Questions and answers

Question reference: S1W-09325

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it was made aware by the Scottish Qualifications Authority of any delay in the recruitment of markers for this year's exams and, if so, when.

Question reference: S1W-09323

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sam Galbraith on 7 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre all documents including letters, memoranda, reports and assessments relating directly or indirectly to the communications between the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Qualifications Authority concerning this year's Scottish Examinations.

Question reference: S1W-09027

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the weighted student unit of measurement (SUMS) delivered per member of teaching staff is in each further education college for each year since incorporation.

The information requested is given in the following table, subject to the fact that the numbers of part-time teaching staff have been converted, for comparative purposes, to Full-Time Equivalents.

Scottish Further Education Colleges (Incorporated) - Weighted Student Units of Measurement (SUMs)

FTE Teaching Staff

Name of Establishment	1998-99			1997-98			1996-97
	Weighted SUMs	FTE Teaching	WS/ FTE	Weighted SUMs	FTE Teaching	WS/ FTE	Weighted SUMs	FTE Teaching	WS/ FTE
Aberdeen College	133,837	292.9	456.9	124,634	268.0	465.1	111,448	329.2	338.6
Angus College	34,486	99.4	347.0	31,142	97.5	319.3	28,564	93.4	305.8
Anniesland College	42,987	141.5	303.7	40,493	133.6	303.1	37,670	126.4	298.1
Ayr College	48,073	165.4	290.6	45,249	140.8	321.4	39,424	175.3	224.9
Banff & Buchan College of Further Education	32,943	102.1	322.8	31,404	95.2	329.8	28,358	96.8	293.0
The Barony College	8,499	34.9	243.5	7,595	30.1	252.3	6,873	23.5	292.7
Bell College of Technology	30,876	222.1	139.0	30,166	233.3	129.3	28,367	221.1	128.3
Borders College	31,549	110.6	285.2	31,460	103.1	305.2	28,138	96.6	291.3
South Lanarkshire College*	32,407	115.6	280.3	31,982	126.1	253.6	30,587	126.4	242.0
Cardonald College	65,101	212.4	306.6	62,780	201.3	311.8	55,104	205.4	268.3
Central College of Commerce	41,328	136.4	303.1	40,865	127.6	320.3	41,062	141.0	291.2
Clackmannan College of Further Education	19,652	65.6	299.5	18,936	67.4	281.1	17,769	62.0	286.6
Clydebank College	47,128	174.1	270.8	50,659	214.5	236.2	50,890	231.3	220.0
Coatbridge College	31,405	108.5	289.4	30,420	116.5	261.2	29,064	116.0	250.6
Cumbernauld College	23,409	79.1	295.9	25,621	84.3	303.7	22,384	85.4	262.2
Dumfries & Galloway College	36,247	152.8	237.3	35,534	138.8	256.0	35,588	142.0	250.6
Dundee College	87,788	242.2	362.5	83,539	288.0	290.1	80,564	277.0	290.8
Elmwood College	24,268	71.8	338.1	26,688	78.6	339.5	21,522	98.2	219.2
Falkirk College of Further & Higher Education	76,183	252.7	301.5	74,040	219.2	337.8	68,936	210.8	327.0
Fife College of Further and Higher Education	65,678	248.6	264.2	62,329	205.8	302.9	55,158	194.7	283.3
Glasgow College of Building and Printing	51,727	162.1	319.1	51,310	164.6	311.7	52,571	161.6	325.4
Glasgow College of Food Technology	25,615	68.8	372.1	24,107	80.1	301.1	25,100	87.8	285.8
Glasgow College of Nautical Studies	34,935	122.9	284.4	32,637	119.7	272.6	34,574	147.0	235.3
Glenrothes College	43,121	152.5	282.7	40,750	156.4	260.6	39,537	166.7	237.1
Inverness College	49,198	165.9	296.5	49,824	161.0	309.4	44,005	173.3	254.0
James Watt College of Further & Higher Education	100,634	248.3	405.4	92,891	240.1	386.9	84,128	261.1	322.2
Jewel & Esk Valley College	56,780	175.2	324.1	57,500	170.9	336.4	54,383	184.4	294.9
John Wheatley College	26,913	84.0	320.3	26,680	82.8	322.1	25,957	87.4	296.9
Kilmarnock College	44,811	159.7	280.6	46,343	150.0	309.0	42,325	154.0	274.8
Langside College	43,974	182.3	241.2	53,769	206.1	260.9	46,666	197.6	236.1
Lauder College	45,071	139.1	324.0	46,568	150.7	309.1	44,655	160.0	279.1
Lews Castle College	12,432	58.0	214.3	13,116	53.5	245.1	11,092	55.8	198.9
Moray College	35,622	89.6	397.6	37,604	93.9	400.4	33,118	106.4	311.1
Motherwell College	67,217	197.3	340.6	65,145	197.5	329.8	62,430	248.9	250.8
North Glasgow College	39,489	141.8	278.5	39,769	155.0	256.6	36,393	156.4	232.7
Oatridge Agricultural College	12,379	42.9	288.6	11,814	40.1	294.8	11,954	43.4	275.4
Perth College	46,245	158.1	292.5	41,877	138.8	301.8	39,337	150.2	261.8
Reid Kerr College	65,962	222.1	297.0	66,107	236.7	279.3	61,251	267.5	229.0
Stevenson College	76,909	280.1	274.6	73,950	284.7	259.8	83,965	297.9	281.8
Stow College	49,772	128.2	388.2	52,203	127.5	409.4	35,406	127.6	277.6
Edinburgh's Telford College	104,469	314.0	332.7	104,087	196.0	531.1	105,476	372.7	283.0
The North Highland College**	19,791	68.4	289.2	20,797	67.0	310.2	19,655	72.7	270.4
West Lothian College	30,245	115.7	261.3	32,351	129.7	249.4	32,216	132.0	244.0

Name of Establishment	1995-96			1994-95
	Weighted SUMs	FTE Teaching	WS/ FTE	Weighted SUMs	FTE Teaching	WS/ FTE
Aberdeen College	107,004	358.8	298.2	100,486	382.1	263.0
Angus College	24,794	85.5	290.0	23,659	89.7	263.8
Anniesland College	33,706	130.5	258.3	30,375	131.2	231.5
Ayr College	33,629	133.1	252.7	28,979	146.5	197.8
Banff & Buchan College of Further Education	25,993	91.8	283.1	23,124	84.1	275.0
The Barony College	5,983	25.6	233.7	6,924	25.8	268.4
Bell College of Technology	27,920	165.6	168.6	30,215	167.8	180.1
Borders College	28,377	105.3	269.5	24,377	92.2	264.4
South Lanarkshire College*	29,996	135.2	221.9	26,712	138.7	192.6
Cardonald College	48,811	238.5	204.7	45,443	223.3	203.5
Central College of Commerce	35,671	141.1	252.8	33,342	134.6	247.7
Clackmannan College of Further Education	15,134	64.5	234.6	14,383	69.7	206.4
Clydebank College	44,544	226.7	196.5	43,214	225.4	191.7
Coatbridge College	26,002	108.9	238.8	22,040	117.7	187.3
Cumbernauld College	19,890	83.2	239.1	17,845	77.4	230.6
Dumfries & Galloway College	34,752	142.8	243.4	31,598	148.3	213.1
Dundee College	67,589	283.2	238.7	64,738	297.1	217.9
Elmwood College	19,315	76.6	252.2	19,878	71.7	277.2
Falkirk College of Further & Higher Education	53,856	216.7	248.5	51,550	230.0	224.1
Fife College of Further and Higher Education	46,167	220.8	209.1	46,219	218.2	211.8
Glasgow College of Building and Printing	47,189	161.9	291.5	39,125	159.4	245.5
Glasgow College of Food Technology	21,789	89.1	244.5	20,152	95.4	211.2
Glasgow College of Nautical Studies	28,186	125.5	224.6	21,306	119.8	177.8
Glenrothes College	35,055	160.2	218.8	29,870	159.0	187.9
Inverness College	38,949	185	210.5	37,285	209.7	177.8
James Watt College of Further & Higher Education	71,720	247	290.4	63,987	265.0	241.5
Jewel & Esk Valley College	48,632	187.8	259.0	40,647	202.2	201.0
John Wheatley College	23,895	88.3	270.6	22,148	82.4	268.8
Kilmarnock College	38,629	146.7	263.3	32,913	143.5	229.4
Langside College	45,973	191.2	240.4	41,597	186.6	222.9
Lauder College	39,788	152.8	260.4	38,619	152.2	253.7
Lews Castle College	10,086	56	180.1	10,714	59.4	180.4
Moray College	31,747	106.9	297.0	29,583	106.1	278.8
Motherwell College	60,311	249.4	241.8	53,567	226.2	236.8
North Glasgow College	35,614	155.9	228.4	36,485	178.9	203.9
Oatridge Agricultural College	10,850	41.4	262.1	9,683	42.0	230.5
Perth College	37,299	145.5	256.4	39,341	167.6	234.7
Reid Kerr College	59,470	269	221.1	57,779	246.0	234.9
Stevenson College	79,869	305.2	261.7	62,351	326.9	190.7
Stow College	34,832	119.1	292.5	31,999	135.6	236.0
Edinburgh's Telford College	94,969	383.7	247.5	84,770	356.6	237.7
The North Highland College**	15,755	67	235.1	13,862	68.1	203.6
West Lothian College	27,300	130.1	209.8	25,485	143.2	178.0

Sources: Weighted SUMs - Further Education in Scotland - 1994,1995,1996,1997, 1998 and 1999

Full-Time Equivalent: Teaching Staff - Annual Statistical staffing returns (1994-95 to the Scottish Office, 1998-99 to the Scottish Further Education Funding Council)

Notes:

1. * South Lanarkshire College was formerly known as Cambuslang College (up until 1 March 1999).

2. ** The North Highland College was formerly known as Thurso College (up until 1 December 1999).

3. FE colleges employ many part-time staff. In order for meaningful comparisons to be made, it has been necessary to express these as numbers of Full-time Equivalents (FTE). Similarly, the FTE is shown of staff employed for only part of a year.

4. From 1997-98 onwards, "teaching staff" is defined as staff involved in direct provision of teaching for at least 10% of their contracted time. Prior to this, the terminology used was "academic staff". This included teaching staff and managerial staff with a direct responsibility for the quality of teaching (e.g. Principal, Director, Head of Department).

5. This table does not include figures for Shetland College of Education, Orkney College and Sabhal Mor Ostaig which are local authority run (not incorporated).

6. A staffing return covering the academic year as a whole was introduced only in 1994-95. Prior to this time, "snapshot" staff numbers only were collected in the last week of October. Therefore, figures for 1993-94 are not directly comparable with the figures from 1994-95 onwards. For this reason, 1993-94 figures are not included in this table.

7. The "Weighted SUMs per number of FTE teaching staff" ratio does not take account of staff costs. A table of "Staff Costs per WSUM", as an indicator of college "performance", has been published each year since 1993 in the appendices to the series of annual reports by the Secretary of State for Scotland entitled "Further Education in Scotland". These are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

8. A recent study into managing costs within FE colleges (including an examination of strategies for managing staff costs) was undertaken by the National Audit Office, the results of which were published in its report: "Scottish Further Education Colleges: Managing Costs" (17 June 1999 HC 493). This report is also available in SPICe.

Question reference: S1W-09184

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the planned improvements to the A95 between Granish and Keith will cost in total and how much the (a) A95 Cromdale scheme, (b) A95 Kinveachy scheme, (c) lay-by provisions, (d) A95 Advie Bridge scheme and (e) A95 Gaich to Craggan scheme will cost (i) in total and (ii) in each of the next four financial years.

The planned improvements to the A95 trunk road between Granish and Keith will cost £435,000 this financial year and £425,000 next financial year, making a total of £860,000.

The scheme specific costs are as follows:

Scheme Specific Details	2000-01	2001-02	Total
(a) Cromdale Phase II	£0	£150,000	£150,000
(b) Kinveachy Junction	£345,000	£0	£345,000
(c) Lay-by Provision	£0	£25,000	£25,000
(d) Advie Bridge	£90,000	£250,000	£340,000
(e) Gaich to Craggan	£0	£0	£0
Total	£435,000	£425,000	£860,000

There is no planned expenditure for these schemes in years 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Question reference: S1W-09182

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with regard to statutory procedures in relation to the A95 Gaich to Graggan scheme, when it is expected that the proposed scheme can be constructed and what public consultation on the scheme will be undertaken at a local level.

Question reference: S1W-09181

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of an earlier study on the replacement of the Advie Bridge on the A95 will be completed this year, when it is anticipated that the design and construction of a scheme to replace the bridge can proceed to implementation and when any such scheme will be completed.

Following completion of the review of earlier studies, it was decided that upgrading of the existing bridge represented the most practicable and cost-effective solution. This work is being undertaken in two phases; the first, to strengthen the bridge to meet current loading requirements was completed recently. The second phase, currently under design, involves widening the bridge to enable it to carry two lanes of traffic and the removal of the traffic signals, and will be carried out next financial year depending on the availability of funding.

Question reference: S1W-09180

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has specific proposals with regard to provision of additional lay-bys on the A95, what consultation there will be in respect of the location and si'e of any such lay-bys and over what timescale any such additional lay-bys will be completed.

The Scottish Executive has no specific proposals to construct additional lay-bys on the A95 trunk road within the current financial year.

However, subject to competing priorities, the Scottish Executive will commission Mouchel Scotland Ltd to carry out a study prior to the end of this financial year. The Highland and Moray Councils, together with the local Community Councils, will be consulted prior to finalisation of any work being implemented. This consultation exercise will determine the appropriate size and location of the lay-bys.

Question reference: S1W-09179

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when Mouchel (Scotland) Ltd were first instructed to produce a feasibility report on the A95 to identify options or recommendations and provide estimated costs for the improvement of the junction of the A95 and B9153; whether the feasibility report has yet been completed; if not, when it is expected; whether the feasibility report will be made publicly available, in particular to the local communities and their representatives, and, if the report makes recommendations, by what date it is expected that they will be implemented.

Mouchel Scotland Ltd were instructed to produce a feasibility report for the A95/B9153 Kinveachy junction on 31 March 2000. The initial feasibility report was submitted to the Scottish Executive for consideration on 18 May 2000. A supplementary report was then provided on 7 July 2000. These reports were not commissioned for external publication. All the recommendations made have been considered and the scheme design is underway. The Highland Council and the local community will be consulted during the scheme design process.

It is anticipated that implementation of the works, at an estimated cost of £345,000, will commence in October and should be completed by January 2001.

Question reference: S1W-09178

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of the works to the A95 trunk road through Cromdale to improve drainage footways, kerbing, road lighting and the road alignment at the bridge, together with traffic calming and village gateways scheduled for the next three years, what consultation has been or will be carried out in connection with the detail of this work and within what timescale each part of the work will be completed.

The Scottish Executive has invested approximately £149,000 as part of Phase 1 of the improvement works on the A95 trunk road within Cromdale. These works were completed in 1999. Phase 2 of the improvement works will provide additional footways and new street lighting at an estimated cost of £150,000. These works will be progressed within financial year 2001-02. In addition, a refurbishment or replacement scheme for the footbridge in this area is currently under consideration. The estimated costs involved are £23,000 and £32,000 respectively. The total estimated investment for all these works is £331,000.

The Cromdale Community Council was consulted regarding Phase 1 of the improvement works within Cromdale. They will also be consulted at the appropriate time regarding Phase 2 of these works.

Question reference: S1W-09162

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 August 2000
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Morrison on 4 September 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of Gaelic teachers by 140 over a seven year period and what has been the outcome of any such steps to date.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) is responsible for setting student intake levels to courses of initial teacher education (ITE). Each year the Executive provides guidance to SHEFC on ITE, setting out our strategic objectives for teacher education and supply. We have indicated to SHEFC that the supply of teachers able to teach in Gaelic medium education is a priority and have asked SHEFC to assist in promoting provision in this area. To help SHEFC consider how the need for Gaelic medium teachers might be met, the Executive has asked local authorities to identify their requirements. Last year authorities indicated a need for around 150 newly trained teachers for primary Gaelic medium over the next seven years and around 70 for secondary Gaelic medium over the same period. We are at the moment collecting updated information from authorities about their requirements in order that this can be provided in guidance to SHEFC for session 2001-02. It will be for SHEFC to consider how these future requirements for newly trained teachers can be met.

Comunn na Gaidhlig with funding from the Executive is conducting a publicity campaign, including leaflets, a video and a Gaelic careers conference, to attract potential recruits into Gaelic medium teaching; it has also discussed with the Teacher Education Institutions their admissions policies.

Chamber and committees