- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 7 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide funding to assist former nurses who are to retrain for re-entry into the nursing profession during the period when they are losing any previous income and have to meet course fees.
Answer
We have no plans for central funding of returners to practice. These costs are a matter for individual NHS Trusts to determine in the light of staffing requirements.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 7 February 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to give additional financial help through bursaries or loans to nursing students in recognition of the fact that they must continue their courses throughout the summer and cannot earn money then as other students can.
Answer
Student nurses already receive significantly more financial support than students studying other disciplines.We are committed to a full review of the support arrangements for nursing students to take place over the next six months.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus MacKay on 31 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it follows any guidelines for contracting recruitment agencies and what factors, other than cost, are considered in such decisions.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has contractual arrangements in place with recruitment agencies for a range of search and selection services. Working with these agencies gives the Executive flexibility in terms of capacity and provides expertise and knowledge of recruitment markets and practices. All contracts are subject to competition and detailed evaluation of the proposals to provide the particular service. All proposals are evaluated against pre-set criteria. These include assessment of the companies':
- understanding of the statement of requirement;
- management structure;
- capacity;
- technical capability;
- quality;
- responsiveness;
references.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what was the total (a) net expenditure by public libraries, (b) number of professional staff, non-professional staff and management staff employed in public libraries, (c) number of (i) book and (ii) audio-visual issues, (d) amount of money spent from (i) book and (ii) audio-visual funds and (e) number of branch libraries which were open 45 hours or more per week, in (i) 1995-96 and (ii) 1999-2000, broken down by local authority.
Answer
Net expenditure on public libraries by local authority area is shown in the table. The other information requested is not held centrally.
| LIBRARIES - EXPENDITURE 1995-96 & 1999-2000 |
| Final Outturn 1995-96 | | Provisional Outturn 1999-2000 |
| Council | £000 | Council | £000 |
| Borders | 1,547 | Aberdeen City | 2,913 |
| *Central | 0 | Aberdeenshire | 2,987 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 1,817 | Angus | 1,622 |
| *Fife | 0 | Argyll and Bute | 1,156 |
| *Grampian | 0 | Clackmannanshire | 914 |
| Highland | 3,006 | Dumfries and Galloway | 2,146 |
| *Lothian | 0 | Dundee | 3,227 |
| *Strathclyde | 0 | East Ayrshire | 1,899 |
| *Tayside | 0 | East Dunbartonshire | 2,152 |
| Orkney | 430 | East Lothian | 1,155 |
| Shetland | 678 | East Renfrewshire | 1,631 |
| Western Isles | 485 | Edinburgh City | 8,189 |
| *Berwickshire | 0 | Eilean Siar | 741 |
| *Ettrick & Lauderdale | 0 | Falkirk | 2,624 |
| *Roxburgh | 0 | Fife | 5,318 |
| *Tweeddale | 0 | Glasgow City | 12,742 |
| Clackmannanshire | 738 | Highland | 3,166 |
| Falkirk | 2,310 | Inverclyde | 1,095 |
| Stirling | 1,754 | Midlothian | 1,054 |
| Annandale & Eskdale | 0 | Moray | 1,449 |
| *Nithsdale | 0 | North Ayrshire | 1,876 |
| *Stewartry | 0 | North Lanarkshire | 4,750 |
| *Wigtown | 0 | Orkney | 489 |
| Dunfermline | 1,701 | Perth and Kinross | 2,609 |
| Kirkcaldy | 2,322 | Renfrewshire | 3,503 |
| North East Fife | 1,042 | Scottish Borders | 1,277 |
| Aberdeen | 3,799 | Shetland | 762 |
| Banff & Buchan | 1,106 | South Ayrshire | 1,712 |
| Gordon | 878 | South Lanarkshire | 4,163 |
| Kincardine & Deeside | 656 | Stirling | 1,675 |
| Moray | 1,336 | West Dunbartonshire | 1,762 |
| *Badenoch & Strathspey | 0 | West Lothian | 1,979 |
| Caithness | 28 | SCOTLAND | 84,737 |
| *Inverness | 0 | | |
| *Lochaber | 0 | | |
| *Nairn | 0 | | |
| *Ross & Cromarty | 0 | | |
| *Skye & Lochalsh | 0 | | |
| *Sutherland | 0 | | |
| Edinburgh | 7,324 | | |
| East Lothian | 1,188 | | |
| Midlothian | 1,150 | | |
| West Lothian | 2,226 | | |
| Argyll & Bute | 846 | | |
| Bearsden & Milngavie | 708 | | |
| Clydebank | 1,174 | | |
| Clydesdale | 776 | | |
| Cumbernauld | 1,139 | | |
| Cumnock & Doon Valley | 650 | | |
| Cunninghame | 1,967 | | |
| Dumbarton | 1,412 | | |
| East Kilbride | 1,681 | | |
| Eastwood | 1,149 | | |
| Glasgow | 13,173 | | |
| Hamilton | 1,547 | | |
| Inverclyde | 1,109 | | |
| Kilmarnock & Loudoun | 933 | | |
| Kyle & Carrick | 1,539 | | |
| Monklands | 1,935 | | |
| Motherwell | 2,348 | | |
| Renfrew | 4,402 | | |
| Strathkelvin | 1,292 | | |
| Angus | 1,407 | | |
| Dundee | 3,330 | | |
| Perth & Kinross | 2,443 | | |
| SCOTLAND | 84,481 | | |
*Not Library authorities; prior to local government reorganisation library authorities were district and islands councils except in Dumfries and Galloway and Highland Regions.Figures are total net expenditure excluding loan & leasing charges
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the introduction of speed wardens to enforce speed restrictions in residential areas.
Answer
Policy and legislation on speed limits, including speeding offences and penalties, is reserved. The introduction of speed wardens to enforce speed restrictions in residential areas would require primary legislation to decriminalise speeding offences. That is a matter for the consideration of the UK Government.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Wendy Alexander on 24 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to bring together into one network the currently separate networks of the Public Library Network, Learning Direct Scotland, the National Grid for Learning, the Joint Academic Network and the further education colleges network.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is always seeking efficiency in procurement and will look to bring together Government customers with similar requirements. The Joint Information Systems Committee is currently working to provide connectivity to the Joint Academic Network for all Scottish Further Education Funding Council funded colleges by 1 April 2001. Existing Metropolitan Area Networks will be maintained and efforts will be made to support and encourage the development of other local networks.The Scottish Further Education Funding Council will seek to co-operate with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to ensure maximum efficiency in collaborative higher education and further education network developments. Through the National Grid for Learning and Digital Scotland initiatives, both councils, and other agencies developing public sector networks in Scotland, including the Scottish University for Industry, libraries and schools will seek to work constructively with each other, to ensure maximum integration and best use of public funds.The Scottish Executive is currently considering what other services would benefit from joint approaches.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include the school library as a specified item in reports by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools.
Answer
Since the beginning of this school session (2000-01) HMI inspection guidelines have specifically covered examination of the school library service and evaluative comments are now made under the Staffing and Resources sub-section of HMI inspection reports.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7487 by Colin Boyd on 24 November 2000, how it assesses success or failure of CCTV schemes if figures on the number of convictions secured as a result of CCTV evidence are unavailable.
Answer
The role of CCTV in providing evidence in support of criminal proceedings is not the sole nor indeed the main criterion by which the contribution which CCTV can make to increasing public safety can be measured. Evaluations of particular schemes generally show a reduction in crime in the areas covered following the introduction of CCTV. The demand for new CCTV schemes is also an indication of the contribution which local communities consider it makes to improving safety. The CCTV Challenge Competition for funding for 2001-02 is the sixth such annual competition and the number of applications made in support of new schemes remains in line with the average number received in previous years.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jack McConnell on 23 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make the appointment of a school librarian a statutory requirement for all secondary schools.
Answer
The provision of a variety of support services to learning and teaching in our schools is quite properly a matter for local authorities as the managers of education. Consequently, we have no plans to make the appointment of a school librarian a statutory requirement for all secondary schools. A specific amendment on such a requirement was rejected by the Scottish Parliament during the passage of the Standards in Scotland's Schools Bill.
- Asked by: Donald Gorrie, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 18 January 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce measures to ensure that every child in early years education has access to music and the arts.
Answer
Guidance is already in place which outlines opportunities for experiencing music and arts in the three to five age group, appropriate in various early education settings. These early experiences are built on by the 5-14 Expressive Arts guidelines.
