Chamber and committees

It is my understanding that what NHS Ayrshire and Arran are consulting on is not the centralisation but the localisation of unscheduled care services, with a full accident and emergency service at Crosshouse Hospital supported by a network of five community casualty facilities across the region.

As to the advice offered, it is for NHS boards to plan and deliver services that best meet the needs of local people, subject to national frameworks and guidance.

In all cases of proposed significant service change, NHS boards are expected to adhere to the guidance set out by the Executive on public engagement and consultation. This guidance - NHS Health Department Letter 42 (2002) - is available in full in the publications section of the NHS Scottish Health On the Web internet site.

In 2004-05, the Scottish Executive provided £13.7 million of funding to Learning and Teaching Scotland towards the development of educational resources. Some of this funding was directed to supporting Scots language and literacy in Scottish schools. However, there is no general prescription as to how these funds are specifically directed as it is important that Learning and Teaching Scotland respond to the changing demands of the primary and secondary teaching communities.

The Scottish Arts Council have provided the following funding towards the promotion of Scottish Literature and Robert Burns in Scottish schools:

Live Literature Scotland	£154,500	2004-05
	£164,500	2005-06
Itchy Coo	£150,000	2001
	£37,500	2004
BRAW	£30,000	2004

 

Members of the public, patient interest groups, NHS professionals and other key stakeholders will be asked for their views.

In line with Executive policy on consultation exercises of this type, where respondents consent, full written responses will be made publicly available on the Executive website.

We have not yet set a date for the commencement of phase 2 of the review.

The level of annual purchasegrant provided to the National Galleries of Scotland by the Scottish Executiveis set out in the answer to question S2W-19126 on 27 September 2005. The actuallevel of expenditure by NGS may be supplemented by additional income or financialdonations and is set out in their annual accounts which are laid before the Scottish Parliament. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Since 1999-2000 the ScottishExecutive has provided purchase grants totalling over £3 million annually to thethree National Institutions: Of this total, £1.26 million per annum has been providedto the National Galleries of Scotland for the purchase of art. In addition, the National Gallerieshave had access to one-off funding from the Executive for major additions to theircollections: £0.5 million in1999-2000 towards the purchase of Botticelli’s “The Virgin adoring the sleeping Christ Child” and£2.5 million in 2002-03 for the purchase of Titian “Venus Rising from theSea”.

No funds have beenset aside by the Executive for future acquisitions beyond the normal NGS purchasegrant of £1.26 million per annum. Neither are any proposals for the purchase ofart collections under consideration for additional one-off funding at the presenttime.

Purchase grants areonly one means by which the National Institutions acquire items for their collections.The UK Government operates a scheme under which works of art can be accepted bythe state in lieu of Inheritance Tax. The Heritage Lottery Fund also funds acquisitionsand gave £7.6 million each for the purchase of the Botticelli and the Titian bythe National Galleries of Scotland. The National Heritage Memorial Fund actsas funder of last resort to save works of art for the nation and gave £3 milliontowards the joint purchase of “The Three Graces” by the National Galleries of Scotland and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The National Art Collections Fund has also funded acquisitionsin Scotland, giving £0.5 million towards the purchaseof the Titian by the National Galleries of Scotland.The National Institutions receive a significant number of bequests of items fortheir collections from private individuals and as well as financial donations whichcan be applied towards the purchase of works of art.

I wrote to the Convener of the Health Committee on 30 August 2005 to send her a report of the conference and advise her of the Executive’s response. I will arrange for a copy of that letter to be sent to the member.

Neither the recorded crime nor the court proceedings statistics held centrally contain information which would enable figures to be provided at the level of detail requested.

There is no statutory national curriculum in Scotland. Approaches to the teaching of Scottish literature fall within the English Language Guidelines 5-14. The guidance stresses the importance of Scottish writing and writing about Scotland taking its place beside English literature in permeating the curriculum from an early stage. This provides the opportunity to examine critically the ideas, beliefs and emotions of Scottish writers, and to set them against the different insights and perspectives of writers from other places and other times. The guidelines are not specific about which works or Scottish writers are to be studied.

As students move onto upper secondary school education, teachers are urged to take advantage of as many opportunities of studying and using the Scottish tongue in most of the component units in the levels from Access 3 to Higher. In the Higher English course, for example, the work of Robert Burns could be chosen by candidates to write a critical essay in which they must demonstrate the ability to understand, analyse and evaluate a writer they have studied.

Ambitious Excellent Schools sets out our agenda for the modernisation of education in Scotland. The purposes for education in A Curriculum for Excellence set out clearly the need for young people to develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it. Learning about Scottish literature therefore makes a major contribution to achieving our aims for young people and will be reflected in the developing curricular framework.

Approaches to the teaching of Scottish culture and history fall within the environmental studies and expressive arts areas of the curriculum. The National Guidelines on Environmental Studies 5-14 advise that an understanding of the past should be developed through studies that include attention to Scottish, British, European and global contexts. The guidelines on Expressive Arts 5-14 include the aim of promoting an awareness of cultural heritage, values and diversity by encouraging recognition and understanding of cultural inheritance, traditions and values, and making comparisons with other groups and cultures. The 5-14 guidelines for English language and Personal and Social Development also stress the importance of maintaining a focus on the Scottish context. The guidelines are not specific about the precise aspects of Scottish culture and history to be studied.

As students move onto upper secondary school education, there are opportunities within a range of National Qualifications courses to study topics related to Scottish culture and history. For example, the Highland clearances may be studied within the 1830s to 1930s option at Standard Grade and “Nation and King” within the Higher History course covers the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Ambitious Excellent Schools sets out our agenda for the modernisation of education in Scotland. The purposes for education in A Curriculum for Excellence set out clearly the need for young people to develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it. Learning about Scottish culture and history makes a major contribution to achieving our aims for young people and will be reflected in the developing curricular framework.