Chamber and committees

The table below details the number of ministerial engagements undertaken by the Minister for Children and Early Years, broken down by parliamentary constituency, for the period May 2007 to 14 April 2009.

Aberdeen Central	1
Aberdeen North	2
Aberdeen South	2
Airdrie and Shotts	1
Angus	0
Argyll and Bute	0
Ayr	10
Banff and Buchan	0
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	0
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	11
Central Fife	1
Clydesdale	1
Clydebank and Milngavie	2
Cunninghame North	3
Coatbridge and Chryston	2
Cunninghame South	5
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	2
Dundee East	1
Dundee West	4
Dunfermline East	1
Dunfermline West	9
Dumbarton	1
Dumfries	2
Eastwood	3
Edinburgh Central	43
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	3
East Kilbride	1
East Lothian	2
Edinburgh North and Leith	5
Edinburgh Pentlands	3
Edinburgh South	4
Edinburgh West	5
Falkirk East	1
Falkirk West	1
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	3
Glasgow Anniesland	3
Glasgow Baillieston	3
Glasgow Cathcart	2
Glasgow Govan	2
Glasgow Kelvin	22
Glasgow Maryhill	2
Glasgow Pollok	0
Glasgow Rutherglen	1
Glasgow Shettleston	2
Glasgow Springburn	2
Gordon	0
Greenock and Inverclyde	2
Hamilton North and Bellshill	1
Hamilton South	1
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	1
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	9
Kirkcaldy	2
Linlithgow	0
Livingston	2
Midlothian	1
Moray	2
Motherwell and Wishaw	0
North East Fife	4
North Tayside	4
Ochil	4
Orkney	0
Perth	2
Paisley North	5
Paisley South	0
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	0
Roxburgh and Berwickshire	0
Shetland	0
Stirling	10
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	1
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	3
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	0
Western Isles	0
West Renfrewshire	1
Total	229

 

The Scottish Government recognises the value that the Gaiety Theatre has for the local and wider community. I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22889 on 11 May 2009. This issue was discussed by the First Minister and Provost Sloan as part of a wider conversation in the Burns Light Event on 25 January 2009.

The First Minister has since written to Provost Sloan to stress the importance of exploring a range of options with a view of finding a viable and sustainable solution. The First Minister has also been in touch with Mr Ian Brown, who is leading the steering group seeking to establish a Trust for Ayr''s Gaiety Theatre, outlining possible sources of funding that may be available for the Trust from social enterprise funding streams.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The First Minister and Provost Sloan of South Ayrshire Council discussed the Gaiety Theatre as part of a wider conversation during their meeting at the Burns Light event on 25 January 2009.

The First Minister has since written to Provost Sloan to stress the importance of exploring a range of options and continuing engagement with individuals and interest groups committed to securing the Gaiety''s long-term future, with a view to finding a viable and sustainable solution.

Information of the progress made on class size reduction in East and South Ayrshire was published in Pupils in Scotland 2008 on 24 February 2009, available on the government website at the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/266539/0079763.pdf.

This information is not available at this time. Students who are eligible for the teacher induction scheme are allocated to local authorities during May, but it is not possible to predict with accuracy how many will commence their probationary year in the autumn because some will fail their course or decline their allocation for another reason. Moreover, a number of probationer teachers who are not on the teacher induction scheme may also work in East or South Ayrshire.

The figures are published each year in Teachers in Scotland, available from the government website using the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/PubTeacherCensus.

The Minister for Children and Early Years undertook discussions with South Ayrshire officials in April during which school estate matters were considered.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22880 on 11 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government provides a wide range of support to manufacturing companies “ including in Ayrshire “ directly and through Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, local authorities and Skills Development Scotland. This includes innovation and investment grants, such as Regional Selective Assistance, where offers of RSA support totalling £26 million have been made to manufacturing businesses in Ayrshire over the last three years.

We are committed to supporting all manufacturers in Scotland to improve their productivity and ensuring that they can compete globally. Our Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) is delivered by Scottish Enterprise and is currently in the process of expansion. Industry-experienced practitioners work across Scotland with enterprises “ including in Ayrshire “ to increase value to their products and businesses and advise on industrial aspects such as lean manufacturing, waste reduction, process efficiency and product innovation as required.

The Scottish Government remains focused on delivering our core purpose of increasing sustainable economic growth across Scotland, including in Ayrshire.

Through our Government Economic Strategy and our six-point programme for economic recovery, we are using all the levers at our disposal to lead Scotland out of this downturn and position our economy to take early advantage of the recovery.

This includes the acceleration of nearly £293 million in capital expenditure into 2009-10, on top of £30 million in 2008-09, supporting 5,800 jobs across Scotland. Many of these employment opportunities will be in Ayrshire.