Chamber and committees

Specific resources madeavailable by the Executive to local authorities to safeguard young runawaysare:

a guidance pack which issuedto Child Protection Committees in July 2003 on vulnerable children and youngpeople which makes recommendations about the care of young runaways,

funding of £838,661 between2002 and 2008 from the Youth Crime Prevention Fund in support of Aberlour ChildCare Trust’s pilot project, Running Other Choices (ROC), which provides ashort-term refuge for young people aged 12 to 15, and

strengthened ChildProtection Committees as an outcome of the recently-concluded three-year ChildProtection Reform Programme which is improving multi-agency service provisionfor this (and other) vulnerable groups of children and young people.

More generally, localauthorities use their GAE provision to support local services as they see fit,and this includes the flexibility to commission or directly provide servicesfor young runaways on the basis of local need.

Yes.

ChildLine can currentlyrespond to about 60% of the calls it receives. Recent additional ScottishExecutive funding will allow ChildLine to expand its current services andincrease the response rate to around 80% for this financial year and beyond.

The recruitment of head teachers is a matter for local authorities asemployers, however the changing demographics of the teaching profession and thesocietal expectations of public sector leaders will both have been contributoryfactors in changing levels of applications for head teacher posts.

All head teachers andprospective head teachers need to demonstrate they are performing in line withthe standard for headship (SfH).). The most common means of demonstratingperformance in line with the SfH is via the Scottish Qualification for Headship(SQH). The 2006 teacher census shows that there were 310 non head teachers whohad gained the SQH compared with 248 in 2005. There were also another 390 onthe programme.

The Scottish Executiveprovides local authorities with £4 million a year to help teachers achieve theSfH and also funds more general leadership programmes and activities tosupplement funding which local authorities target to this area.

We are committed to workingwith education professionals to help every child, in every school, achievetheir full potential.

Affordable housing is broadlydefined in Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing as follows“Housing of reasonable quality that is affordable to people on modest incomes. Insome places the market can provide some or all of the affordable housing that isneeded, but in other places it is necessary to make housing available at a costbelow market value, to meet an identified need.”

The main categories of affordablehousing are set out in Planning Advice Note 74, available on the Executive’swebsite at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/20796/54073.

Affordability, in terms of therents and prices paid by tenants and purchasers, varies from one location to anotherso should be determined in a way which takes account of incomes at the local level.

The Government is well awareof the difficulties families experience when a seriously ill or injured childis treated at a considerable distance from home. Everything possible is done toensure that the disruption caused is kept to a minimum. An initial assessmentat the National Spinal Injuries Centre can last up to eight weeks, but ifannual reviews are arranged, these are for a much shorter period. As much of the child’s rehabilitation as possible should be provided locally.

Children and their parentscan also benefit from referral to the centre, particularly through peer supportgained from the other children and their parents attending the centre.

Children under 12 with acutespinal injuries but no neurological damage are managed either in the RoyalHopsital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, or the Royal Hospital for Sick Childrenat Yorkhill, Glasgow, with input from the Queen Elizabeth National SpinalInjuries Unit at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.

Children under 12 with bothacute spinal injuries and neurological damage are managed at Yorkhill, againwith input from the National Spinal Injuries Unit.

Children aged 12 or overwith acute spinal injuries can be admitted to the Queen Elizabeth NationalSpinal Injuries Unit.

In each of these cases, anassessment can be made of whether the children would benefit from referral tothe National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital,Buckinghamshire. The centre provides not only initial assessments but can alsoundertake annual reviews, depending on the child’s progress and clinical needs.

We are committed to workingwith education professionals to stretch every child to achieve their fullpotential and will be considering at an early stage our particular commitmentto raising the achievement of the poorest performing 20% of school pupils, withincreased intervention and support.

The Queen Elizabeth NationalSpinal Injury Unit is able to assess and manage children aged 12 or over whoare admitted with acute spinal injuries. It also offers support, through itsliaison and outreach services, to all children in Scotlandwith spinal injuries.

The evidence suggests thatthe number of children in Scotland with highly complex spinal injuries is so small thata Scottish equivalent of the National Spinal Injuries Centre at StokeMandeville would not be viable.

The Scottish Executive recentlycarried out a public consultation exercise on whether or not snaring should be bannedin Scotland. Analysis of the responses is currently underway andI expect to make an announcement to Parliament after summer recess.

The non-confidential responsescan be viewed on the Executive website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent/Q/Page/4.