Chamber and committees

The BSL Roadmap has helped identify and inform issues and allowed the Scottish Government and many other agencies in the community to develop policy and strategies to help improve the lives of BSL users and people who have a sensory impairment.

Since the introduction of the Roadmap, the Scottish Government has (this list is illustrative but not exhaustive):

officially recognised BSL as a language (5 March 2010);

worked with Third Sector partners in piloting a number of sensory impairment one-stop-shops across Scotland;

joined a newly created working group looking at lipreading provision, the availability of lipreading tutors and re-establishment of a lipreading tutors training course in Scotland;

worked with organisations representing BSL users, as well as the wider sensory impaired community, to assist and support users to gain a full understanding and awareness of Self Directed Support;

made improvements in Audiology services, including the development of quality standards;

established a pilot to consider the practicalities and benefits of establishing a local record of deaf children with the aim of ensuring their needs are addressed in a more “joined up” way across health, education, etc;

considered how best to respond to some of the issues affecting families with Deaf babies, and

set up a Languages Working Group to advise on how we can deliver on our commitment to strengthen language learning in Scotland, whereby all children should have the opportunity to learn two languages in addition to their first language which, for some children, will be BSL.

NHS Health Scotland has:

commissioned and published a literature review “Researching Models of BSL Interpreting in the UK and Beyond” which presented various options for providing BSL interpreting using new technologies;

developed the Competency Framework for Interpreting as part of the Translating, Interpreting and Communication Support (TICS) Joint Action Group, which provides guidance for those working with patients with preferred communication other than spoken English, including British Sign Language;

continued to facilitate sharing of good practice in communication support between NHS boards through the TICS Joint Action Group, and

begun developing a new programme of work to ensure communication preferences are recorded and actions are taken to overcome communication and physical barriers to health related appointments and consultations.

NHS 24 is in the process of establishing a pilot for remote BSL interpreting.

Other aspects influenced by the Roadmap include:

two cohorts of Deaf students have completed the Heriot-Watt University Graduate Diploma in Training of BSL Tutors;

Heriot-Watt University is introducing an undergraduate course in British Sign Language (Interpreting, Translating and Applied Language Studies) with support from the Scottish Funding Council;

the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has a suite of stand alone National Qualifications Units in learning British Sign Language, and

SQA has validated a professional development award designed to develop skills in British Sign Language which was made available to centres in August 2011.

Scottish Planning Policy does not set minimum car parking standards for new housing developments. Planning Advice Note 75: Planning and Transport advises that parking policies must be adapted to particular local circumstances, for example through the development of a local authority’s own maximum and optional underpinning minimum parking standards.

The Scottish building regulations do not require any car parking provision for new housing developments. However, where car parking is provided within the curtilage of flatted properties a proportion of the spaces (1:20) should be designed to be accessible to a person with a mobility impairment.

Post-application qualification brings an element of certainty to the application process by dispensing with conditional offers. It is already the case for a proportion of pupils in Scotland that they will apply to University in sixth year having achieved the necessary highers for entry to higher education in fifth year. Accordingly, the notion of a post-results application system is not completely new here.

We would however want to think about the implications for those who need two years to attain their entry qualifications, particularly those from widening access backgrounds who tend to take longer to accumulate the necessary qualifications.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 requires social landlords to have in place a tenant participation strategy that includes arrangements for landlords to consult their registered tenant organisations (RTOs) on a range of housing and related matters. The act does not specify how social landlords should consult their RTOs.

In September 2002 the Scottish Executive issued guidance for landlords on the preparation of tenant participation strategies. This guidance suggested a variety of methods for landlords to consult and engage with RTOs, including public meetings, conferences, seminars, tenants’ forums, and special taskforces of tenants and housing officers to review policy or management of services.

Landlords should, in consultation with their RTOs, agree their consultation arrangements and publish these as part of the tenant participation strategy.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The current Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) cost plan contains no provision for work at Springburn Railway Station.

The information held by the Scottish Government on called in and appealed applications is contained in the following tables.

Note:

The numbers of applications used in the proportion calculations in Tables 1b and 2b are the total applications determined by local authorities for the financial years from 1998-99 to 2010-11.

Table 1a: Called in planning applications for the calendar years 1999-2011, broken down by local authority:

Table 1b: Called in planning applications as a proportion of applications determined by local authorities in the financial years 1998-99 to 2010-11.

Table 2a: Appealed planning applications for the calendar years 1999-2011, broken down by local authority:

Table 2b: Appealed planning applications as a proportion of applications determined by local authorities in the financial years 1998-99-2010-11:

Decisions on whether or not to grant planning permission for the erection of mobile phone masts are a matter for the planning authority in the first instance. Scottish Government planning policy on telecommunications infrastructure is contained in the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP). The SPP sets out the key issues to be addressed when planning authorities consider applications for mobile phone masts (paragraphs 248 to 254). A copy of the SPP is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 50437) or can be read at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2010/02/03132605/0.

In relation to the health risks from radiofrequency radiation emitted by mobile phone base stations the Scottish Government is not aware of any compelling evidence to challenge the continuing validity of the conclusion of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) in their publication in 2000 on Mobile Phones and Health that there is no general risk to the health of people living nearby. The Scottish Government planning policy as set out in SPP reflects this position.

Interpretation of planning law, and associated guidance, is the responsibility of the relevant planning authority. It is for the authority to satisfy itself that its interpretation and application of planning law is correct in any individual case.