Education and Lifelong Learning
Good afternoon. The first item of business is portfolio questions on education and lifelong learning. In order to get as many members in as possible, I would be grateful for short and succinct questions and answers to match.
Gaelic-medium Education
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in expanding Gaelic-medium education outwith Gaelic-speaking areas. (S4O-04304)
The Scottish Government has made good progress with Gaelic-medium education, with a rise in the number of pupils entering primary 1 from 386 in 2007 to 556 in 2014. With support from the Gaelic schools capital fund, we have witnessed the expansion of Gaelic-medium education across Scotland as new Gaelic schools and units open or expand in Aberfeldy, Bowmore, Cumbernauld, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William, Glen Urquhart, Inverness, Irvine, Oban, Portree, Salen and Thurso, with further developments planned for Fort William, Glasgow, Portree, Kilmarnock and Inverness.
I certainly welcome the new figures and the inclusion of Gaelic-medium provision in the new Education (Scotland) Bill. However, it has come to my notice that, despite some local authorities having produced Gaelic language plans, others, including my own, Falkirk Council, have paid only lip service to their plans, failing on many of the targets and objectives despite being happy to take the economic gains, such as hosting the Royal National Mod in 2008, which injected £1.5 million into the local economy. What can the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gàidhlig do to ensure that local authorities pay more than lip service to Gaelic, ensuring that our fragile indigenous language survives?
The member has raised many such Gaelic issues with me in his role as convener of the cross-party group on Gaelic. It is fair to say that local authorities across Scotland have, on the whole, helped to make good progress on delivering support for Gaelic, but we acknowledge that there is still an awful lot of work to be done by all public bodies. The national plan for Gaelic clearly demonstrates the areas that have the potential to support the language and names the public bodies that can help to deliver it.
The minister will be aware that the council in the area that I represent is the smallest local authority in Scotland and that, like all other education departments across the country, it is under serious budget pressures at the moment. What assurances can the minister give that the changes that are being introduced will not result in resources being taken away from other vital educational provision in Orkney and similar councils?
Gaelic-medium education will certainly not result in resources being taken away from English. The resource that is devoted nationally to the provision of education and other services in English dwarfs that provided to Gaelic by a factor that I cannot even work out. However, I am conscious of the fact that Orkney and Shetland are two of the few areas in Scotland that never had a Gaelic tradition, and I am aware of the importance of the Orcadian, Shetlandic, Scots, Norn and Norse traditions. Through such initiatives as the provision of Scots language co-ordinators in schools, one of whom Liam McArthur will know is an Orcadian, we are supporting those cultural traditions too.
Liberton High School
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the tragic event at Liberton High School in 2014, what additional support and resources have been and will be provided to the school. (S4O-04305)
The Scottish Government has been working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council. We are also committed to providing support of up to £1.6 million towards the cost of replacing the gymnasium where the tragic event took place.
I welcome that. All who are associated with the school are grateful for the assistance given. It has been a trying time, but great courage has been shown by all. Because of the private finance initiative and public-private partnership liabilities that were incurred by the previous Labour council, funds for development at the school through the council are limited, so any support—whether for infrastructure or for counselling—is welcome. I do not know whether any lessons have been learned regarding counselling, but perhaps the minister can confirm that the support given, both in cash and in kind, will continue.
I cannot comment on the Health and Safety Executive’s response to the situation, because I have not received any indication of when it will be published, but I can confirm that the on-going support that there has been, in terms of both infrastructure and co-operation between the local authority and the Government, is essential for moving forward from this deeply tragic situation.
Has there been any concern over the question of school buildings being included in an Education Scotland inspection report?
Those issues have been raised in the past. Nonetheless, the assessment of the condition of school buildings remains a matter for local authorities.
Schools (Literacy)
To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to improve literacy in schools following the recent results of the Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy. (S4O-04306)
Although the latest survey showed that Scottish pupils perform well, the results are not as good as they should be. They demonstrate the need to redouble efforts to ensure that every child can succeed in school and so gain the skills that they need for life. As a result, we are stepping up work to improve children’s literacy.
Education Scotland inspections will focus on raising attainment in literacy. Each school will be expected to demonstrate a very clear strategy for raising attainment in literacy. We will work closely with partners to establish a national improvement framework to provide us with the information that we need to show that children’s skills in reading, writing, listening and talking are improving. We and our partners will work with parents and carers to develop resources to support learning at home from the early years through to secondary, building on the read, write, count campaign. Round 2 of the access to education fund, which makes available £1.5 million to help reduce barriers to learning experienced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds, opened last week. In 2014, 303 schools benefited from access to education grants.
Does the Scottish Government plan to reform the testing of reading, writing and numeracy in schools?
Some of the work that we will undertake with our partners in education is in relation to a national performance framework. Although the Government’s position is not to reintroduce things such as national testing, which is onerous for teaching staff and children, we need to address the need for more intelligent use of information. We need more data about what is happening in the early years and in primary schools so that we can identify issues earlier and act on them. That is a very important aspect of the work that we will undertake with our partners as we develop the national performance framework.
In response to the survey findings, Larry Flanagan, Educational Institute of Scotland general secretary, said:
“We increasingly see tired and hungry pupils coming to school. Austerity-led measures do have an impact on performance, just as deprivation at home impacts on pupil attainment.”
Does the cabinet secretary agree with that?
Yes, I do. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has done a detailed and compelling piece of work that looks at the link between poverty and attainment. We know that cuts of £12 billion are coming down the line from the Conservative Government and we know that austerity penalises the poor and has a disproportionate impact on women and, crucially, children. That is one reason why the Government is focusing on our endeavours within and outwith the classroom.
Primary Schools (Literacy)
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve literacy standards in primary schools. (S4O-04307)
In February, we launched the Scottish attainment challenge, supported by a £100 million attainment Scotland fund over four years to drive forward improvements in educational outcomes in Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities. The attainment fund will initially be targeted at primary schools in local authorities with the biggest concentration of households in deprived areas and will have a relentless focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing.
Our raising attainment for all programme, launched in June 2014, now covers 23 local authorities and 180 schools, including 155 primary schools. The programme is delivering a targeted approach to improvement in schools.
The 2014 Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy, to which my colleague Cameron Buchanan just referred, was quite clear in identifying that key literacy standards among schoolchildren have fallen. However, the standing literacy commission that was set up by the Scottish Government has claimed that those standards have improved. How does the cabinet secretary explain that apparent contradiction?
Of course, the standing literacy commission is an independent commission that reflects a broad range of measurements across Scottish education. We know that, with regard to national qualifications, for example, we are seeing an increase in pass rates. We know that literacy is embedded in national qualifications. We know that we have halted the decline in our international standing in the programme for international student assessment—PISA—rankings.
However, let me be clear to Alex Fergusson and other members that the results of the literacy survey fall short of our aspirations for our children. Although the majority of children are doing well—we know that eight out of 10 children read well or very well—the results are simply not as good as they should be, and we will redouble our efforts to address that.
School Refurbishment (Edinburgh)
To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent refurbishing schools in Edinburgh in 2014-15. (S4O-04308)
The Scottish Government does not hold that information. It would be for the relevant local authority, in this case the City of Edinburgh Council, to provide the member with that information.
However, through the Scotland’s schools for the future programme, the Government is undertaking significant investment in Scotland’s school estate. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Government will provide funding of up to £41.9 million for the replacement of James Gillespie’s high school, Boroughmuir high school and St John’s primary school, as well as the £1.6 million for Liberton high school that I mentioned earlier.
The Wester Hailes education centre in my constituency was built in 1978. During 2014, a phased refurbishment programme was started, including a new roof, windows and cladding and an electrical upgrade. Does the minister agree that ensuring that pupils are taught in modern, well-designed schools is important with regard to ensuring that children receive the best possible education?
As the member would expect me to say, responsibility for those areas lies with the local authority, but the Scottish Government has shown its commitment in a big way in recent years to reducing the number of children in schools that are not in an adequate condition. The proportion of schools that were in a good or a satisfactory condition was 61 per cent in 2001. In 2014, that figure had risen to 81 per cent. The three schools that I mentioned in Edinburgh are testimony to the Scottish Government’s commitment to continuing to improve the school estate.
What plans has the Scottish Government made to meet the demands of the growing population in Edinburgh’s schools?
Again, the member would expect me to repeat that the local authority is the statutory education authority. However, the fact that £1.8 billion has been committed throughout Scotland through the schools for the future programme is an indication of how seriously we take the importance of our young people being educated in schools that are adequate for that task.
Computer Science
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote the study of computer science in schools and other educational establishments. (S4O-04309)
I thank the member for that question and for his recent letter on this matter.
We have invested £400,000 over two years from 2013 to 2015 in the plan C project, which provides free professional development for secondary school computing science teachers. Education Scotland provides advice, guidance and support for computing science teaching and learning in both primary and secondary schools. From 2015-16, reflecting a key priority of the report on developing Scotland’s young workforce, college outcome agreements will outline the steps that colleges are taking to expand their science, technology, engineering and mathematics offer, including courses related to computer science.
In this academic year and the next, three of Scotland’s universities will participate in a pilot operated by the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council to recruit additional undergraduate students to information and communications technology courses, including computing science.
I thank the minister for that answer. Although the Scottish Government has included computing studies as one of the priority subjects for the postgraduate diploma in education—the teaching qualification—is the minister aware that there is real concern among the academic community, notwithstanding the commitments that he has made today, about what it sees as a decline in the status of, and the recognition that is given to, computing science, which is reflected in a falling number of computing science teachers, the closure of some computing science departments in our schools and the withdrawal of computing courses at Scottish universities that provide appropriate computing qualifications? In providing the policy direction and leadership that I know the minister and the cabinet secretary are committed to providing, will the minister meet me and other interested parties to discuss what further progress can be made?
I am more than happy to meet the member to discuss the issues that he raises. Although it is certainly the case that between 2008 and 2014 the number of young people taking Scottish credit and qualifications framework level 5 in computing science has declined, there has been a rise at higher and at advanced higher level. The Government takes this area very seriously in ensuring that targets are set for our teacher training and initial education at universities so that teachers are there for the future for this vital area of our education system and our economy.
There seems to be some confusion in local authorities on the difference between computer science teachers, who cover programming and advanced skills, and computer literacy teachers, who cover word processing and administration skills. Is the minister willing to issue guidance to clarify the situation so that we can get an accurate picture of the spread of computer science teachers in Scotland and start to address the falling number of teachers, which has left schools in some areas with no computer science teacher at all?
Education Scotland’s technology review recognises a number of the member’s points, not least the important distinction that he makes between computer literacy and computing science. It is important to stress again that there have been efforts in the past year to increase the number of people becoming computing science teachers. We saw an increase—I concede that it was modest—in the number of students on the computing science PGDE course, which was up from 17 to 22, and the target intake for this year is up to 37. I take seriously the point about ensuring that the supply of teachers is there for the future.
Outdoor Education
To ask the Scottish Government what public agencies are doing to promote outdoor education for both urban and rural pupils and with what success. (S4O-04310)
Outdoor learning is promoted in a number of policies—for example, within the General Teaching Council for Scotland standards for registration—while Education Scotland supports practitioners in every sector to build confidence and competence in outdoor learning. A range of public agencies, including sportscotland and local authorities, provides and promotes outdoor education for children all over Scotland.
Since 2012-13, we have invested £1.9 million in Inspiring Scotland to deliver the go2play programme to further engage children in active and outdoor play. On Thursday 2 April, Inspiring Scotland launched our £300,000 play ranger fund. That will allow the play ranger model to roll out nationally to upscale outdoor play, activity and knowledge across Scotland.
I thank the minister for that answer. I had the pleasure of opening the refurbished visitor centre at Beinn Eighe national nature reserve last Saturday. Along with other places such as the RSPB visitor centre at Forsinard in my constituency, the reserve is at a considerable distance from large numbers of pupils. I asked my question about encouraging pupils to experience the outdoors because many others who are further away from such places should be able to enjoy those tremendous facilities and learn about our nature and environment.
It is lovely to hear from Rob Gibson about the wonderful work that is being done by organisations in his constituency. He might be interested to learn of the findings from the University of Stirling’s most recent research on outdoor education. From 2006 to 2014 there has been a 50 per cent increase in outdoor provision for primary school pupils in Scotland, and one of the advantages of that is that teachers are seeing increased engagement among pupils when they are part of outdoor education.
Schools (Literacy and Numeracy)
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for falling literacy and numeracy in schools. (S4O-04311)
Although the most recent Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy found that most children are doing well, the results—as the Scottish Government has acknowledged—are not as good as they should be. Accordingly, we are redoubling our efforts to address that and in particular to close the attainment gap. Part of our work will focus on gaining a better understanding of what influences attainment in literacy and numeracy and of the role that is played by disadvantage.
I heard the cabinet secretary’s response on the statistics to colleagues who asked earlier about the survey, but my question is about reasons and responsibility. We all visit schools and find them full of dedicated and passionate teachers and bright young people who are eager to learn, so the fault cannot be theirs, but it is clear that literacy and numeracy standards are in decline in Scotland, whereas they are improving in other developed countries.
The cabinet secretary’s Government has been running education for eight years. Surely she must have some view as to what has gone wrong. Will she share it with us?
The survey results indicate a number of issues. We have debated at length in the chamber the role of disadvantage and—in various forums—the challenges in closing the attainment gap, which is the Government’s number 1 education priority. That is why, since the survey was carried out this time last year, the Government has undertaken an ambitious programme of reform—not least through the Scottish attainment challenge and the £100 million Scottish attainment fund—that is targeted at and focused on addressing disadvantage.
There are issues to do with transition—we need to do better in supporting children through the transition from primary to secondary. We also need to do far more to address the issues with boys in primary schools.
I say to Iain Gray that, under Labour, there was a decline in reading literacy according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s programme for international student assessment results, and Labour failed to reduce the attainment gap. However, that is in the past; some would argue that Mr Gray and his party are also in the past.
I am interested in the present and the future. Since last year, we have unveiled an ambitious programme of work, and in response to the literacy survey results we have outlined a number of ambitious measures, such as a national performance framework. We will not rest until all our children get the best start in life. Literacy and numeracy are at the core of a child’s education.
Audit Scotland has confirmed that there is no consistent approach to testing or assessment from primary 1 to secondary 3 and no evaluation of the relationship between spending and raising attainment. How will the Government’s ambitions and its national performance framework address those two issues?
If Mary Scanlon had listened to my earlier response to one of her colleagues, she would be aware that I said that one of the important factors in the national performance framework is the need to have better and more comprehensive information at an earlier stage in a child’s education career.
We have to use information intelligently. I do not want to overburden children or teachers, but we need better information, earlier, about what is happening in our education system. One of the reasons why the Government introduced the literacy and numeracy surveys was to get a more comprehensive picture, so that we know what is happening and can therefore act on it.
I have to say to Mrs Scanlon that, unlike the Tories, the Scottish Government will not be driven by ideology. We will do what works and we will be led and informed by the evidence, first and foremost.
Poor show.
Order, please.
We will look at the evidence about what supports children and move forward.
You have had eight years in government.
Order.
I say to Mrs Scanlon that we will not introduce free schools, which are companies limited by guarantee that are exempt from the national curriculum in England and where teachers are not required to be qualified or registered. Tell me, how will that improve standards? [Interruption.]
Order, please.
We are absolutely focused on improving standards. Scottish education is good and we have much to be proud of. What we will not do, Mrs Scanlon—
Cabinet secretary, will you speak through the chair, and can I hurry you along?
Where we have shortcomings in our education system, we will not demur; we will look fairly and squarely at the strengths and weaknesses and how things have to improve. That is what we are doing. We will lead an honest debate about what is next for Scottish education.
Colleges (Disabled Students)
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to disabled college students. (S4O-04312)
In its guidance to colleges, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council has made it clear that improving access for disabled people is a national priority. To support that, the funding council is investing a record £100 million across the sector to ensure that colleges are resourced to meet disabled students’ needs. Additionally, eligible learners who are studying higher education courses at college are entitled to financial assistance through the disabled students allowance, and those on further education courses are eligible for support through the additional support needs for learning allowance. The funding council continues to work closely with the Equality Challenge Unit, Enable Scotland, the College Development Network and other partners to improve outcomes and support for that group of learners.
In 2013-14, 6,270 applications were received for disabled students allowance, which was an increase of 8.6 per cent on the previous year. How many of those applications were rejected and what is the expected uptake of the allowance in future years?
Mrs Milne asks about higher education and the disabled students allowance, which is awarded by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. It is important to say that it is a non-income-assessed allowance. I will write to her on the specific factual points that she raises. We have had a review of DSA in Scotland, and the National Union of Students carried out a survey in July 2013 that indicated that, on the whole, the allowance is working well. I will reply to Mrs Milne directly to provide the factual information that she seeks.
Student Support
To ask the Scottish Government what recent improvements it has made to student support. (S4O-04313)
This academic year, the college student support budget is at a record level of £105 million, and students can now receive bursaries of up to £93.03 per week, which is the best level anywhere in the United Kingdom. In higher education, students who are most in need are now entitled to a minimum income of £7,500, through a combination of loans and bursaries.
As Mr McMahon will be aware, unlike the UK Government, we have committed to maintaining the education maintenance allowance scheme, and we are investing £29.6 million in that in the current financial year. In line with the First Minister’s commitment to helping more young people to access and stay on in education, we are considering how we will extend the scheme.
Is the cabinet secretary aware of the information that was published recently in the Financial Times that indicates that funding for student grants in Scotland has fallen as support for loans has risen and that Scotland now has the lowest rate of grant in western Europe; that, since 2007, spending on income-related student grant in Scotland has almost halved in real terms; and that Scotland is the only part of the UK where borrowing levels are highest among students from poor backgrounds? Does the cabinet secretary agree that the research shows that the net effect of Scottish Government policies is a resource transfer from lower-income households to higher-income ones? Does she believe that the findings of the research reflect a progressive agenda?
Mr McMahon and the Labour Party would have far more credibility on the issue if the leader of Labour had not spent all his career opposing free higher education and being a proponent of tuition fees.
For the record, it is important to recognise that there has been no reduction in bursaries and, when we compare average student loan debt in Scotland with that in the rest of the United Kingdom, the average for Scotland is £7,500, compared with £20,000 in England in particular. [Angela Constance has corrected this contribution. See end of report.] As for our offer to students, as I mentioned, we made a commitment to a minimum income guarantee. Our manifesto spoke of £7,000, and we have delivered a minimum income guarantee of £7,500. It is important also to recognise that there was a 23 per cent increase in the value of the average student support package for 2013-14.
If questions and answers were shorter, we might make a bit more progress.
Teacher Numbers
To ask the Scottish Government how local authorities are using the funding that was provided to maintain teacher numbers. (S4O-04314)
The Government is committed to raising attainment and closing the attainment gap. We have been clear that we do not believe that reducing teacher numbers or increasing the pupil teacher ratio will achieve that.
That is why we have offered all 32 local authorities £51 million to support teacher numbers, which they have all accepted. That includes an extra £10 million over and above last year’s settlement and commits local authorities to maintaining their teacher numbers and pupil teacher ratio at 2014 levels for 2015-16. Within these broad parameters, however, it is for local authorities to determine how best to distribute the funding to ensure that they are able to meet their commitment to maintain teacher numbers.
Can the cabinet secretary reassure us that the funding that is allocated for teacher numbers will be used for that purpose? One thing that it could be used for would be to recruit teachers from far and wide. I know that some local authorities have done that. Would they be allowed to use the money for that rather than using it for something other than education?
As the member is aware, local authorities are responsible for teacher recruitment and employment. However, it is encouraging to note that a number of local authorities are, as Mr Allard suggests, proactively exploring potential labour markets both within and outwith Scotland.
The General Teaching Council for Scotland, which is the independent regulatory body for the teaching profession, is responsible for ensuring that only teachers who meet the relevant high standards can register to teach in Scotland. However, the GTCS is currently reviewing its registration and probationary service requirements in order to build a greater degree of flexibility into them while at the same time ensuring that high standards are maintained.
Higher Education Institutions (Governance)
To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve the governance of higher education institutions. (S4O-04315)
Higher education makes an important contribution to our economy and to Scottish public life, in which we are investing more than £1 billion this year and next.
The programme for government highlighted the importance of good governance in our universities and included a commitment to introduce a higher education governance bill. Consultation on such a bill ended on 30 January this year. Informed by the findings, legislation is being developed to modernise and strengthen governance, which will further embed the principles of democracy and accountability in our higher education system. The Scottish Government intends to introduce the higher education governance bill to Parliament before the end of the current session.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of the University and College Union’s proposals for elected chairs of governing bodies, for those bodies to include trade union and student representation and for a definition of academic freedom to be agreed.
I accept that the process that we are going through, which the cabinet secretary highlighted, means that she is constrained in giving undertakings as such, but would she agree that those proposals are worthy of serious consideration?
Yes, I agree that those proposals are worthy of consideration.
The member is correct to highlight that there is a particular process that the Government needs to go through with the Presiding Officer. Therefore, there is not much further that I can add on the detail of the bill until it has been to the Presiding Officer and has been introduced to Parliament.
I can say, however, that the views of all stakeholders that have been shared through the consultation on the higher education governance bill were examined very carefully. Those views and ideas will influence the final form of provisions in the bill.
Question 13, by Mary Fee, has not been lodged. An explanation has been provided.
Children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Glasgow)
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding children with an autistic spectrum disorder being sent to mainstream schools. (S4O-04317)
The Scottish Government has not had any recent discussions with Glasgow City Council regarding children with an autistic spectrum disorder attending mainstream schools.
The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 places a duty on education authorities to provide education in a mainstream school unless specific exceptions apply. These are: if mainstream schooling would not be suitable for the child in question; if placing the child would be likely to be disruptive to the education of the other pupils; or if placing the child in question would incur unreasonable levels of public expenditure.
I very much thank the minister for that response. I wonder whether he shares the concern of some of my constituents, who feel that those specific exceptions are being met, that the school is not suitable for some of the pupils and that it would be disruptive to the other pupils, yet Glasgow City Council insists on sending the pupils to a mainstream school.
I cannot comment on the individual circumstances or school that the member alludes to. As I have mentioned, however, the 2000 act is very specific about the circumstances concerned, and it places a duty on education authorities to provide education in a mainstream setting only if that is in the best interests of the child. The three circumstances that I have set out are those that any education authority would have to have cognisance of.
The same thing is happening in my area in West Lothian. The reality is that the situation is a direct consequence of the underfunding of local government. This is very serious.
Could I hurry you along, Mr Findlay?
Children across Scotland are not being placed for financial reasons, I believe. The Government really has to look into that, because parents will not put up with it.
The member may be in a better position than I am to know about the internal workings of the local authority concerned, but all that I can say is that the 2000 act—[Interruption.]
Order, please.
The act is extremely specific that it is the best interests of the child that are concerned.
As far as local authority funding is concerned, as the member well knows, despite all the pressures placed on the Scottish Government from another place, this Government in Scotland continues to maintain its commitment to funding local authorities.
Education Scotland (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning last met Education Scotland and what was discussed. (S4O-04318)
I met Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland, on Thursday 23 April at a quarter past 1. We discussed a range of topics, which included progress in the implementation of curriculum for excellence, the developing the young workforce programme and Education Scotland’s current consultation on the future development of inspection.
Is the cabinet secretary aware of the concerns in the teaching profession over Education Scotland’s withdrawal of the national contract to supply the glow materials Twig and Tigtag—a much needed science resource—in Scottish schools? How does the cabinet secretary plan to address the concerns of more than 700 teachers, who have signed an online petition, and the impact that the move will have on science teaching in our schools?
I agree with the member that resources for science teachers are very important. We are reviewing the position and, indeed, Dr Allan has been in discussions with representatives from Education Scotland to ensure that science teachers have resources available. We are looking at some other arrangements to ensure that some of the resources mentioned by Mr Griffin continue to be available.