Chamber and committees

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was put in place to ensure that all children and young people with additional support needs receive the support they require to achieve their potential.

The Act places strict duties on local authorities to meet the additional support needs for all children for whose school education they are responsible, and to tailor provision according to their individual needs.

The "Supporting Children’s Learning" code of practice explains these duties, providing guidance to local authorities on the Act's provisions as well as on the supporting framework of secondary legislation.

Between 2008 and the end of March 2016, £1,037,636 of CashBack activities funding has been invested in the Dumfries and Galloway area, delivering 52,728 activities and opportunities for young people. Information on the organisations in Dumfries and Galloway who have benefited from this investment is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 58209).

Support has also been provided for facilities. Dumfries and Galloway Council were awarded £600,000 of CashBack facilities funding in 2012 to procure and construct three 3G pitches at Dumfries High School, Stranraer Academy and Annan Athletic. These projects are now managed and operated by three community clubs through service level agreements with the Council. £45,000 of CashBack facilities funding was also awarded in 2012 to Dumfries Saints Rugby Football Club to enable the 3G pitch at Dumfries High School to be suitable for rugby.

The following table contains details of the personal injury accident statistics on the A77 for the latest five full calendar years (2011 – 2015).

Transport Scotland has continued to implement road safety improvements on the A77. In Cairnryan Transport Scotland has worked with the community and recently installed traffic calming measures, along with speed monitoring equipment on the A77 within the village. Transport Scotland is developing a programme to work with hauliers and the ferry company to further improve driver behaviour, particularly for those vehicles using the ferry ports in the area. Also, from Girvan to Symington over £1 million has recently been invested in upgrading the average speed cameras to ensure that the improved safety performance continues on the route.

The Scottish Government's approach is to ensure cross border arrangements for railway policing offer a seamless service to all operators, passengers, goods and staff. We continue to work with the UK Government, BTP, BTPA, Police Scotland and other key stakeholders to deliver this objective.

The improvements made were funded from various budgets in the previous and current ScotRail franchise, along with funding from the Department for Transport's Access for All fund. The time period for the works range from 2007 until 2016, with the recent investment being the installation of CCTV cameras at Sanquhar and Kirkconnel stations from the £78k franchise commitment to install CCTV camera at stations across the rail network by March 2016. The actual cost of each station improvement is not known as this is a commercial matter between the franchisee and their contractor.

BTP officers are not currently included in the figures giving the number of full-time equivalent officers in Scotland. Following the merger between BTP and Police Scotland any comparison of officer numbers in Scotland with the position prior to the merger would need to take account of this.

I met the A7 Action Group in Parliament on 15 June 2016 to discuss their Action Plan, which set out its aspirations for the route. I committed Transport Scotland to undertake a review of the Action Plan and engage directly with the A7 Action Group regarding this review. The review has now been completed and has identified a range of items within the Action Plan that we will consider further. This will be done alongside on-going maintenance and improvement programmes on the route. We will also continue to monitor road safety on the A7 and through this approach will identify the need for any further road safety investigations or improvements.

Whistleblowing policies for Police Scotland are a matter for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

As indicated in response to S5O-00145 and S5O-00146 on 15 September 2016 the Enterprise and Skills Review will be taken forward through a phased approach, with phase one reporting shortly on key recommendations for change across a number of areas while phase two will explore the implementation of these recommendations in more detail with partners. Phase two will include exploring the regional dimension in greater depth, with Ministers clear that any long-term approach must take account of the needs of the South of Scotland and all areas across Scotland.

It is important to think about Enterprise Areas (enterprise zones is the term used in England and Wales) in the context of the wider economic development support available.

In the South of Scotland for example, where textiles is an important traditional industry, we have confirmed that part of the £10 million economic stimulus package announced in this year's Programme for Government will be used to support delivery of the Hawick Action Plan to revitalise the town. Scottish Enterprise are also working to create the conditions for business growth in the area including through account managing 72 companies across the Borders.

The answer to S5O-00145 is available on the parliaments website, the Official report can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10520

The following table contains the total expenditure each year for each trunk road. This figure includes maintenance and major infrastructure project costs (including land, site supervision, utilities, site investigation and construction costs). Higher annual spend levels represent increased investment associated with the delivery of targeted major infrastructure improvements.

*approx. distances