Chamber and committees

I am pleased to confirm that the new individual learning account (ILA) scheme, ILA Scotland, will be launched to learners in Scotland on Monday 13 December. I will provide full information on the new scheme at that time.

Today, the Scottish Executive is publishing Ambitious, Excellent Schools which sets out our agenda for the most comprehensive modernisation programme of our schools for a generation. This agenda involves: higher expectations for schools and school leadership; greater freedom for teachers and schools, more choice for pupils and better support for learning so the individual needs of young people can be better met, and tough, intelligent accountabilities to drive improvement. We are also publishing our detailed plans for two important planks of our agenda: A Curriculum for Excellence which sets out, for the first time, a three to 18 curriculum focused on achieving clearly defined, rounded outcomes for young people; and Assessment, Testing and Reporting 3-14 which will introduce a new, more rigorous national survey of achievement to replace the old national five to 14 test results and help us assess the achievements of pupils better. Copies of the publications have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Ambitious, Excellent Schools, Bib. number 34227; A Curriculum for Excellence, Bib. number - 34228; and Assessment, Testing and Reporting 3-14, Bib. number - 34229).

The independent analysis report on the responses to the Phase One consultation exercise is being published today. The full report and a summary version are both being made available online on the Children’s Hearings website, www.childrens-hearings.co.uk.

A copy of the summary report is also being sent to each of the 732 organisations and individuals who responded to the consultation exercise.

Our proposal for a modern licensing system recognises the need for communities to have a voice.

We will do this by widening the range of people who can object to individual licences; by ensuring boards must consult local communities in developing their policies on over provision, and by introducing local forums to improve dialogue between licensing boards and local communities.

The Executive is working closely with the Strategic Rail Authority, who isprincipally responsible for disabled access, to provide a more accessibletransport network.

I recently visited Dyslexia Scotwestwho developed the Dyslexia Friendly Schools Award. I was impressed by what I sawand learned and I am considering what I can do to encourage the approach being appliedmore widely.

In the answer given to questionS1W-24583 on 28 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbersof letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them. This isthe fourth quarter in which I am reporting performance on letters only and not invitations.

In the quarter January to March2004, 3,368 letters were received for Ministerial reply of which 74% received areply within 17 working days, and 91% received a reply within 25 working days. Inthe same period ministers received 710 invitations.

I recently visited Dyslexia Scotwestwho developed the Dyslexia Friendly Schools Award. I was impressed by what I sawand learned and I am considering what I can do to encourage the approach being appliedmore widely.

The Executive publication TheStandard for Initial Teacher Education in Scotland details the broad rangeof skills and attributes that programmes of initial teacher education aredesigned to enable student teachers to acquire. These include the expectationthat by the end of the programme, students will demonstrate the ability toidentify and respond appropriately to pupils with difficulties in, or barriersto, learning (including but not limited to dyslexia) and recognise when to seekfurther advice in relation to their special educational needs. These abilitiesare then further developed, as required, during the induction period andthereafter through continuing professional development (CPD) and/or optionmodules on Chartered Teacher Programmes. The national register of providers ofCPD, which can be viewed at http://www.gtcs.org.uk/gtcs/nat_reg_prog_search.aspx,indicates that a range of providers offer relevant programmes.

Where the occupier of a propertyis not the owner, but instead has a share in the equity, their rights in relationto management should be set out in the contract which set up the equity arrangement.