Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-30764

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Education initiated grievance procedures against their employer in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09.

Under the Scottish Government''s grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant. Numbers of cases are not available on a Directorate General basis and given the sensitivity of these matters details of cases are not shared. These figures are therefore not available.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are handled by local line management and there is no central information available on the numbers of cases raised.

Grievances raised under the Dignity at Work policy are coordinated within the HR function. It is therefore possible to identify the number of cases raised. The Dignity at Work grievance cases initiated in Director-General Education are as follows:

April 2005 “ March 2006 “ 1 case

April 2006 “ March 2007 “ 1 case

April 2007 “ March 2008 “ 1 case

April 2008 “ March 09 “ 0 cases.

Question reference: S3W-30766

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Finance and Corporate Services initiated grievance procedures against their employer in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are handled by local line management and there is no central information available on the numbers of cases raised.

Grievances raised under the Dignity at Work policy are coordinated within the HR function. It is therefore possible to identify the number of cases raised. The Dignity at Work grievance cases initiated in Director-General Finance and Corporate Services are as follows:

April 2005 “ March 2006 “ 5 cases

April 2006 - March 2007 “ 2 cases

April 2007 “ March 2008 “ 0 cases

April 2008 “ March 2009 “ 2 cases.

Question reference: S3W-30761

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for dealing with grievance procedures in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Justice and Communities.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant and given the sensitivity of these matters, details of cases are not shared. Information on the average time for handling normal grievance procedures is therefore not available.

Grievances raised under the Scottish Government''s Dignity at Work policy are
co-ordinated by the HR function. Each Directorate General has very few cases and the length of time the process takes, varies depending on the complexity of the case. Across the Scottish Government as a whole, the average time to complete a grievance raised under the Dignity at Work policy, is between four to six months.

Question reference: S3W-30771

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive in what alternative formats the Curriculum for Excellence has been published.

All Curriculum for Excellence guidance is published on the Curriculum for Excellence website, which is designed to be accessible and includes an option to view materials in a larger font size. The full set of experiences and outcomes were published in printed format, and distributed to all teachers, in response to feedback; some key documents such as Building the Curriculum 3 - a framework for learning and teaching have also been printed.

We are publishing the experiences and outcomes in Gaelic, which will be available by the school year 2010-11.

Publication of guidance on the website ensures its availability to all practitioners, and material is regularly updated.

Question reference: S3W-30757

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for dealing with grievance procedures in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Education.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant and given the sensitivity of these matters, details of cases are not shared. Information on the average time for handling normal grievance procedures is therefore not available.

Grievances raised under the Scottish Government''s Dignity at Work policy are
co-ordinated by the HR function. Each Directorate General has very few cases and the length of time the process takes, varies depending on the complexity of the case. Across the Scottish Government as a whole, the average time to complete a grievance raised under the Dignity at Work policy, is between four to six months.

Question reference: S3W-30758

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for dealing with grievance procedures in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Environment.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant and given the sensitivity of these matters, details of cases are not shared. Information on the average time for handling normal grievance procedures is therefore not available.

Grievances raised under the Scottish Government''s Dignity at Work policy are
co-ordinated by the HR function. Each Directorate General has very few cases and the length of time the process takes, varies depending on the complexity of the case. Across the Scottish Government as a whole, the average time to complete a grievance raised under the Dignity at Work policy, is between four to six months.

Question reference: S3W-30763

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Economy and Chief Economic Adviser initiated grievance procedures against their employer in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are handled by local line management and there is no central information available on the numbers of cases raised.

Grievances raised under the Dignity at Work policy are coordinated within the HR function. It is therefore possible to identify the number of cases raised. The Dignity at Work grievance cases initiated in Director-General Economy and Chief Economic Adviser are set out below:

April 2005 “ March 2006 “ 0 cases

April 2006 “ March 2007 “ 0 cases

April 2007 “ March 2008 “ 1 case

April 2008 “ March 2009 “ 1 case.

Question reference: S3W-30765

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Environment initiated grievance procedures against their employer in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are handled by local line management and there is no central information available on the numbers of cases raised.

Grievances raised under the Dignity at Work policy are coordinated within the HR function. It is therefore possible to identify the number of cases raised. The Dignity at Work grievance cases initiated in Director-General Environment are as follows:

April 2005 “ March 2006 “ 0 cases

April 2006 “ March 2007 “ 1 case

April 2007 “ March 2008 “ 0 cases

April 2008 “ March 09 “ 0 cases.

Question reference: S3W-30759

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for dealing with grievance procedures in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Finance and Corporate Services.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant and given the sensitivity of these matters, details of cases are not shared. Information on the average time for handling normal grievance procedures is therefore not available.

Grievances raised under the Scottish Government''s Dignity at Work policy are
co-ordinated by the HR function. Each Directorate General has very few cases and the length of time the process takes, varies depending on the complexity of the case. Across the Scottish Government as a whole, the average time to complete a grievance raised under the Dignity at Work policy, is between four to six months.

Question reference: S3W-30760

Asked by: John Wilson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 January 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 January 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for dealing with grievance procedures in the directorates under the responsibility of its Director-General Health and Chief Executive of the NHS in Scotland.

Under the Scottish Government''s normal grievance procedures, grievances are dealt with by the local line manager of the complainant and given the sensitivity of these matters, details of cases are not shared. Information on the average time for handling normal grievance procedures is therefore not available.

Grievances raised under the Scottish Government''s Dignity at Work policy are
co-ordinated by the HR function. Each Directorate General has very few cases and the length of time the process takes, varies depending on the complexity of the case. Across the Scottish Government as a whole, the average time to complete a grievance raised under the Dignity at Work policy, is between four to six months.

Chamber and committees