Chamber and committees

The funding available to local authorities has increased since 1999-2000 as detailed in my answer to question S1W-27095. In addition to the funding from the Children's Services Development Fund and the Changing Children's Services Fund it is for local authorities to determine their service priorities from the resources made available to them through their revenue grant allocation to meet their legislative duties.

The Throughcare and Aftercare Working Group was formed following consultation on proposals to enhance throughcare and aftercare services for young people leaving care. Key organisations and agencies were invited to nominate a representative to sit on the working group, which is chaired by the Scottish Executive. Membership of the group is as follows: Tam Baillie, The Big StepVivienne Boyle, Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare ForumAlison Caulfield-Dow, Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare ForumMary Carson, Careers ScotlandPatricia Coltart, Association of Directors of Social WorkJohn Dickie, Scottish Council for Single HomelessJean Downie, Association of Directors of Social WorkJulie-Anne Jamieson, Careers ScotlandLiz Lafferty, Convention of Scottish Local AuthoritiesFred McBride, Association of Directors of Social WorkStephen McGinley, Who Cares? ScotlandAlex Ross, Careers ScotlandDeirdre Watson, Who Cares? Scotland

The recent HMIE report, Standards and Quality in Scottish Pre-school Education 1997-2001 included comment on the findings and the main trends from registration inspections of private and voluntary centres carried out between 1997 and 2001. Individual annual reports for 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 had already been published. In all of these inspections, evaluations were based on a suite of 25 HMIE performance indicators covering ethos, curriculum, quality of learning experience, accommodation and resources, and management and quality assurance. The overall pattern was one of improvement, with the proportion of good and very good performance identified in individual centres being higher in 2000-01 than in 1997-98 in the majority of the indicators. Of particular significance were improvements in structure and balance of the curriculum, the programmes in expressive and aesthetic development, aims and policy making, and opportunities for children to learn through play.

While qualifications are clearly important, they are not in themselves sufficient to ensure a high quality of learning experience. On-going training and staff development and clear advice to staff on good practice also make important contributions to improving quality.The nature of the HM Inspectorate of Education inspections did not allow firm conclusions to be drawn about the relationship between numbers of staff with teaching qualifications and the quality of provision.

I have asked Douglas Osler, Chief Executive of HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), to respond. His response is as follows: In integrated inspections of private and voluntary centres, in addition to the National Care Standards, HMIE will use the Curriculum Framework for Children aged 3-5 and The Child at the Centre as benchmarks of the range and quality of experiences which children should be offered. Details of the inspection methodology are currently being finalised. It is envisaged, however, that the inspections will include evaluations of the programmes provided and of children's progress in the key aspects of their development and learning. The key aspects cover emotional, personal and social development, communication and language, knowledge and understanding of the world, expressive and aesthetic development and physical development and movement. The aim will be to ensure that children are given as broad and balanced an experience as possible to assist their development and learning.

The Guidance on Involvement of Teachers in Pre-school Education was informed by a range of evidence, including findings from research and inspection, and by the expertise of the working group members. The working group also considered individual case studies which looked at the different role played by teachers in a range of different early years provision and settings. A list of the centres involved in that study is given on page 19 of the guidance.The working group considered the results of a search of published literature databases which did not reveal a body of clear evidence about the specific difference a teacher makes. The group was also aware of various studies in America that suggest a strong correlation between high quality services for children and the presence of staff who are themselves highly educated. However, it is not clear from any research whether those benefits are linked to staff's general level of education, or to the knowledge and skills gained through their specific qualifications.

Integrated inspections of pre-school services, undertaken by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, will aim to promote improvement in the quality of both education and care. In doing so, the Care Commission and HMIE will take account of Child at the Centre, Curriculum Framework for Children Aged 3-5 and the National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare Up to the Age of 16.All early years services delivering elements of both care and learning will be subject to an integrated inspection regime. Details of how this will be delivered will be finalised shortly.The additional £7.2 million to support workforce expansion and development has been allocated directly to local authorities, which will be free to determine how the resources can best be used to meet local workforce development needs. £3.6 million has been allocated for each of the financial years 2002-03 and 2003-04. This is in addition to the £2 million which was allocated to authorities in late March 2002, which can be spent during the financial year 2002-03. The way in which these funds have been allocated to each local authority is shown in the following table.

Council	2001-02(£)	2002-03(£)	2003-04(£)
Aberdeen City	74,725	136,369	136,369
Aberdeenshire	89,986	166,162	166,162
Angus	46,082	80,446	80,446
Argyll and Bute	36,782	62,289	62,289
Clackmannanshire	26,896	42,987	42,987
Dumfries and Galloway	57,258	102,265	102,265
Dundee City	56,146	100,095	100,095
East Ayrshire	50,952	89,953	89,953
East Dunbartonshire	44,766	77,877	77,877
East Lothian	40,192	68,946	68,946
East Renfrewshire	40,124	68,814	68,814
Edinburgh, City of	140,694	265,165	265,165
Eilean Siar	19,039	27,648	27,648
Falkirk	57,418	102,578	102,578
Fife	125,984	236,445	236,445
Glasgow City	208,637	397,816	397,816
Highland	80,985	148,591	148,591
Inverclyde	38,982	66,585	66,585
Midlothian	37,189	63,083	63,083
Moray	39,794	68,169	68,169
North Ayrshire	57,391	102,526	102,526
North Lanarkshire	122,893	230,409	230,409
Orkney Islands	16,672	23,026	23,026
Perth and Kinross	52,321	92,627	92,627
Renfrewshire	70,378	127,881	127,881
Scottish Borders	43,504	75,412	75,412
Shetland Islands	18,567	26,726	26,726
South Ayrshire	45,530	79,368	79,368
South Lanarkshire	113,758	212,574	212,574
Stirling	37,086	62,882	62,882
West Dunbartonshire	43,648	75,693	75,693
West Lothian	65,621	118,593	118,593
Scotland	2,000,000	3,600,000	3,600,000

The Scottish Executive has been working closely with Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop assessment in pre-school settings, and to provide guidance on how to avoid damaging discontinuities in children's experience, when they move on to primary school. On 18 March this year, I launched Progress With Purpose, a multi-media pack of staff development materials, which was developed by Learning and Teaching Scotland. This pack aims to promote continuity in children's learning between the ages of three and eight. Its contents are consistent with the Executive's wider work on assessment, which is being taken forward by an action group chaired by the deputy minister.

The Executive is committed to the continuation of the pre-school education programme. From April 2002, under the Standards in Scotland's Schools Act (2000) local authorities have been placed under a duty to provide a free part-time pre-school education place for all three and four year olds whose parents wish one. Pre-school education is designed to provide a broad range of planned learning opportunities, in line with the Curriculum Framework for Children three to five, which supports the development of the child. Pre-school education can broaden the range of children's learning experiences, to leave them confident, eager and enthusiastic learners, ready for the transition to school.

The information requested is given in page 19 of the Guidance on Involvement of Teachers in Pre-school Education published by the Scottish Executive Education Department on 21 January 2002 a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18978).

The Guidance on the Involvement of Teachers in Pre-school Education was drawn up to take account of the skills of all staff involved in meeting children's needs. It does not seek to reduce teacher involvement but to allow a more flexible approach to the deployment of teachers, taking account of the needs of centres, the integration of early education and childcare, and the abilities and experience of other staff with different training in pre-school. Making best use of the different skills and expertise of the whole staff group will assist services to meet the unique needs of each child. A commitment by all staff to use their collective skills and knowledge for the benefit of children and families offers a strong basis for positive joint working. Trained teachers will continue to play a vital part in early education as part of a broader team.