Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-30894

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) copies of all correspondence and notes of discussions between the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and the UK Secretary of State for Health relating to bonus payments for hospital consultants.

Scottish Government does not routinely put such letters and notes on the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) website. The letter to the Secretary of State for Health in England about a UK wide review of the award schemes for NHS consultants can be found on the Scottish Government website using the link provided.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/01/06111437.

There are no notes of discussions and no reply has been received at this time from the Department of Health.

Question reference: S3W-30890

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure that all local authorities have literacy as their number one educational priority.

Raising literacy standards for all is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we are working with local government to ensure young people have the literacy skills they will need for learning, life and work.

Development of literacy skills is at the very heart of Curriculum for Excellence. For the first time every teacher will have a responsibility for the development of literacy skills, and we are ensuring that these skills are formally accredited and recognised through the introduction of the new National Literacy qualifications. All local authorities have Curriculum for Excellence implementation plans, and improving literacy features within these.

During a parliamentary debate on 14 January 2010 on the Literacy Commission report we committed to bring forward a literacy action plan, and will be discussing its content with our partners, including local authorities, the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and the Literacy Commission.

Question reference: S3W-30902

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of the recent adverse weather conditions on the opencast mining industry.

Question reference: S3W-30895

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in receipt of the lower rate of disability living allowance in (a) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency, (b) East Ayrshire and (c) South Ayrshire were admitted to the free bus travel scheme when it commenced.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

When the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People was introduced on 1 April 2006, existing local authority concessionary cardholders transferred into the new scheme without undergoing a reassessment of their entitlement. The number of those cardholders specifically in receipt of lower rate Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at that time was not provided. Those previously in receipt of concessions on the grounds of receipt of lower rate DLA would, on expiry of their card, no longer be eligible under the Scotland-wide scheme unless they qualified under any of the other criteria.

Question reference: S3W-30898

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of preparations made by local authorities to deal with the recent adverse weather conditions.

It is for each local authority to manage its own winter preparations and to determine how best to meet its statutory duties during adverse weather conditions. We would expect local authorities to review their own planning and response activity.

To support our councils and others, the Scottish Government has contacted resilience stakeholders across Scotland to identify lessons which may be learned and applied from the recent period of prolonged and at times extreme winter weather. The Cabinet Sub Committee for Scottish Government Resilience will consider the findings of this review to ensure that any lessons identified for the Scottish Government are learned and applied.

The Scottish Salt Group also continues its winter weather work, which will also inform debrief and future planning activity of individual councils, trunk road operators and Scottish Government.

Question reference: S3W-30891

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that local authorities include improving literacy as a key priority in their single outcome agreements.

Raising literacy standards for all is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we are working with local government to ensure young people have the literacy skills they will need for learning, life and work.

Development of literacy skills is at the very heart of Curriculum for Excellence. All local authorities are fully committed to Curriculum for Excellence, and local authorities may wish to consider whether literacy needs to be explicitly included in their individual Single Outcome Agreements.

During a parliamentary debate on 14 January 2010 on the Literacy Commission report we committed to bring forward a literacy action plan, and will be discussing its content with our partners, including local authorities, the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and the Literacy Commission

Question reference: S3W-30899

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 February 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment will be made of the adequacy of the response by local authorities to the recent adverse weather conditions.

Question reference: S3W-30754

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many enterprise projects in schools are run using the co-operative business model.

Question reference: S3W-30749

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 29 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the Determined to Succeed programme and whether it will continue funding when the present funding arrangements come to an end.

Determined to Succeed is now in a second phase as a result of policy decisions based on a formal review of Phase 1 in July 2008. The findings resulted in a continuation of the programme based on the success identified in formal assessment and evaluation.

The main external monitoring processes of Determined to Succeed (the government''s Enterprise in Education strategy) are through an annual reporting cycle arrangement for local authorities linked directly to ring-fenced funding commitments and plans. Assessment and evaluation of the strategy is also supplemented through local authority visits and discussions led by Senior Advisers in the National Determined to Succeed team. This consists of standardised reporting and a collation of trends, high points and areas for development in a collated analysis of local authority progress reports. The focus of analysis is directly related to the Determined to Succeed Policy Expectations for Local Authority Delivery 2008-2011.

Internally within local authorities quality improvement and quality assurance strategies will also formulate analysis based on progress towards relevant elements within the single outcome agreements. Enterprise in Education Quality Indicators developed by HMIe within the How good is our school suite of indictors, facilitate reflection on recognised standards and identification of future priorities. Furthermore, within a class or school department, use of the Determined to Succeed
Self-evaluation tool is a key resource for self-evaluation and future development planning.

Other elements of the Determined to Succeed strategy are evaluated in formal research reporting including Work Experience and Virtual Work Experience where research reports have resulted in recommendations for improvement. Other elements of the programme including engagement of work related learning and partnership working with colleges and other training providers has been subject to focussed reports by HMIe such as Working Out and Improving Enterprise in Education.

It is well recognised that the Determined to Succeed strategy has been a success in implementing enterprise education within the curriculum in all schools and education settings.

Scottish Government has committed funding to the Determined to Succeed strategy until March 2011. This commitment was based on the intent to embed Determined to Succeed within Curriculum for Excellence.

Local authorities, through their single outcome agreement arrangements, are currently committed to deliver on the policy expectations until March 2011.

No decisions have been taken on funding arrangements beyond this date and any discussions on this will be in the context of decisions on future spending arrangements and outcome agreements with local authorities

Question reference: S3W-30900

Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of the recent adverse weather conditions on the timber industry in (a) Scotland and (b) Ayrshire.

The recent adverse weather has meant considerable difficulties accessing and working harvesting sites and in getting supplies from the forest to processing and biomass plants across Scotland, including Ayrshire. Forestry Commission Scotland has been working closely with forest industry representatives over recent weeks to maintain the flow of timber from the forest to the mills.

Forestry Commission Scotland has put in place measures to maximise the volumes of timber delivered, both on the national forest estate and in the private sector by encouraging harvesting on accessible sites close to public roads to maintain supplies. Forestry Commission Scotland will continue to work with the forest industries to minimise the disruption caused to harvesting and haulage operations and this year''s planting programmes.

Chamber and committees