- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional primary school teachers were employed in early primary education in order to implement the commitment given in Working together for Scotland - A Programme for Government to reduce class si'es in primary 3 to 30 or smaller and what assessment it has made of the cost of employing such teachers.
Answer
The Working together for Scotland: A Programme for Government commitment to reduce class sizes in primary 3 was part of a larger commitment to reduce class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3. To assist authorities to reduce class sizes, £48.2 million was made available from April 1999 to March 2002. Authorities used these funds to employ teachers and undertake capital works.It is not possible to identify the number of teachers required to reduce class sizes in primary 3 alone. However, at 31 March 2002 authorities employed 441.54 FTE teachers under the class size reduction programme of the Excellence Fund.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many classes in primary 3 were reduced in number by more than five children in order to meet the commitment in Working together for Scotland - A Programme for Government to reduce class si'es to 30 or smaller.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school-based candidates for examinations at SCE higher grade or Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 6 obtained a qualification in a language other than English in each year since 1995
Answer
The following table shows the numbers of school-based candidates obtaining at least one qualification at SCQF level 6 in a language other than English (for publicly funded schools only):
| Year | Number of Candidates |
| 1995 | 4,081 |
| 1996 | 3,949 |
| 1997 | 3,966 |
| 1998 | 4,088 |
| 1999 | 3,812 |
| 2000 | 4,317 |
| 2001 | 4,611 |
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to section 2.4 of Working Together for Scotland: A Programme for Government, what progress has been made towards achieving the aim to reduce re-referrals to hearings for children and young people on offence grounds by 10% by 2004.
Answer
We are implementing the 10-point action plan announced on 27 June, building on existing strategies to reduce youth crime and disorder.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how much its agencies spent on (a) television, (b) radio, (c) national newspaper and (d) local newspaper advertising in (i) 1999-2000, (ii) 2000-01 and (iii) 2001-02 and how much it and its agencies expect to spend in 2002-03.
Answer
Media spend on television, radio and press is detailed in the following table. It is not possible to split the amount spent on national and local press as the figures are not recorded separately. The figures could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.
| Period | Press | Television | Radio |
| 1999-2000 | £674,000 | £917,000 | £171,000 |
| 2000-01 | £1,071,000 | £1,867,000 | £190,000 |
| 2001-02 | £1,311,000 | £4,101,000 | £369,000 |
| 2002-03 (to date) | £1,163,000 | £2,560,000 | £473,000 |
The figures for 2002-03 are the amount spent on media to date. The amount of media planned for the remainder of the year is currently under review.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 21 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of it and its agencies' advertisements were broadcast on commercial radio from 1 August to 30 September 2002; what the subject was of each advertisement; how often each advertisement was broadcast, giving the total number of broadcasting slots and the duration of each slot; how much each advertisement cost to make, including agency costs, and how much each broadcast advertisement cost.
Answer
The information requested is detailed in the following table:
| Campaign | Production Costs | No of Spots | Duration (Seconds) | Media Costs |
| Children's Panel | £3,238 | 1,584 | 30 | £44,016 |
| Drugs | Repeats | 2,289 | 30/20 | £22,577 |
| Public Internet Access Points | Repeats | 729 | 30 | £14,508 |
| M74 | Repeats | 25 | 20 | £ 2,643 |
| Travel Awareness | £1,992 | 252 | 40 | £23,733 |
| Race | £12,936 | 121 | 30 | £ 4,201 |
| Drug Driving | Repeats | 277 | 30/20 | £ 8,086 |
| Historic Scotland | Repeats | 684 | 30/20 | £49,577 |
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 18 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what priority it gives to the safety and security of those living in local authority sheltered accommodation.
Answer
The Scottish Executive considers that the safety and security of residents of all sheltered housing including that provided by local authorities is paramount.Since the establishment of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in April 2002 under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act) local authority care homes including some sheltered housing, i.e. those falling within the definition of a care home in the act, require to be regulated by the Care Commission. Local authority services providing sheltered housing which fall within the definition of a housing support service within the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 will also require to be so regulated.One of the key principles underpinning the national care standards published by the Scottish ministers prior to the establishment of the Care Commission, which the Care Commission has to take into account in exercising its regulatory function, is the right of residents to feel safe and secure. It is for the commission in determining whether or not to grant or continue registration to reach a view on whether this principle is being adequately complied with.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 18 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the 2002-03 unit cost paid by the (a) Scottish Further Education Funding Council and (b) Scottish Higher Education Funding Council is for a single place for a student on a (i) PGCE and (ii) BEd Primary Course.
Answer
The allocation of resources to individual further education colleges and higher education institutions is a matter for the Scottish Funding Councils for Further and Higher Education.Teacher training courses are offered by higher education institutions and are therefore funded through the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC).SHEFC allocates a Unit of Teaching Resource by Funding Subject Group. Teacher training courses are funded within the education subject group. In 2002-03 this unit of teaching resource is:(i) £4,768 for taught postgraduate places (including PGCE), and(ii) £4,951 for undergraduate courses (including BEd Primary).Full details of SHEFC's allocations to higher education institutions can be found in its main grant letter. This can be found on the SHEFC website at:http://www.shefc.ac.uk/content/library/circs/02/he1502/Mainletter.htm.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 16 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have access to an after school club.
Answer
The Executive does not collect figures on the number of children who have access to an after school club. However, based on information from the 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census, we estimate that during the census week in January this year there were approximately 36,800 term time and 12,900 holiday out of school care places in Scotland. Since January, a further 4,000 places have been funded through the New Opportunities Fund.The following is a corrected answer published on 15 January 2003; see below.The Executive does not collect figures on the number of children who have access to an after school club. However, based on information from the 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census, we estimate that during the Census week in January this year there were approximately 20,700 term time and 12,900 holiday out of school care places in Scotland. Since January, a further 4,000 places have been funded through the New Opportunities Fund.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of it and its agencies' advertisements were placed in local newspapers from 1 August to 30 September 2002, excluding recruitment campaigns and the publication of statutory notices; what the subject was of each such advertisement; how often each advertisement was placed; how much it cost to make each advertisement, including advertising agency costs, and how much it cost to place each advertisement.
Answer
The information requested is detailed in the table.
| Campaign | Production Costs(£) | No. of Ads (£) | Media Costs(£) |
| Children's Panels | 19,871 | 56 | 96,705 |
| Concessionary Fares | 18,865 | 94 | 63,928 |
| Public Internet Access Points | Repeats | 94 | 76,784 |
| Drugs | Repeats | 17 | 9,982 |
| Flu | 9,528 | 7 | 7,123 |
| M74 | 2,500 | 6 | 6,501 |
| NHS Helpline | Repeats | 9 | 3,180 |
