Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-17654

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 31 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide to increase the number of British Sign Language (BSL) teachers in schools.

The Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005 state that where an education authority employs a teacher wholly or mainly to teach pupils who are hearing impaired, vision impaired or both hearing and vision impaired, then that teacher must possess an appropriate qualification to teach such pupils or be in the process of obtaining such a qualification.

In addition, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as amended in 2009, places a duty on education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all pupils for whom they are responsible and to tailor provision according to their individual needs.

Teachers in Scotland are required to undertake 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) each year and local authorities are responsible for ensuring that appropriate development opportunities are made available to teachers to meet personal, school, authority and national priorities.

The Scottish Government has provided £150,000 in 2013-14 to enable the Scottish Sensory Centre to support teachers of pupils who are hearing impaired, visually impaired or both hearing and vision impaired by producing high quality CPD.

Question reference: S4W-17649

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 31 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to train schoolteachers in British Sign Language (BSL).

The Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005 state that where an education authority employs a teacher wholly or mainly to teach pupils who are hearing impaired, visually impaired or both hearing and visually impaired, then that teacher must possess an appropriate qualification to teach such pupils or be in the process of obtaining such a qualification.

In addition, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as amended in 2009, places a duty on education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all pupils for whom they are responsible and to tailor provision according to their individual needs.

It is, therefore, a matter for local authorities to ensure that the teachers they employ to teach visually and/or hearing impaired pupils have, or acquire through continuing professional development (CPD), the appropriate professional skills and knowledge to undertake the teaching duties allocated to them, including an appropriate level of proficiency in British Sign Language.

For its part, the Scottish Government has provided £150,000 in 2013-14 to enable the Scottish Sensory Centre to support teachers of pupils who are hearing impaired, visually impaired or both hearing and vision impaired by producing high quality CPD.

Question reference: S4W-17653

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 31 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided in each year since 1999 to support British Sign Language (BSL).

Question reference: S4W-17652

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 31 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many British Sign Language (BSL) teachers are employed in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-17459

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many play parks there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government launched the national Play Strategy in June 2013. The strategy recognises that play is a fundamental part of childhood, taking place within the home from birth, through formal and informal learning, and in community settings through the use of public spaces and services.

The Scottish Government wants Scotland to be the best place to grow up. A nation which values play as a life enhancing daily experience for all our children and young people; in their homes, nurseries, schools and communities.

Question reference: S4W-17478

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 8 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of potential future flooding in Comrie.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 required SEPA to undertake a national assessment of flood risk, to help identify the areas in Scotland most vulnerable to flooding. The first National Flood Risk Assessment was published in 2011 and shows that Comrie is situated in a Potentially Vulnerable Area (PVA) i.e. an area where the potential impact of flooding is sufficient to justify further assessment and appraisal of flood risk management actions. The national flood risk assessment, including the individual PVA datasheets, can be found on the SEPA website at:

http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/flood_risk_management/national_flood_risk_assessment.aspx.

The risk of flooding in Comrie, is from multiple sources including both the Ruchill Water and the River Earn, as well as a risk of surface water flooding. A detailed assessment of potential future flooding in Comrie has also been undertaken by Perth and Kinross Council, who are working in partnership with SEPA, Scottish Water and the other local authorities in the Tay Local Plan District (LPD) to consider what measures will be required to reduce flood risk across the whole of the LPD. This is part of the on-going development of flood risk management strategies and local flood risk management plans.

This collaborative approach will allow the best combination of actions to reduce flood risk to be determined. Flood risk management strategies and local flood risk management plans will be at the heart of efforts to tackle flooding in Scotland and will explain what actions will be taken, by whom and at what time. This will help us to target investment in reducing impacts in areas most vulnerable to flooding

Following the flood events in Comrie in August and November last year, we worked with SEPA to expedite a new flood warning scheme for the Ruchill Water in Comrie. The scheme became operational on 28 January 2013 and residents, emergency responders and local elected members were kept informed of the developments by SEPA. To date, 181 people in Comrie have signed up for Flood Warnings from SEPA. This represents around 40% of properties at risk of flooding. SEPA are actively encouraging sign up in the area, and have hosted in drop-in sessions and participated in the Comrie Fayre earlier this year.

Question reference: S4F-01623

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2013

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games regarding ticket allocations.

Question reference: S4W-17477

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with officials from Perth and Kinross Council prior to the council's application under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by flooding in Comrie in 2012.

Following the severe flooding incident in Comrie in November 2012, Scottish Government officials provided Perth and Kinross Council officials with general advice on how to make a claim for additional expenditure under the Bellwin Scheme. This advice included reference to the published guidelines and a reminder that the Bellwin Scheme is discretionary with no automatic right to additional funding.

Question reference: S4W-17479

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake a review of the Bellwin Scheme.

Question reference: S4W-17476

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which elements of Perth and Kinross Council’s claim under the Bellwin Scheme to cover additional expenditure incurred by flooding in Comrie in 2012 were deemed ineligible for assistance because they were not (a) incurred as a result of providing relief or carrying out works to safeguard life or property or prevent suffering or severe inconvenience, (b) of a revenue nature, (c) net of any receivable income from other sources, (d) of an uninsurable nature and (e) incurred within a two month period from the date of the incident and what the total financial value was of these elements.

Perth and Kinross Council submitted a claim, under the Bellwin Scheme, for additional funding of £1,044,751 following the flooding in Comrie in November 2012. Approximately £855,000 of the Council’s claim was ineligible as it was expenditure on improvements to prevent future flooding.

Under the rules of the Bellwin Scheme local authorities are expected to set aside a small amount (0.2% of their revenue budget) for such events and this is known as the threshold. After the deduction of the ineligible expenditure the balance of around £190,000 was less than the Council’s 2012-13 threshold of £675,196 and as a result the Council did not qualify for any additional funding under the Bellwin Scheme.

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