- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 4 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8592 by Rhona Brankin on 24 July 2000, when it decided to introduce charges for Stirling residents wishing to park on the esplanade at Stirling Castle and how much revenue this is expected to generate on an annual basis.
Answer
I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:
Parking charges on the esplanade for residents of Stirling Old Burgh were introduced on 30 May this year. The number of residents now using the esplanade is very small and the annual revenue raised from them is expected to be less than £100. The main reason for introducing charges, however, was to maximise the space available to visitors to Stirling Castle given the rise in numbers in recent years. This is expected to produce significant additional revenue from admissions, retail and catering, as well as helping the tourist economy of Stirling and providing a better service to the public.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 3 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the Scottish Qualifications Authority since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
I met with the Chairman and Chief Executive of the SQA on 6 March 2000 when a range of issues were discussed, including approval of SQA's Corporate Plan, financial and IT matters, qualifications developments, international activities and vacancies in board appointments.
Mr Sam Galbraith, Minister for Children and Education, met SQA representatives on 5 August 1999 when visiting the SQA offices to see the dispatch of the 1999 examination results. On that occasion he received a general briefing on SQA activities. Mr Galbraith also met the Chairman and Chief Executive of SQA informally when he addressed the organisation's annual conference on 19 May 2000.
Mr Galbraith met the Chairman and Chief Executive of SQA on 25 July 2000 to discuss examination issues. Mr Galbraith subsequently met the SQA Chairman and senior staff on 13 August 2000 to discuss SQA's plans to resolve problems surrounding this year's examination results and, on the same day, met with SQA and COSHEP representatives to discuss how to protect the interests of higher education applicants.
Mr Galbraith also met with the SQA Chairman and interim Chief Executive informally when visiting the SQA's Dalkeith offices on 14 August 2000 to meet operational staff dealing with examination results problems.
In addition to the above meetings, SQA representatives will have attended a number of ministerial meetings and engagements along with representatives of other bodies.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 25 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the General Teaching Council for Scotland since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
In response to requests made by the General Teaching Council for Scotland, formal meetings have taken place on two occasions with Education Ministers since 1 June 1999. The meetings were held on 6 September 1999 and 25 April 2000. The purpose of the meetings was to hear representatives from the GTC on the proposals relating to the GTC within the Standards in Scotland's Schools Bill.
The Deputy Minister for Enterprise in the Highlands and Islands and Gaelic met representatives of the GTC at their request to discuss their report on Teaching Gaelic Medium Education-Recommendations for Change.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 25 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Ordinary Grade, Standard Grade, Higher Grade, Higher Still and Certificate of Sixth Year Study examinations were taken in each year between 1990 and 2000 and how many candidates made appeals against the result of the examinations.
Answer
Information is available for 1990 to 1999 from the SQA Annual Statistical Reports which have been deposited with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. [Bib. Reference 8639].
A summary is provided in table 1 below for these years. Note that appeals information was included in the SQA reports from 1993 onwards, and is not readily available prior to then. Information on entries in 2000 is provisional at this stage and is provided in table 2.
Table 1: Entries and Appeals: 1990 to 1999
| Year |
Level | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Ordinary Grades | 204,457 | 84,647 | 23,952 | 5,740 | 75 | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Standard Grades | 256,895 | 375,719 | 424,763 | 441,679 | 464,675 | 490,112 | 504,098 | 496,820 | 475,507 | 475,568 |
Number of Appeals | | | | 27,424 | 25,548 | 25,975 | 27,206 | 30,461 | 29,084 | 29,539 |
as % of entries | | | | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
% Appeals Successful | | | | 43 | 48 | 48 | 53 | 50 | 51 | 54 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE) Higher Grades | 158,191 | 155,794 | 157,995 | 159,548 | 160,646 | 160,925 | 164,701 | 167,257 | 163,817 | 160,909 |
Number of Appeals | | | | 16,724 | 18,760 | 18,987 | 18,281 | 19,046 | 18,691 | 16,933 |
as % of entries | | | | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
% Appeals Successful | | | | 45 | 41 | 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 32 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS) | 11,240 | 10,638 | 11,586 | 11,482 | 11,942 | 12,092 | 12,273 | 13,044 | 12,292 | 13,107 |
Number of Appeals | | | | 854 | 990 | 970 | 1,007 | 1,161 | 1,043 | 1,155 |
as % of entries | | | | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
% Appeals Successful | | | | 33 | 33 | 46 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 43 |
Table 2: Provisional Entries: 2000
| Year |
Level | 2000 |
Standard Grades | 481,411 |
Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE) Higher Grades | 46,049 |
National Qualification (NQ) Intermediate 1 | 7,980 |
National Qualification (NQ) Intermediate 2 | 33,987 |
National Qualification (NQ) Higher | 116,531 |
Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS) | 12,949 |
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by David Steel on 21 September 2000
To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) received from The Scottish Office information as to whether, at the outset of the Holyrood Project, (a) a committee of appropriate personnel was established to assess the project requirements and prepare a basic specification, (b) associated technical personnel were on hand to give advice to this committee and make any necessary assessment, (c) any assessment of the original building project was required and made and (d) any overall specification was produced incorporating all operational requirements so that a proper budget could be estimated, and whether the SPCB received information as to how the original estimated budget of #40 million was arrived at.
Answer
I understand that, following the selection of the Holyrood site on 9 January 1998, the new Parliament building project was administered by the Holyrood Project Team (HPT) within The Scottish Office. The HPT appointed a suitably qualified Project Manager, (who was initially appointed as a Project Adviser), who produced a Building User Brief, seeking advice from appropriate Scottish Office Departments and from the Consultative Steering Group as required. The SPCB acquired legal responsibility for the project on 1 June 1999 and received regular briefing from the HPT and the Design Team on a wide range of issues, including budgets. The composition of the original budget estimates is a matter which was investigated by the Auditor General for Scotland in preparing his recent report into the Management of the Holyrood Project.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 20 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is towards employees who smoke and what facilities it provides for staff who smoke at its Victoria Quay and St Andrew's House locations.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has a formal policy on smoking in the workplace which is available on its Intranet and in hard copy. The main thrust of the policy is to discourage smoking due to its detrimental effects on health. The Scottish Executive makes special provision for smokers as a concession, by permitting smoking in designated areas. The Executive provides a smoking room for staff use in each of its major buildings, including both Victoria Quay and St Andrew's House.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the Scottish Childcare Board since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
In November 1999 I announced the merger of the Scottish Childcare Board (SCB) and the Early Years Education Forum. The new Scottish Early Education and Childcare Forum provides an integrated source of advice on these important and inter-related services.
Since 1 June 1999 I have met SCB once - on 4 October 1999 - and my officials met members twice. I also chaired the first meeting of the new forum on 24 July 2000. The relevant information is provided below.
Meeting Date | Issues discussed |
24 June 1999 | - Presentation on Working Families Tax Credit and Disabled Persons Tax Credit
- Initial feedback from Childcare Plans
- Preliminary advice to the New Opportunities Fund on its out of school care programme.
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5 July 1999 | - Advice to the New Opportunities Fund
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| 4 October 1999 | - Quality Initiatives, Training and Qualifications
- Future Proposals for Scottish Childcare Board and Early Years Forum
- Childcare Information Services
- Annual Report of the Scottish Childcare Board
- Advice to the New Opportunities Fund
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24 July 2000 | - Background & Remit of new forum
- Childcare Strategy: Progress and Challenges
- Future Business: Options and Priorities
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- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
Scottish Ministers have met representatives of the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland once since 1 June 1999. I met the bard on 22 November 1999 when the following issues were discussed:
- the importance of the built heritage in educational services,
- the contribution of the built heritage to regeneration, particularly of rural areas,
- the long-term future of the local authority archaeology service in Scotland,
- resources available to support the built heritage, and
- the National Cultural Strategy.
That meeting was mentioned in paragraph 2 of the board's annual report for 1999 which was laid before the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Ministers in May 2000. I have arranged to meet representatives of the board again on 4 October 2000 to discuss their annual report for 1999.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the Scottish Council for Educational Technology since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
Peter Peacock, Deputy Minister for Children and Education has met representatives of the former body of the Scottish Council for Educational Technology (SCET) on two occasions.
On 9 December 1999 the Minister had a joint meeting with the Board of SCET and the former Council of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum (SCCC) where he was briefed on the impending merger of the two organisations and their future workplace.
On 24 January 2000 the Minister toured the offices of SCET in Glasgow.
Mr Peacock has also received technical presentations on a range of education information and communication technology applications by staff of SCET.
- Asked by: Mr Brian Monteith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how often Ministers have met representatives of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum since 1 June 1999, on what dates these meetings took place and what issues were discussed.
Answer
Ministers have met with representatives of the former Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum (SCCC) on two occasions.
On 9 December 1999 Peter Peacock, Deputy Minister for Children and Education had a joint meeting with the Council of SCCC and the Board of the former Scottish Council for Educational Technology (SCET) where he was briefed on the impending merger of the two organisations and their future workplace.
On 6 June 2000, Rhona Brankin, Deputy Minister for Sport and Culture met with representatives of SCCC to discuss cultural issues within the curriculum.
