Chamber and committees

Information held on the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database indicates that in the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, the last three years for which data is available, there was one prosecution in a Scottish court (in 2005-06) where the main offence related to the use of illegal snaring practices and which resulted in a conviction. In 2009, two prosecutions relating to the illegal setting of snares resulted in conviction.

This information is not collected.

Reports of illegal snaring offences are included in the Police Recorded Crime Record.

The Scottish Government is working closely with stakeholders to assist Diageo workers facing redundancy. Skills Development Scotland is leading local PACE teams and arrangements have been made to ensure that early support is being provided. The Scottish Government has boosted support to PACE to ensure that sufficient resources are in place and as a result there have been no discussions regarding accessing the European Globalisation Adjustment Funds.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth chaired the taskforce of Glasgow City and East Ayrshire councils, GMB and Unite trade unions, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International which was set up following Diageo''s restructuring announcement. At its meeting on 14 September 2009, the taskforce agreed that it would continue to meet to co-ordinate matters of common interest and that East Ayrshire and Glasgow City councils would lead the development of regeneration strategies for their areas.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the UK Government regarding accessing funds from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund because the interventions supported by the European Globalisation Fund are similar to those offered by PACE “ the Scottish Government''s initiative to support individuals facing redundancy. Skills Development Scotland has responsibility for PACE at a national level and was successful in securing £1.5 million of European Social Funds to boost resources available through PACE. This additional funding and recent improvements to PACE will ensure that all those facing redundancy within Diageo will be able to access the right advice, support and training to enable them to move swiftly into alternative employment. The Scottish Funding Council has also made £7 million available to Scotland''s colleges to enable colleges to run specific training courses for individuals that have been made redundant.

Scotland did not take part in the OECD''s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which underpinned this report but the findings do provide interesting points of comparison with the Scottish system.

For example, the report indicates that much can be gained by integrating professional development in the total work package of teachers. It is a core part of the Teachers'' Agreement in Scotland that all teachers should have 35 hours per year contractual CPD time (in addition to five days of in-service time in each school year). The agreement also put in place a requirement for each teacher to engage in professional review and development with their line manager each year and to identify professional development needs on the basis of individual, school and national priorities, which is in line with the suggestion in the report that greater emphasis on appraisal and feedback could strengthen its benefits in schools.

As well as tending to confirm that many of the structural supports for teachers'' professional development in Scotland are sound, the report also suggests ways in which that professional development can best be focused to support improved learning and teaching. These include that professional development is most effective when it is collaborative and focused directly on the learning environment. To a significant extent this mirrors the findings on continuing professional development in HM Inspectorate of Education''s (HMIE) recent report, Improving Teaching, Improving Learning.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure that lessons and effective practice, as identified in this report and elsewhere, are utilised within Scotland. This will be particularly important in the context of the wide-ranging review of teacher education (including the full range of professional development for teachers), to be led by Graham Donaldson (currently Her Majesty''s Senior Chief Inspector) and due to commence in January 2010.

This is an issue reserved to the UK Government and Scottish ministers have had no discussions with them on this. However, the former Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, in her capacity as Minister for Science, wrote to the Minister for State at the Home Office in April 2009, to confirm that the Scottish Government was content with their plans for a UK consultation on proposals for a new European Union Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. She also noted that it was important that we continue to move towards standards which minimise the use of animals in research, and to press other countries to adopt similar standards.

The Scottish Government recognises gender inequality as a significant issue in science and engineering careers in Scotland, as it is in the UK and indeed in most European countries, as is set out in the report referred to in the question. This is not just about unfairness for individuals, important though that is, but it is also about the limitations on economic growth that arise from inefficient skills utilisation. This is however, a complex issue requiring action on many fronts, in many areas of education and lifelong learning policy. It is not simply about encouraging more women to enter scientific careers, but also about retaining them in those careers once qualified, given the much higher attrition rate for women than men in these careers. Overcoming gender inequalities in these careers will itself act to encourage greater uptake by women at earlier stages.

Ministers decided in June 2009 that tackling occupational segregation would be one of two priorities for advancing equality between women and men. My predecessor was very keen to make progress on this issue in relation to academic careers and I intend to maintain that momentum. The Scottish Government is already supporting several areas of activity on reducing gender inequality in this area. The Scottish Government is, for example, an active partner in the Close the Gap initiative (together with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the STUC) and is providing funding of over £567,000 to the latest phase of the initiative until March 2011. This project aims to raise awareness about the gender pay gap and encourages action by employees and employers to tackle the causes, such as occupational segregation, and reduce the gap. Close the Gap is targeting colleges, universities and key sectors for the recovery of the economy, like life sciences. Further details can be found at:

http://www.closethegap.org.uk/.

In addition, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Council (SFC) is committed to looking at this issue as part of its overall aspiration to embed principles of equality and diversity across and within all its funded programmes. For example, SFC is currently working with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government to address issues of occupational segregation, particularly within SFC-funded school-college partnership activity. It is intended that this will form a package of aligned initiatives that can respond to the issue of gender representation within Scotland''s colleges and universities. SFC has committed funding of over £320,000 to the Scottish Resource Centre for Women in Science Engineering and Technology, based at Napier University for a range of initiatives aimed at tackling gender inequality within the science, technology and engineering sectors. SFC is currently working on a pilot project with the sector skills organisation Constructionskills to provide equality and diversity training for students. SFC has in addition established the Scottish Research Career Co-ordination Forum to facilitate implementation of the research concordat. At this forum there has been discussion of how to support and retain women in research careers, including science, and there are plans to establish a sub-group to focus on supporting women in research careers. SFC are also planning more research on why only four of Scotland''s universities have become members of the Athena Swan Charter, which commits institutions to high standards of gender equality. SFC is discussing with Universities Scotland how best to engage with Scottish HEIs regarding their participation in this charter.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to address this issue at all stages of the career spectrum. Our current Do something creative. Do science marketing campaign highlights a range of science careers and encourages young people to consider the opportunities available to them when they study science, regardless of their gender. Key aims are to tackle the stereotypes that many young people have about science, including the perception that science is just for boys. A range of case studies on the campaign website at www.infoscotland.com/science provides useful information about male and female role models in science.

A Scottish Government minister was not able to attend the Education, Youth Affairs and Culture Council on that occasion due to parliamentary business requirements.

There have been no recent ministerial meetings with stakeholders in North Ayrshire regarding marine conservation.

There was a meeting of the Lamlash Bay Implementation Group on 26 November which officials attended.