- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Elaine Murray on 2 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23859 by Dr Elaine Murray on 20 March 2002, whether the increase in funding to the Scottish Museums Council represents new monies or monies from previously announced support for museums, such as those monies announced as part of the National Cultural Strategy.
Answer
The Scottish Executive awarded an increase in funding to the Scottish Museums Council in March 2001. Grant in aid to Scottish Museums Council has increased from £0.941 million in 2000-01 to £1.041 million in 2001-02, £1.191 million in 2002-03 and £1.441 million in 2003-04.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 2 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in ensuring that all students training to be teachers who require an induction year starting in August 2002 will be accommodated without affecting any teachers currently on temporary contracts.
Answer
The Scottish Executive continue to work very closely with local authorities to meet the guarantee of a one-year training contract for all eligible probationary teachers. Considerable progress has been made. Sufficient funding is being made available to meet this guarantee. This, along with other steps being taken will minimise the impact on teachers currently on temporary contracts.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the age and stage guidelines and regulations in place in the Scottish Qualifications Authority in the light of matches in syllabus content for Higher Still, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 examinations.
Answer
While the number of requests for exemptions from the age and stage regulations being received by the Scottish Qualifications Authority has increased this year, the overall number of requests is still fairly low. However, I will now consider whether a further review of these regulations is necessary.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many special educational needs units have been built in each of the last three years, and are currently being built, broken down by local authority and giving the capacity of each unit.
Answer
Information on the number of special educational needs units built is not held centrally. However, within the last three years, 18 special educational needs units were opened. These figures include an existing special unit previously falling within the budgetary control of a mainstream school, but which has now been re-classified as an autonomous unit. Also included are special schools which have been re-classified as special units. Information on the capacity of these units is not available.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what training and support is given to teachers in schools with special educational needs units in connection with the integration of children with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream teaching.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is providing £20 million under the Inclusion Programme in both 2002-03 and 2003-04. These resources are to facilitate the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools and to bring the length of the school week in special schools into line with mainstream provision. In addition, the Executive is providing £7.8 million to education authorities in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 (up from £5.4 million in 2001-02) for the development and training of teachers and school support staff working in SEN. These funds can be used to enable teachers to attend a range of in-service and post-graduate training courses offering both general SEN training and training in specific aspects of SEN. The Executive is also funding an Inclusive Schools project, run by Aberdeen University and to be completed in autumn this year, which will provide schools with examples of good practice in inclusive schooling for children with special educational needs.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many public consultations it has undertaken in each year since its inception which involved the publication of a document which was available to the public and/or radio or other media advertising.
Answer
Written consultation exercises undertaken by the Scottish Executive use a variety of document formats: letters, photocopied papers or published material. All of these documents are made available to the public via the Executive website, in addition to being distributed to targeted organisations and individuals. Consultation documents have been published on the Executive website since its inception. The following table provides details of how many consultation exercises involving written documents have been undertaken by the Scottish Executive each year.
| Year | Number of Consultations |
| 1999 (from 1 July) | 92 |
| 2000 | 140 |
| 2001 | 164 |
| 2002 (up to March 2002) | 45 |
There is no central information available on how many Scottish Executive consultations, each year, involved radio or other media advertising.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) public consultation documents, (b) responses to public consultation documents and (c) strategic plans or policy papers it intends to publish between 1 April 2002 and 1 May 2003; what subjects these documents will cover and what the estimated date of publication is for each document.
Answer
Decisions about the publication of consultation documents, strategic plans or policy papers are taken by the Executive on an on-going basis. Consultation papers are posted on the Scottish Executive website. Responses to consultation documents are logged and made available to the public at the Scottish Executive Library (Saughton House).
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a detailed breakdown of all the costs of its National Debate on Education consultation in (a) 2001-02 and (b) 2002-03.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24690 today. Of the activities quoted, work which was completed by the end of March 2002 cost £130,000. Costs for 2002-03 will also include sums for analysis of feedback and for events during the national debate. Figures for total expenditure will be available in the autumn.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) radio advertising slots and (b) poster sites have been booked for advertising its National Debate on Education consultation; what advice it was given regarding the choice of these slots and sites and by whom, and what fee or commission was charged by, or paid to, the agency or individual for this advice.
Answer
The National Debate on Education is being advertised on 13 commercial radio stations and 48 poster sites in key urban locations. Advice on the intensity, location and placement of media to ensure maximum participation in the debate was given by Executive officials, Faulds Advertising Agency and the Media Buyer Feather Brookes Bank. It is not the Executive's practice to disclose the terms of uncompleted contracts.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 1 May 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the approval process is for spending on promotion and advertising in consultation exercises and what criteria are applied when making such decisions.
Answer
Decisions about the size of spend for promoting and advertising consultation exercises are taken by the Executive on an on-going basis, with advice on advertising and marketing from the Scottish Executive's Media and Communications Group and the specialist agencies under contract to it. Criteria for the communications spend are based on the specific requirements of individual consultation exercises.
