37.3	35.4	33.9	38.9	37.6
Falkirk	33.9	25.9	25.5	49.3	42.8	37.3	57.5	57.6	53.4
Fife	44.2	41.2	33.2	58.8	56.0	50.8	68.3	61.4	59.1
Glasgow City	45.4	36.0	32.3	60.8	53.5	47.8	73.5	66.3	61.0
Highland	32.5	26.3	26.8	43.4	41.8	39.7	50.4	47.5	45.6
Inverclyde	35.1	33.2	30.1	52.9	48.7	47.4	61.2	46.5	43.8
Midlothian	43.2	38.6	33.2	59.9	51.8	53.1	59.9	59.7	66.5
Moray	29.6	26.8	28.7	46.4	42.3	39.9	62.4	56.4	60.9
North Ayrshire	40.1	31.8	30.1	59.8	46.7	43.4	60.2	60.5	57.4
North Lanarkshire	42.0	34.2	29.5	57.9	50.6	44.6	66.8	64.8	62.8
Orkney Islands	24.1	25.6	22.8	37.1	35.4	42.8	28.0	42.1	33.8
Perth and Kinross	28.8	26.4	25.2	45.6	39.0	37.5	46.4	44.4	44.3
Renfrewshire	39.6	31.8	30.4	52.1	46.1	43.0	71.7	52.5	51.1
Scottish Borders	29.5	30.2	24.4	45.0	39.2	41.1	47.0	43.2	49.8
Shetland Islands	26.9	29.9	22.8	51.2	43.5	43.7	43.9	39.4	33.1
South Ayrshire	29.8	25.7	25.0	45.5	41.0	38.4	56.3	53.7	46.3
South Lanarkshire	33.7	30.3	24.3	49.8	46.0	43.0	56.7	54.7	50.2
Stirling	38.4	33.3	26.2	47.0	46.4	41.6	59.6	47.7	43.2
West Dunbartonshire	40.1	31.8	31.3	61.4	47.8	46.7	74.9	59.8	60.0
West Lothian	36.3	35.1	30.7	56.8	52.3	49.3	59.4	59.5	54.9

5-14 Attainment of P3 and P4 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not Attaining Stated Level by End of the Stage

Mathematics	% of P3 roll			% of P4 roll
Mathematics	Not Reached Level A			Not Reached Level B
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	7.5	5.8	5.1	27.6	26.7	23.0
Aberdeen City	6.5	6.5	7.3	30.5	30.5	29.0
Aberdeenshire	4.9	5.0	4.0	27.4	28.3	24.3
Angus	6.3	5.3	7.8	23.9	27.4	26.2
Argyll and Bute	34.5	5.6	5.0	36.0	20.4	23.3
Clackmannanshire	8.5	5.6	5.2	36.1	29.5	19.8
Dumfries and Galloway	7.5	9.7	7.8	30.3	31.9	29.2
Dundee City	10.1	9.3	6.5	34.6	30.8	28.3
East Ayrshire	7.3	7.3	4.9	27.0	26.9	19.2
East Dunbartonshire	5.1	2.4	1.9	16.7	12.4	10.4
East Lothian	3.8	6.7	4.7	28.6	29.6	28.1
East Renfrewshire	3.0	2.2	1.4	21.7	15.7	9.8
Edinburgh, City of	8.1	8.5	6.3	30.0	31.9	23.6
Eilean Siar	10.5	8.0	6.7	22.3	23.0	26.7
Falkirk	5.5	6.4	4.4	28.3	25.7	21.9
Fife	7.9	7.5	7.5	39.3	36.3	30.2
Glasgow City	9.4	6.1	6.7	28.2	28.5	23.3
Highland	7.2	6.2	5.8	29.2	27.0	23.6
Inverclyde	6.9	3.7	2.7	24.2	22.0	20.0
Midlothian	6.7	5.9	6.9	34.2	34.6	32.0
Moray	4.5	6.4	6.2	24.7	27.1	25.7
North Ayrshire	7.2	4.9	3.6	19.2	22.7	19.0
North Lanarkshire	5.1	4.7	3.5	23.9	22.9	21.2
Orkney Islands	3.0	2.9	2.2	16.7	16.2	22.8
Perth and Kinross	5.9	6.2	5.4	24.7	26.9	23.5
Renfrewshire	10.6	4.6	3.4	29.5	21.5	17.5
Scottish Borders	4.5	3.8	5.1	23.0	28.1	23.7
Shetland Islands	5.2	2.2	4.1	21.1	24.4	17.9
South Ayrshire	4.7	4.4	3.5	16.8	18.3	16.6
South Lanarkshire	5.1	3.7	3.4	22.4	19.0	16.1
Stirling	7.0	5.2	3.7	24.8	27.0	25.5
West Dunbartonshire	14.9	5.0	4.5	27.4	26.1	22.1
West Lothian	6.7	5.8	4.2	28.6	31.0	27.9

5-14 Attainment of P6, P7 and S2 pupils in Scotland by Local Authority, Publicly Funded Schools, Percentage of Pupils not attaining stated level by end of the stage

Mathematics	% of P6 roll			% of P7 roll			% of S2 roll
Mathematics	Not Reached Level C			Not Reached Level D			Not Reached Level E
Local Authority	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01
Scotland	24.8	25.1	22.0	36.6	35.6	33.0	58.3	53.3	48.8
Aberdeen City	24.1	27.1	24.0	38.9	36.8	33.7	59.9	61.9	51.8
Aberdeenshire	19.9	23.4	20.8	29.0	31.2	31.2	45.5	43.9	41.5
Angus	24.8	27.8	32.0	35.6	36.9	33.1	57.4	53.7	48.6
Argyll and Bute	36.7	21.6	20.8	50.0	35.7	31.9	70.0	49.9	44.2
Clackmannanshire	30.0	31.4	31.1	39.1	40.4	36.4	67.4	54.2	52.3
Dumfries and Galloway	22.2	32.0	26.7	37.3	36.1	36.8	49.4	51.0	46.4
Dundee City	34.4	31.3	27.7	45.2	39.4	38.2	59.6	60.8	60.3
East Ayrshire	23.4	24.2	19.9	33.4	34.8	32.4	46.0	44.5	37.6
East Dunbartonshire	12.4	12.5	11.7	23.1	21.1	18.2	64.5	41.3	36.9
East Lothian	28.6	22.7	24.7	39.6	34.8	29.4	73.5	56.3	51.4
East Renfrewshire	17.9	16.4	10.8	25.1	24.0	19.8	39.8	28.8	29.5
Edinburgh, City of	27.5	26.3	24.5	37.5	37.5	32.6	56.4	55.9	53.2
Eilean Siar	20.8	25.0	12.9	24.5	27.5	24.4	38.2	37.8	38.1
Falkirk	22.6	22.9	22.3	34.9	34.9	30.8	51.4	50.0	43.8
Fife	30.8	32.4	25.7	44.9	43.2	41.6	61.1	59.1	56.8
Glasgow City	27.2	28.2	24.2	40.4	40.6	36.7	71.5	68.3	59.9
Highland	22.2	23.5	24.6	30.3	33.0	31.7	51.8	44.3	41.2
Inverclyde	23.6	21.4	21.7	41.0	39.3	33.9	59.7	48.1	46.3
Midlothian	30.4	35.1	27.0	42.7	41.1	43.9	47.3	58.7	57.8
Moray	20.1	23.1	23.3	31.9	29.6	27.5	51.0	51.1	57.4
North Ayrshire	21.1	25.7	19.7	31.9	35.2	32.9	56.1	52.1	48.8
North Lanarkshire	22.2	23.1	18.8	36.2	34.3	30.7	60.1	58.6	52.2
Orkney Islands	11.4	20.9	15.2	30.8	23.9	30.0	44.0	42.1	43.6
Perth and Kinross	19.2	18.6	19.7	29.6	29.5	27.6	44.2	41.3	36.8
Renfrewshire	33.0	21.0	18.0	43.2	37.5	34.4	70.7	46.9	44.5
Scottish Borders	23.4	27.1	18.9	38.6	37.0	31.6	49.5	49.2	47.3
Shetland Islands	20.2	21.1	18.3	27.8	33.9	29.8	46.5	40.6	32.5
South Ayrshire	18.3	19.2	15.6	26.8	28.4	26.0	62.2	50.9	49.1
South Lanarkshire	21.8	20.4	15.9	32.9	32.3	30.7	53.2	48.8	40.2
Stirling	25.6	25.4	22.3	36.8	34.3	34.0	46.7	45.0	41.0
West Dunbartonshire	31.6	22.5	23.2	39.9	33.0	30.8	83.9	63.8	58.9
West Lothian	24.8	30.9	26.6	36.9	40.7	37.5	62.9	62.0	54.0

Note: The percentages in the tables include small numbers of pupils whose level of attainment was not available.

Question reference: S1W-31060

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on schools offering pupils the opportunity to take A and AS level examinations as well as examinations offered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Our policy on flexibility and innovation within the school curriculum enables education authorities and schools to adopt the particular approaches to teaching and learning that best meets the needs of all pupils. It is for education authorities and schools themselves to consider whether to offer pupils the opportunity to take A and AS level examinations as well as those provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. However, in line with our guidance on flexibility and innovation, education authorities and schools wishing to do so would have to clearly identify the gains to pupils and ensure consistency with the National Priorities in Education. They would also have to undertake full consultation with stakeholders (including parents, teachers and pupils) and achieve consensus prior to implementing their proposals and ensure open and rigorous quality assurance arrangements are in place to monitor and evaluate the results of any changes.

Question reference: S1W-31015

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a definition of the Vineburgh area in North Ayrshire.

Question reference: S1W-31023

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to raise the quality of design for new buildings and refurbished buildings in rural villages.

The publication of Designing Places in November 2001 launched the Executive's policy to raise standards of design through the planning system. In particular, it sent key messages about improving the quality of design in new development in both rural and urban areas. The forthcoming Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 1 The Planning System will reinforce this message.Designing Places will be followed up with a series of more detailed advice notes. The first of these notes, which will be published early next year, will be on housing quality.

Question reference: S1W-31022

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Countryside Agency regarding its experience in promoting rural development in England while respecting rural traditions.

Question reference: S1W-31018

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund has the support and involvement of the residents of the Vineburgh community and how this support is monitored and measured.

Question reference: S1W-31019

Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Curran on 7 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive why funding originally allocated to a community care centre in the Vineburgh area has been reallocated to projects planned in other areas.

The Local Outcome Agreement between the Scottish Executive and North Ayrshire Council covering the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) did not include a commitment to build a community care centre in Vineburgh. There was a commitment to build a community centre in the area covered by the BNSF funding which included both Vineburgh and Redburn and this is being taken forward. No funds allocated to Vineburgh and Redburn have been reallocated to projects outside these areas.

Chamber and committees