Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive believes in a balanced approach to investment, including arrangements under which local authorities can procure work on school buildings through borrowing under the prudential framework, through public private partnerships and under the Schools Fund capital grant. Most authorities make use of all the options available to them for such investment.

Detailed decisions about investment in new school buildings are for the local authorities themselves. The Scottish Executive does not have comprehensive information about all such proposals.

The Scottish Social Services Council published the qualifications criteria for registration of the early years and child care workforce in March 2004.

The Pre-School and Childcare Workforce Statistics survey provides information about qualifications of the workforce. In 2003, 66% of the workforce were qualified to registration standards. This increased to 74% in 2004. Comparable information is not available before 2003.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Social Services Council published the qualifications criteria for registration of the early years and child care workforce in March 2004.

The Pre-School and Childcare Workforce Statistics survey provides information about qualifications of the workforce. In 2003, 65% of the workforce were qualified to registration standards. This increased to 71% in 2004. Comparable information is not available before 2003.

No. The review intends to report to ministers in the late summer.

Since 2000 the Executive has invested nearly £25 million into early years and child care staff development anda further £12 million is committed to 2008.

As part of the Scottish Budget arrangements, 2004, the Executive committed to increasing the proportion of workersqualified to the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) registration standards from 66% in 2003 to 85% in 2009.

Registration of the early years and child care workforce with the SSSC is an important aspect of increasing professionalismin the sector.

Registration will commence during 2006 and is dependent on holding or working towards a relevant qualification. Registrationwill also involve a commitment to continuous professional development.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Peter Peacock: Since 2000 the Executive has invested nearly £25 million into early years and childcare staff development and a further £12 million is committed to 2008.

As part of the Scottish Budget arrangements, 2004, the Executive committed to increasing the proportion of workers qualified to the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) registration standards from 65% in 2003 to 85% in 2009.

Registration of the early years and child care workforce with the SSSC is an important aspect of increasing professionalism in the sector.

Registration will commence during 2006 and is dependent on holding or working towards a relevant qualification. Registration will also involve a commitment to continuous professional development.

The information is not available in the form requested. However, in the age group up to the age of 18, it is estimated that, in the year ended March 2004, 1,500 males and 300 females were seen by general practitioners throughout Scotland in respect of hyperactivity disorders. This estimate is based on the activity of 63 Scottish general practices with a combined patient population of 341,778, and will not include patients whose condition is being managed by specialist services and who may not see their GPs in connection with it.

The number of people over the age of 18 seen by the sample practices in respect of hyperactivity disorders is too low to allow a reliable estimate for the whole of Scotland to be made.

The information requested is given in the tables below. The cost given is the cost of items before addition of any pharmacy fees and deduction of any discount and patient charges. Data in the tables refer to prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors, but do not take into account medicines dispensed by hospitals or hospital based clinics.

Table 1 – No. of Prescribed Items – Year ending 31 March

NHS Board	No. Prescribed Items
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	1,077	1,207	1,547	1,542	1,866	2,310
Ayrshire and Arran	625	984	1,195	1,385	1,890	2,103
Borders	235	317	485	612	894	1,210
Dumfries and Galloway	127	308	448	628	931	1,182
Fife	1,973	2,811	3,235	3,659	4,651	5,281
Forth Valley	836	1,216	1,392	1,396	1,676	1,792
Grampian	2,121	3,025	3,522	3,756	4,565	4,970
Greater Glasgow	1,523	2,029	2,160	2,253	2,718	3,085
Highland	425	724	935	1,026	1,143	1,453
Lanarkshire	931	1,011	1,129	1,185	1,415	1,543
Lothian	2,825	3,266	3,120	3,685	4,012	4,578
Orkney	17	12	20	27	34	75
Shetland	82	133	190	205	208	218
Tayside	1,487	2,121	2,966	3,513	4,256	4,881
Western Isles	18	34	40	14	17	29
All NHS Boards	14,302	19,198	22,384	24,886	30,276	34,710

Table 2 – Gross Ingredient Cost (£) – Year ending 31 March

NHS Board	Gross Ingredient Cost (£)
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Argyll and Clyde	15,722	17,379	22,256	23,196	41,506	63,820
Ayrshire and Arran	10,548	16,523	21,023	25,060	50,361	59,000
Borders	3,649	4,749	7,861	10,272	15,486	29,186
Dumfries and Galloway	2,255	4,549	6,464	8,640	19,271	33,316
Fife	39,931	62,425	73,261	84,576	159,889	215,988
Forth Valley	11,969	19,927	23,975	26,579	37,626	47,212
Grampian	34,266	52,310	63,684	69,722	117,447	144,231
Greater Glasgow	24,700	33,371	36,816	37,418	61,403	90,620
Highland	6,128	10,548	13,908	16,191	20,985	36,091
Lanarkshire	14,653	16,275	19,127	20,280	31,362	41,821
Lothian	53,817	67,758	71,283	82,662	102,511	156,939
Orkney	193	197	445	485	524	1,933
Shetland	1,173	2,324	3,206	3,279	6,227	8,279
Tayside	32,329	47,352	63,911	72,009	121,741	182,384
Western Isles	329	614	566	173	189	608
All NHS Boards	251,662	356,301	427,786	480,542	786,527	1,111,428

The information in the tables has been provided by NHS National Services Scotland.

The cost of the car hire service conveying judges on circuit was £194,100 in the financial year 2003-04. In addition, judges may use public transport or private car to undertake journeys for which actual costs or standard mileage rates (agreed with the Inland Revenue) are reimbursed. Information on the expenditure in these categories is not held centrally and the cost of collating it would exceed the upper limit under the freedom of information arrangements.

The role of SIGN will not form part of the audit, however the results of the audit may help SIGN in making a decision about when it would be appropriate to review and revise the guideline.

The audit is being planned at present, and the appointment of staff to undertake the work will take place in the spring of 2005. The remit will be to take the recommendations and the good practice points listed in the guideline and compare them with practice in the field.

Quality Improvement Scotland estimate that it will take up to two years to complete.

The National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce consists of a Steering Group and five Working Groups. The working groups cover:

Roles and Responsibilities

Qualifications and Training

Career Pathways

Recruitment and Retention

Workforce Planning

The steering group has met twice and there have been several meetings of the working groups. The initial phase of the review was carried out by the Roles and Responsibilities Working Group which was tasked to consider how the roles and responsibilities of early years and child care workers might evolve in the light of policy developments, to ensure that the workforce continues to meet the needs of children in the future. The other three working groups which have met (Qualifications and Training, Recruitment and Retention, and Career Pathways) are using the output of the Roles and Responsibilities Group to inform their thinking. The Workforce Planning Working Group will start its work in the New Year. Each of the Working Groups is identifying a number of issues and the Steering Group will consider their recommendations at its next meeting. The review team will also meet front line staff and managers to discuss emerging issues including the work on roles and responsibilities.

The steering group will formulate recommendations and report on these to ministers in the summer of 2005 at which time I will set out my intentions regarding consultation on that report.

Further information about the Review can be found on the Scottish Executive website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/Early-Education-Child-care/EarlyYearsReview/intro.