Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-30183

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 5 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it now holds information on the fees levied by local authorities on parents for a child (a) receiving specialist tuition in a musical instrument in school and (b) attending a local authority-run youth orchestra or band and at what levels these are set, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S2W-30181

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Hugh Henry on 5 December 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of some local authorities handling efficiency savings in such a way that the Devolved School Management (DSM) budget at headteachers’ disposal is reduced; whether it is aware of any other local authority practices that involve funds which are notionally within the DSM budget, and what its position is on the matter.

In setting the local governmentfinance settlements for the three years 2005-08, an efficiency assumption of 0.7per cent per year was factored in. It was agreed that this efficiency assumptionshould not be applied to the education, police or fire allocations for employmentcosts. It is a matter for local authorities as to how they meet the efficiency gainsidentified, which are applied against education non salary costs, including thosewhich are devolved to school level.

Question reference: S2O-10973

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 November 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what reports on or relevant to the 2007 spending review it has received from (a) internal sources, (b) Her Majesty¿s Government and (c) external sources and when such reports will be published.

The Executive has published twodocuments on our futures work - the Strategic Audit and the Trends Analysis– and the responses to the Transforming Public Services discussion document.

In July, the Treasury publishedtheir report on Value for Money in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.

I have received the report of the Budget Review Group, which will be published in September 2007.

In addition, there will be arange of reports on specific policy areas that have been submitted to the Executivethat will be relevant to the spending review.

Question reference: S2W-28619

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 26 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether reports that some schools still contain large amounts of asbestos are correct and, if so, what urgent remedial measures will be taken.

Information about theincidence of asbestos in schools is not collected centrally. Local authoritiesare responsible for school buildings under their management.

The Control of Asbestos atWork Regulations 2002 place a duty on those with legal responsibilities formaintenance of buildings to manage the risk from asbestos. This includesassessing whether there is asbestos in buildings, and, depending on itscondition, removing it or managing it. These regulations were made under theHealth and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The Health and Safety Executiveprovides advice and guidance on the management of asbestos.

Question reference: S2W-28604

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 11 October 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) rural and (b) special schools have closed in each school year since 1999-2000 and how many times it has used its powers under the Education (Publication and Consultation etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 1998, or any other relevant statutory instruments, to refuse applications from local authorities to close schools.

I refer the member to thequestion S2W-18439 answered on 13 September 2005 which listed all schoolopenings and closures, both local authority and independent, for the calendaryears 1995 to 2005, albeit categorised into primary, secondary and specialschools. All answers to written PQs are available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The following table sets outthe numbers of rural and special schools closed over a similar period. Thefigures have been derived from information collected annually by the ScottishExecutive Department on the opening and closing of schools.

The provision of schoolaccommodation is a dynamic process, reflecting the decisions of localauthorities across Scotland in response to a wide range of factors, and closurefigures need to be considered in that context. For example, a number of theclosures set out in the following table are of schools which have merged toform new schools in new buildings, replacing unsatisfactory accommodation inthe previous buildings.

Ministerial consent to theclosure of schools is required only in certain prescribed circumstances. Wehave not withheld consent to any application received from local authoritiesover this period.

Number of Rural and SpecialCchools Closed

Year	Rural	Special
1995	5	11
1996	12	1
1997	6	3
1998	7	8
1999	4	2
2000	16	4
2001	7	3
2002	6	5
2003	6	3
2004	10	3
2005	13	3
2006 – to date	2	0

Notes: (1)Figures include both local authority and independent schools.

(2) Schools whichare both rural and special are included only in the special column.

Question reference: S2W-27792

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by George Reid on 14 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the up-to-date estimate of cost is for repairs to the debating chamber roof.

Question reference: S2W-27004

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 August 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20004 by Peter Peacock on 8 November 2005, what progress it has made in securing data on how many local authority-employed (a) teachers and (b) additional support assistants have (i) a Bachelor of Education, (ii) a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education and (iii) other qualifications in (1) inclusive and special education, (2) specific learning difficulties, (3) hearing impairment, (4) visual impairment, (5) autistic spectrum disorder and (6) behavioural support, broken down into primary, secondary and special schools and by local authority area.

There was an improvement in thequality of the data in the 2005 census. The Executive continues to work with localauthorities to improve data quality. However, teacher qualification data are collectedin order to provide a general overview to inform national workforce planning, andthe data requested here are not considered robust.

Thecore modules of all courses of initial teacher education include special educationalneeds elements.

Information on the qualificationsof additional support staff is not collected centrally.

Estimated¹ Numberof Primary Teachers with BEd Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	*	-	-	-	-
Aberdeenshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Angus	-	*	*	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	*	*	-	-	-	-
Fife	*	*	-	-	-	-
Glasgow City	-	*	*	-	-	-
Highland	*	*	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	*	*	-	-	-	-
Moray	*	*	-	-	-	-
Orkney Islands	*	*	-	-	-	-
South Lanarkshire	*	*	-	-	-	-

Scotland	5	10	*	-	-	-

Note: 1. data have beenscaled up for non-response.

Estimated¹ Numberof Primary Teachers with PGCE/PGDE Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	5	*	*	*	-
Aberdeenshire	5	7	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	*	-	*	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	-	*	-	-	*	-
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	-	-	-	-
Dundee City	*	*	-	-	*	-
East Ayrshire	*	-	6	-	*	-
East Renfrewshire	-	*	-	-	*	-
Edinburgh, City of	-	*	-	7	*	-
Eilean Siar	*	*	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	*	*	*	-	-	-
Fife	*	*	-	-	-	-
Glasgow City	5	*	-	-	*	-
Highland	-	*	-	*	-	-
Moray	*	*	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
North Lanarkshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
Orkney Islands	-	*	-	-	*	-
Scottish Borders	*	*	-	-	*	-
Shetland Islands	*	-	-	-	*	-
South Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
South Lanarkshire	*	-	-	-	*	-
West Dunbartonshire	*	-	-	-	*	-
West Lothian	*	*	-	-	*	-
Scotland	42	42	10	8	30	-

Note: 1. Data have beenscaled up for non-response.

Estimated¹ Numberof Primary Teachers with Other Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	6	-	-	*	-
Aberdeenshire	*	9	*	-	*	-
Angus	5	*	-	-	*	-
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	-	-	-	-
Dundee City	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Dunbartonshire	*	-	-	-	*	-
East Lothian	*	-	-	-	*	-
Edinburgh, City of	*	5	-	-	-	*
Eilean Siar	*	*	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	*	*	-	-	*	*
Fife	*	9	*	*	*	-
Glasgow City	7	*	-	-	*	-
Highland	8	*	-	*	*	-
Inverclyde	-	*	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	-	*	-	-	-	-
Moray	-	*	-	-	*	-
North Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	5	-
North Lanarkshire	*	*	*	-	*	-
Orkney Islands	*	*	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Scottish Borders	*	*	-	-	*	-
South Ayrshire	-	*	-	-	*	-
South Lanarkshire	*	-	*	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
Scotland	56	49	6	*	26	*

Note: 1. Datahave been scaled-up for non-response

Estimated¹Number of Secondary Teachers with BEd Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	*	-	-	*	-
Aberdeenshire	-	*	*	-	-	-
Angus	*	*	-	-	-	-
Fife	*	*	-	-	-	-
Highland	-	*	*	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	-	-	*	-	*	-
South Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
Scotland	7	6	*	-	*	-

Note: 1. Datahave been scaled up for non-response.

Estimated¹Number of Secondary Teachers with PGCE/PGDE Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	7	-	-	*	-
Aberdeenshire	*	11	*	-	*	-
Angus	6	*	-	-	*	-
Dumfries and Galloway	*	*	-	-	-	-
Dundee City	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	-	*	-	-	*	-
Edinburgh, City of	*	6	-	-	-	-
Eilean Siar	-	*	-	-	-	*
Falkirk	*	*	-	-	*	*
Fife	*	11	*	*	*	-
Glasgow City	8	*	*	-	-	-
Highland	9	*	-	*	*	-
Inverclyde	*	*	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	*	*	-	-	-	-
Moray	*	-	-	-	*	-
North Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	6	-
North Lanarkshire	*	*	*	-	*	-
Orkney Islands	*	*	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Scottish Borders	*	*	-	-	*	-
South Ayrshire	-	*	-	-	*	-
South Lanarkshire	*	-	*	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
West Lothian	*	*	-	-	-	-
Scotland	66	57	7	*	30	*

Note: 1. Datahave been scaled up for non-response.

Estimated¹Number of Secondary Teachers with Other Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	36	26	*	-	9	*
Aberdeenshire	53	55	*	-	19	*
Angus	32	13	-	-	6	*
Argyll and Bute	*	*	-	-	*	-
Clackmannanshire	*	*	-	-	-	*
Dumfries and Galloway	9	7	*	-	*	*
Dundee City	9	12	*	-	6	*
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
East Dunbartonshire	6	*	-	-	*	-
East Lothian	*	*	-	-	*	-
East Renfrewshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Edinburgh, City of	13	21	-	-	*	*
Eilean Siar	7	6	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	*	12	-	-	*	-
Fife	34	34	*	-	11	*
Glasgow City	21	7	-	-	*	*
Highland	28	37	*	-	*	*
Inverclyde	12	*	-	-	*	-
Midlothian	*	*	-	-	*	-
Moray	15	19	-	-	*	*
North Ayrshire	9	7	*	-	19	*
North Lanarkshire	11	8	7	-	*	*
Orkney Islands	*	*	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross	*	*	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	6	6	-	-	*	*
Scottish Borders	12	8	*	-	*	*
Shetland Islands	*	*	*	-	*	-
South Ayrshire	8	6	-	-	*	*
South Lanarkshire	6	*	*	-	*	-
Stirling	*	7	-	-	*	*
West Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
West Lothian	6	*	-	-	*	-
Scotland	367	326	26	-	115	14

Note: 1. Data have beenscaled-up for non-response.

Estimated¹ Numberof Special Teachers with BEd Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	*	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	*	*	-	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	-	-	-	*	*	-
Dumfries and Galloway	-	-	-	*	*	-
Dundee City	*	*	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Fife	-	-	-	*	*	-
Glasgow City	*	12	-	*	-	-
North Ayrshire	6	-	-	-	-	-
North Lanarkshire	-	20	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
South Lanarkshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Stirling	*	*	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	*	*	-	-	-	-
Scotland	16	40	-	*	*	-

Note: 1. Datahave been scaled-up for non-response.

Estimated¹Number of Special Teachers with PGCE/PGDE Qualifications

	SEN General	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	*	*	*	*	*	-
Aberdeenshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	*	-	*	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
East Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
Edinburgh, City of	*	*	-	-	*	-
Falkirk	*	-	7	-	*	-
Fife	*	*	-	-	*	-
Glasgow City	7	10	*	8	*	-
Highland	*	*	-	-	-	-
Inverclyde	*	-	*	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
North Lanarkshire	*	9	-	-	*	-
Renfrewshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
South Lanarkshire	*	*	-	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	*	*	-	-	*	-
West Lothian	6	*	-	-	*	-
Scotland	45	40	11	9	19	-

Note: 1. Data have beenscaled up for non-response.

Estimated¹ Numberof Special Teachers with Other Qualifications

	SEN general	Learning Difficulties	Hearing Impairment	Visual Impairment	Behavioural Support	Physical Disabilities
Aberdeen City	29	17	*	*	10	*
Aberdeenshire	8	18	-	-	-	-
Argyll and Bute	*	*	*	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	9	*	-	*	-	-
Dundee City	10	*	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	*	6	-	-	*	*
East Dunbartonshire	*	11	-	-	*	-
East Renfrewshire	*	*	-	-	-	*
Edinburgh, City of	22	25	-	*	*	-
Falkirk	10	*	6	*	7	-
Fife	13	8	-	*	*	-
Glasgow City	48	34	7	*	*	-
Highland	*	*	-	*	-	-
Inverclyde	-	6	*	-	-	*
Midlothian	8	*	-	-	*	-
North Ayrshire	16	*	-	-	-	*
North Lanarkshire	12	22	-	-	6	-
Perth and Kinross	*	*	-	-	-	-
Renfrewshire	17	8	*	-	-	*
South Ayrshire	10	6	-	-	-	-
South Lanarkshire	18	7	*	-	-	*
Stirling	*	*	-	-	-	-
West Dunbartonshire	-	*	-	-	*	-
West Lothian	10	6	*	-	-	*
Scotland	260	193	24	9	39	10

Notes:

1. Data have been scaled upfor non-response.

All figures are headcounts.

*Means that the figure is lessthan five, or the figure has been removed to stop a figure less than five from beingcalculated from the total.

Question reference: S2W-27052

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 25 July 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the diesel rolling stock currently operated by First ScotRail will be suitable for use on the proposed Edinburgh Airport rail link; how much additional rolling stock will be required, and what the cost of such new rolling stock will be to the Executive.

A range of services to andfrom Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Inverness, Fife and Dunblane, inaddition to the route to and from Edinburgh to Glasgow will use the EdinburghAirport Rail Link (EARL) when it becomes operational in late 2011. Whilst allof the current fleet of rolling stock could continue to be used after this date,it is planned that new rolling stock will be procured for deployment on most of the routes to maximise performance benefits.

A rolling stock procurementplan is currently being developed by Transport Scotland. This will look at thenumber of new trains required and potential costs for all of our projects,including EARL, and passenger growth initiatives from 2009 onwards.

A completed plan will beproduced for consideration by Transport Scotland later in 2006.

Question reference: S2W-26620

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 19 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the approximate cost would be of (a) constructing a new station to serve Edinburgh Airport on the existing Edinburgh to Fife line and (b) constructing a line as a connecting chord between the Edinburgh to Fife line to the north of the airport and the Winchburgh to Dalmeny branch.

As part of the EARL projectconsultation process a number of members of the public put forward a verysimilar proposal to the one suggested. The option was considered and appraisedin accordance with the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) process. Thisproposal became known as the “Turnhouse option”.

The Turnhouse option wasappraised using the STAG process against the same planning criteria as allother options. The option required a means of transporting passengers from thenew station to the airport and three options were considered being a busshuttle (total option cost £134 million), a travellator (total option cost £321million) and a driverless shuttle (total option cost £415 million).

All Turnhouse options actedto reduce patronage with the bus shuttle reducing demand by 46%, thetravellator reducing demand by 72% and the driverless shuttle reducing demandby 64%. The Turnhouse option was not taken forward as it failed to achieve anybetter performance than the runway tunnel option against the set planningobjectives.

A full report on theTurnhouse option is available on the Earl Website at www.Earlproject.com.

I hope that you find thishelpful.

Question reference: S2W-26530

Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2006
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 12 June 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the McCrone agreement should be reviewed, in light of concerns raised by teachers in respect of increased workload.

Chamber and committees