- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 12 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide core funding to Survivors Poetry Scotland in order to extend its activities across Scotland for people who have experienced psychiatric abuse or similar problems.
Answer
Applications for funding support are given equal consideration against the limited resources available. I understand that Survivors Poetry Scotland is considering whether to apply for funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 12 October 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote the growth of commercial businesses known as "social firms" which are run with the aim of providing employment for people who are disabled and disadvantaged in the labour market.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise has recently met Social Firms Scotland, and is considering ways in which they might facilitate social business development.
Social Firms have a useful part to play in the ongoing consideration of all aspects of the whole person approach to well being, and of education, training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, mental health problems, or with other support needs. This is of interest to the work of the National Action Group, established in response to the Beattie Report, the Learning Disability Review, and the Mental Health and Well Being Support group.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 27 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many of those who applied for funding are currently funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for training as Gaelic medium teachers and what the total number of applicants for funding was in each of the last three years.
Answer
No specific quota of funded places is currently allocated by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) to courses of initial teacher education (ITE) for the training of teachers in the Gaelic medium. No information is held centrally on the number of applicants or intakes to ITE courses of those training as Gaelic medium teachers.
The Scottish Executive's most recent guidance to SHEFC on initial teacher education draws attention to the importance of keeping up the supply of Gaelic medium teachers. SHEFC's circular letter of February this year allocating funded places for ITE, encourages teacher education institutions (TEIs) to continue to respond to the need for teachers able to teach in the Gaelic medium through their intakes to the BEd Primary, Primary PGCE and Secondary PGCE courses.
More detailed information to inform the SHEFC's future funding in this area will be gathered in this year's teacher workforce planning exercise.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 27 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to help extend the availability of advocacy projects.
Answer
Advocacy is central to the Executive's vision of a new era of a modernised health and social care service. Our commitment has been clearly demonstrated by the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and our recent review into services for people with learning disabilities. To ensure its availability for all who need it, we have been consulting on guidance designed to assist the development of local independent, integrated advocacy services across Scotland. This should be published in November along with the Health Plan for Scotland.
We also provided financial support to a national advocacy conference that took place earlier this year, support that will continue in future years. At that conference I announced that we will require health boards to work in partnership with NHS Trusts, local authorities and other agencies in their area to put in place independent advocacy services which address the needs of local people. I expect these services to be in place within 12 months of the issue of the guidance. We have also funded Scottish Human Services to employ an Advocacy Development Officer to support this local work.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what staff have yet to be appointed to the Health Technology Board for Scotland.
Answer
I refer to the answer given today to question S1W-9610.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the budget of the Health Technology Board for Scotland is.
Answer
In its start-up year for 2000-01, the Health Technology Board for Scotland has a budget of £1 million which will be spent on establishment costs in the main. This will rise to £2 million as the board becomes fully functional.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 September 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Susan Deacon on 19 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what staff have so far been appointed to the Health Technology Board for Scotland.
Answer
When fully functional, the Health Technology Board for Scotland will employ approximately 12 full-time staff.
The Director, Dr Karen Facey, took up post on 3 July. She is assisted by two administrative staff. The recruitment process for other senior posts is proceeding.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jackie Baillie on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, how much Section 10 (1) core funding voluntary sector umbrella organisations and co-ordinating bodies such as the Scottish Council on Deafness, Disability Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations received in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and how much it is planned that they will receive in each year from 2000-01 to 2002-03.
Answer
The Executive gives £6 million annually to generic voluntary sector organisations and initiatives.
An analysis of funding to voluntary sector umbrella and intermediary organisations across departments has not previously been carried out. However, the Executive is conducting a strategic review of its funding to the sector. As a first stage in this review, a database of grants to voluntary organisations has been compiled and a copy has been placed with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. An analysis of support to umbrella and intermediary bodies will form part of the review. I will write to the member with the information he requests once the analysis has been carried out.
The Scottish Compact between the Executive and the voluntary sector acknowledges the importance of support for umbrella bodies and the infrastructure of the sector. The Compact Good Practice Guide on funding, published on 13 June, states that departments should, in terms of meeting policy objectives, consider the merits of core funding intermediary or umbrella or resource bodies.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle the condition of the property estate of further education colleges.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committed to modernising the further education college estate, to fit it for the needs of the future. An additional £37 million is being invested in college infrastructure in the three financial years 1999-2000 to 2001-02. Decisions on resources for future years will be taken in the context of the current Spending Review.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Henry McLeish on 8 September 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to make information available to colleges and college students about the proposed changes in student maintenance arrangements.
Answer
On 24 May the Scottish Executive published its consultation document
Scotland The Learning Nation - Helping Students which contained proposals for changes to the student support arrangements in further and higher education. The consultation process runs until 31 August. Copies were sent to all colleges in Scotland, the Association of Scottish Colleges, the student associations and NUS Scotland. The document was also placed on the Executive's website.
In addition, the Executive printed 150,000 copies of a leaflet summarising the proposals and providing the website address. Quantities of these were made available to further education colleges for distribution to students and potential students.
