Chamber and committees

There is no current proposal to increase the level of resources allocated to the moderation of the National Conversation website.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-7812 on 10 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11333 on 23 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The complement for SQUIRE Inspectors (SQUIRE is Service Quality Incentive REgime) is 12 inspectors reporting to a SQUIRE Team Manager. Nine SQUIRE inspectors are currently employed with three vacancies advertised. A SQUIRE inspector''s role is specified in the ScotRail Franchise Agreement. It involves regular visits to each of the 340 First ScotRail stations and First ScotRail trains to audit the facilities and services provided against a set of clearly defined targets as specified in the Franchise Agreement. The purpose of SQUIRE is to drive consistency and improvements in the quality of services provided by First ScotRail.

The number of teachers required to reduce primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18 will vary according to the class formation policies, such as the use of composite classes, adopted by individual local authorities. Consequently, there will also be variations in cost. We have signed a concordat with the Convention of Scottish Local authorities under which local government will make year-on-year progress in reducing primary 1 to primary 3 classes to a maximum of 18.

Ministers'' responsibilities for the provision of adequate facilities at motorway service areas are limited to the installation, at developers'' expense, of Services signs giving advance warning of service areas, subject to the minimum requirements to qualify as a service area being maintained.

The following table shows the number of students from the People''s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macao) attending each of Scotland''s higher education institutions.

Number of Students from China (Including Hong Kong and Macao)

	Total	Study Wholly Outside UK	At Least Some Study in the UK
Total	9,335	3,845	5,495
Heriot-Watt University	2,475	1,895	580
Napier University	1,960	1,550	410
The University of Edinburgh	830	5	830
The University of Strathclyde	800	340	455
The University of Glasgow	720	0	720
The University of St Andrews	495	0	495
The University of Stirling	490	0	490
The University of Paisley	385	0	385
The University of Aberdeen	325	0	325
The University of Dundee	260	0	260
The Robert Gordon University	225	50	175
University of Abertay Dundee	135	0	135
Glasgow Caledonian University	100	0	100
Edinburgh College of Art	45	0	45
Glasgow School of Art	45	0	45
Edinburgh Queen Margaret University	35	0	35
The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama	5	0	5
Scottish Agricultural College	5	0	5
UHI Millennium Institute	0	0	0

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.

No discussions have yet taken place. Lead responsibility for cross border rail services lies with the Secretary of State for Transport. However, we have written to the UK Government requesting a meeting to discuss the issue of cross border rail links and their economic importance in offering access and connections to other parts of the UK and mainland Europe.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving all aspects of women''s (and men''s) lives in Scotland. Our gender equality scheme annual report (March 2008) provides a comprehensive update on action taken over the last year on the high-level objectives (and related action points) in our gender equality scheme (March 2007) to promote equality of opportunity between women and men. Chapter 8 of the annual report is about mainstreaming equality to ensure that public policies, practices and services understand and respond to the different needs of women and men.

The annual report is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45322). The scheme is also available (Bib. number 42934).

With regard to improving women''s representation on public bodies, the Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS) to ensure, amongst other things, that all possible steps are taken to address gender imbalance. This work will be taken forward through the Diversity Delivers strategy, currently being produced by OCPAS.

Currently, car parking is free at most NHSScotland hospitals and charges have only been introduced as a method of last resort as part of a planned approach to ensuring that adequate access is available to those health care sites which are congested and where the demand for parking far exceeds the supply of car spaces available.

For those boards where car parking charges are currently in place, we shall be reviewing their current car parking schemes against the principles and criteria set out in the revised guidance issued to boards in January this year. We have asked for reports from these boards by 30 June 2008 and once these reports have been considered, we shall issue a full policy statement on the provision of car parking at NHSScotland facilities. In the meantime, I have applied a £3 per day cap on charges.