- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 15 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school leavers continued their studies at higher or further education level in the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 2003-04.
Answer
The information requested iscontained in the following table:
Number and Proportion ofSchool Leavers Entering Full-Time Higher or Further Education
| | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| Argyll and Bute | 442 (48%) | 491 (47%) |
| West Dunbartonshire | 503 (47%) | 646 (52%) |
Information on the destinationsof young people leaving school in 2005-06 is due to be published on the 6 December 2006.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what support is given to local authorities and others to improve and encourage the uptake of direct payments for community care.
Answer
Direct payments are a meansto allow an individual to purchase the support that would otherwise be arrangedby the local authority, and must be made from within existing overallresources. However, in recognition of additional costs incurred whilst directpayments schemes are developed in tandem with more traditional services, the2004 spending review allocated an additional £1.8 million expenditure during2006 to Scottish local authorities and £2 million annually thereafter to bringdirect payments fully into mainstream service provision.
In addition, the ScottishExecutive awarded £210,000 in grants in 2006-07 for information, support workand training to national direct payments support organisations such as the Scottish Consortium of Direct Payments Support Organisation (SCDPSO), apartnership of the Centres for Integrated Living, and the Scottish PersonalAssistant Employers Network (SPAEN).
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 10 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people from the (a) Argyll and Bute and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area were paid Education Maintenance Allowance in 2005-06.
Answer
The annual statisticspublication on education maintenance allowances at Scottish level will be publishedon 14 November. The breakdown by local authority, published annually on theinternet, will be updated in the same week.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that some local authorities operate a waiting list for direct payments for community care and, if so, whether it will indicate (a) which local authorities operate a waiting list and (b) the average length of wait.
Answer
We are not aware of anylocal authorities currently operating waiting lists for direct payments.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to monitor the training of social workers in the provision and implementation of direct payments.
Answer
The Scottish Executive doesnot monitor the training of social workers in the provision and implementationof direct payments. As part of the grant aided expenditure for direct paymentsin 2006, we expect local authorities to provide training for their staff whoseroles involve care assessment and care management.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to monitor the extent to which local authorities have instituted procedures to support those receiving direct payments for community care in the management of their payments, or in the management of the services purchased with such payments.
Answer
The Executive monitors localauthorities’ activities on direct payments in two ways.
Local authorities are requiredto complete the quarterly statistical return DP1 of key monitoring information,which the Scottish Executive compiles into an annual statistical return. Thelatest national figures are available on the Scottish Executive website at thefollowing link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/25160444/0.In response to the HealthCommittee’s recent Care Inquiry, the Scottish Executive issued in September draftguidance for public consultation which highlights that Local ImprovementTargets (LITs) of the Joint Performance Information and Assessment Framework(JPIAF) are used to monitor local authority performance. It is an expectationof the grant aided expenditure (GAE) for direct payments for 2006 onwards thatlocal authorities provide local information, support and training, both fordirect payments recipients and personal assistants (PAs,) and local authoritystaff involved in financing and delivering care locally. We shall use LITs tomonitor progress on delivery. Further information on LITs can be found on the Scottish Executive Joint Future website at the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/care/JointFuture/LITS.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what services are in place specifically to address mental health problems in young people.
Answer
A wide range of mental healthservices are provided for young people in Scotland. Whilst we do not collect detailed information centrallyon every service, Children and Young People’s Mental Health: A Framework for Promotion,Prevention and Care was developed in 2005 to assist local health, education andsocial services in planning and delivering integrated approaches to children andyoung people’s mental health and wellbeing, and provides an overview of servicesput in place for young people.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants there have been in schools in the (i) Argyll and Bute and (ii) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in each year since 2003-04.
Answer
The number of teachers in Argylland Bute and West Dunbartonshire in 2003-04 to 2005-06 (the latest figures available)are available in the statistical publication
Teachers in Scotland, 2005 whichcan be accessed at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/03/28083648/102.Similarly the number of classroomassistants in these local authorities in 2005 can be accessed in that publicationand the figures for 2003-04 are available in the statistical publication Teachersin Scotland, 2003 which can be accessed at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/07/19729/40787.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 8 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average class sizes were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the (i) Argyll and Bute and (i) West Dunbartonshire local authority area in 2005-06.
Answer
Information on average classsizes in secondary schools is not routinely collected. The average primary classsize in Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire in 2005-06 are available in the statistical publication
Pupils in Scotland, 2005 which can be accessed at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/28083932/0.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 8 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated under New Community School projects to (a) Argyll and Bute Council and (b) West Dunbartonshire Council in each year since 1999 and on what the money was spent.
Answer
For funding allocated under theNew Community Schools Programme to Argyll and Bute Council and West DunbartonshireCouncil in each year over the period 1999 to 2002, I refer the member to the answerto question S1W-19613 on 15 November 2001. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the searchfacility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.Overthe period 2002-07, funding for the New Community Schools Programme has been providedthrough the National Priorities Action Fund (NPAF). Funding allocated to Argyll and Bute Council and West Dunbartonshire Councilin each of these years is provided in the following table.
| Year | Argyll and Bute (£) | West Dunbartonshire (£) |
| 2002-03 | 402,160 | 435,080 |
| 2003-04 | 402,160 | 451,120 |
| 2004-05 | 303,240 | 468,160 |
| 2005-06 | 404,320 | 585,200 |
| 2006-07 | 404,320 | 585,200 |
Funding is used to promote anintegrated approach to the delivery of services and support for children and families.Expenditure on individual areas is a matter for each authority taking into accountlocal needs and priorities. Examples of expenditure include: appointment of integrationco-ordinators; employment of additional staffing; interagency training and disseminationof good practice; development of joint assessment and action planning frameworks,and support for learning within and out with the school.
