Chamber and committees

Education authorities (EAs) are asked in the Executive's annual teacher workforce planning exercise to estimated their requirements for Gaelic-medium teachers. The following table shows information on estimated EA requirements for academic sessions 2001-02 and 2002-03 along with information on graduates in 2000-01 and estimates of those who will graduate in 2001-02.

	Student Graduates			Education Authority Requirements
Academic session	Primary	Secondary	Academic session	Primary	Secondary
2000-2001	12	3	2001-2002	19	8
2001-2002	24	2	2002-2003	22	14
Total	36	5	Total	41	22

In session 2001-02 there is a substantial increase in the numbers graduating from primary teacher training who will be able to teach in the Gaelic-medium. This is as a result of the funding 10 additional student places at Strathclyde University specifically to support primary Gaelic medium provision.The position in relation to secondary teachers is that teacher education institutions take the positive approach of interviewing all course applicants who would be able to teach in Gaelic-medium education.

We are not aware of any financial interest by East Lothian Council although it would be possible for the council to enter into an agreement with the developer for the provision of certain infrastructure associated with the development. This is standard practice where infrastructure improvements are required to support the development.The circumstances in which councils are required to notify a planning application to the Scottish ministers are given in SODD Circular 4/97, Notification of Planning Applications. These include any development in which the council has a financial or land interest where the proposal does not accord with the development plan or where there has been a substantial body of objection. It is for the council to consider the terms of any notification direction and to act accordingly. If the application is notified to the Scottish ministers, any decision to call it in will be based on a thorough assessment of the planning issues involved.

An application to the Court of Session challenging a local plan may seek an interim order suspending such local plan either wholly or in part or generally or in relation to specific property owned by the applicant. If such an order were granted by the court it would have the effect of suspending the local plan to the extent set out in the order, and to that extent the planning authority would not be in a position to take the local plan or the relevant part of it into account in making a planning decision.Otherwise, it would be a matter for the planning authority to consider in the individual circumstances of each case whether or not it would be appropriate to make a planning decision taking into account a particular local plan in circumstances where although the local plan has been the subject of a court challenge, as yet undetermined, it has not actually been suspended.

It is for the planning authority to consider the terms of any direction requiring the notification of a particular planning application, or category of planning applications, to the Scottish ministers and to act accordingly. Where a planning authority failed to comply with such a direction, and issued planning permission, it could be leaving itself open to, for example, an application to the courts for judicial review of the planning decision, or possibly a complaint to the Ombudsman on the grounds of maladministration.

There are no lead pipes in the distribution network for public water supplies. Service connections to individual houses were typically made using lead pipe until the early 1960s. The use of lead pipe for plumbing services within houses declined during the 1950s as better materials became available. There are no detailed records of lead in the Scottish housing stock.The new Drinking Water Directive sets new tighter standards for lead in drinking water from the beginning of 2004. In preparation for the introduction of the new standard, the water authorities are conducting surveys to reveal the prevalence of lead pipes.

There are a number of measures planned to deal with lead water supply pipes throughout Scotland. These were published in my Quality and Standards paper (August 2001) (Parliament's Reference Centre, Bib. number 15676) and The Water Supply (Water Quality)(Scotland) Regulations 2001. In summary these measures include:Water treatment to reduce the uptake of lead.Opportunistic renewal of any lead service connection pipes belonging to the water authority found during mains repair or renewal.Notification and advice to householders about how to reduce their exposure to lead e.g. by flushing.Advice to house owners on the measures they can take e.g. replace the pipes.I shall be consulting shortly on proposed regulations to deal with drinking water quality in public buildings such as schools, hospitals and restaurants. This will further address the issue of lead piping.

The Executive's Future Learning & Teaching Programme has already provided financial support for two pilot projects: Dundee City Council's Personal ICT project, and the SCHOLAR programme run by Heriot-Watt university. We are in discussion with a number of other education authorities about potential projects, and will publish the details of the agreed first phase of projects and evaluation plans later this year.

Starting this year, the Scottish Executive will collect information about the educational qualifications of careleavers aged 16 to 18.As part of the monitoring of the delivery of national priorities for education through the School Improvement Framework, we have a standard performance measure on the percentage of young people leaving local authority care who have at least Standard Grade 1-6 in English and mathsAt an individual level, the Executive is committed to Personal Learning Plans for all school pupils by 2003. These plans will record young people's progress and achievement across the curriculum.

The Scottish Executive did not undertake a specific review of the State Veterinary Service (SVS) before 23 February 2001. However, it did examine and clarify the relationship between the SVS and the Scottish Executive in 1999. This led to the production of the Concordat between MAFF and the Scottish Executive in respect of the SVS. The Concordat set out an agreed framework for co-operation between the two organisations and detailed the key principles and practices underlying this co-operation.The Concordat does not deal specifically with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease but does cover the procedures to be adopted during an animal health emergency.

We have issued an invitation to tender for evaluation teams to evaluate the pilot projects supported by the first phase of the Future Learning & Teaching Programme. Full evaluation plans will be published later this year.