Chamber and committees

The SAC will continue to provide degree level courses at Craibstone and Auchincruive for existing students and fornew students enrolling in October 2003. In the longer term the SAC have said they plan to provide degree courses at Edinburgh.

I would refer you to the answergiven to question S2O-424 on 18 September 2003. The Scottish Agricultural College(SAC) proposes to continue to provide sub-degree provision on a dispersed basisin Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire and in other parts of Scotland, subjectto demand. In the short term, the SAC will continue to offer sub-degree provisionat Craibstone and Auchincruive but in the longer term this will be provided at alternativelocations in partnership with other organisations locally. I believe that thecollege’s plans are now moving in the right direction. It is the continued deliveryof education and training locally which will be important to future students.

This is being achieved by statutorymeans and by changes to audit and reporting arrangements. Section 1 of the Local Governmentin Scotland Act 2003 places all local authorities under a statutory duty to secureBest Value. Scottish ministers have issued guidance under section 2(1) of theact on the key characteristics of a local authority which secures Best Value. Thesecharacteristics include transparency in decision making and accountability for performance.This guidance is available on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/lgsabv.pdf.

Section 13 of the act placesall local authorities under a statutory duty to make arrangements for the reportingto the public of the outcome of performance of functions. Regulations and guidanceto support this duty are currently under consultation, which will close on 21 November.A copy of the consultation document can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/localgov/pubrepsla.pdf.

The publication of the arrangementsfor monitoring local agreements is a matter for the Scottish Negotiating Committeefor Teachers (SNCT). The agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century,recommends that the SNCT conducts a thorough review of the arrangements for localnegotiation, which would include disciplinary arrangements, no later than August2004.

We do not monitor the application of teacher disciplinary procedures by education authorities. However, the ScottishNegotiating Committee for Teachers is able to offer advice to local negotiating committees if any issues arise in relation to disciplinary procedures.

The clarity of local agreementsis a matter for local negotiators. The revised disciplinary framework agreed bythe Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers establishes a basic framework thatwill ensure that procedures are both fair and effective. It also contains an appealsmechanism to a higher level within the authority.

The second round of colorectalcancer screening in the pilot area of Fife, Grampian and Tayside will provide an opportunity tolook at a number of issues including initiatives aimed at increasing the screeninginvitation uptake. It is expected that any increases to the number of people acceptingthe screening invitation will be met from within the pilot’s existing resources.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-2628 today, which is available on the Parliament’s website, thesearch facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

The Evaluation of the UK ColorectalCancer Screening Pilot was released on 8 July 2003. Acopy of the report is available at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/publications/ColorectalCaScreenpilotEval2003.pdf.A second round of colorectal cancer screening covering the pilot area of Fife, Grampianand Tayside commenced in December 2002.

I refer the member to the answerto question S2W-2628 today, which is available on the Parliament’s website, thesearch facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.