Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-13964

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 29 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the number of young people leaving care has increased since August 2010, broken down by those (a) with and (b) without a Pathway Plan and those (i) with and (ii) without a Pathway Coordinator.

The overall number of children people ceasing to be looked after has increased by 5% between 2009-2010 and 2011-2012:

2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Total children ceasing to be looked after	4,504	4,611	4,768
Total beyond minimum school leaving age (so eligible for a Pathway Plan and Pathway Coordinator), of whom:	1,450	1,355	1,336
Number With a Pathway Plan	745	774	974
Number With a Pathway Coordinator	450	965	974

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/PubChildrenLookedAfter

Question reference: S4W-13961

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to maximise the available resources to improve the outcomes for vulnerable young children and what steps it has taken to improve the system of data collection for measuring their (a) educational and (b) social outcomes.

The Getting it Right for Every Child programme aims to improve outcomes for all children and young people. It does this by providing a common framework, practice model and language to deliver a co-ordinated approach which is appropriate, proportionate and timely and has the child at the centre. It involves reducing duplication and streamlining processes which will maximise available resources.

The Scottish Government manages three data collections in which vulnerable young children in Scotland can be identified and their outcomes measured.

(a) Educational Outcomes

1. The Scottish Government currently collects data via local authorities on attainment, attendance and exclusion rates in school and for all young children (ages 5-11) in Scotland which are published annually.

Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/4917/0

Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/12/06114834/0

2. A linked report to this dataset reports on these outcomes for Looked After Children:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Children/EducOutcomesLAC

(b) Social Outcomes

3. The Scottish Government, Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) survey collects data on over 10,000 children in Scotland from birth and the data has been analysed by different family demographics such as low income households or families who live in deprived areas. Data is reported on and published measuring cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural development, physical and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children aged 0-8 years.

http://www.growingupinscotland.org.uk/

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill proposes duties on relevant authorities in each Community Planning Partnership area to report on progress in improving outcomes for all children. The Scottish Government will be working with partners to identify how best existing data can be used to inform the reports which might be expected and whether other sources of data collection might also be used to inform these reports.

Question reference: S4W-13962

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 25 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to change the focus on educational attainment in measuring outcomes for looked-after children.

The Scottish Government is committed to achieving positive outcomes for our looked after children. In 2011 we published Educational Outcomes for Scotland’s Looked After Children 2009-10 which, for the first time linked data for looked after children provided by local authority social work services departments with educational data provided by publicly funded schools, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

The Curriculum for Excellence assessment approaches of sharing standards and developing quality assurance and, moderation approaches between teachers and authorities, as well as using Continuous Professional Development, will support the delivery of improvements in pupils’ educational outcomes including outcomes for looked-after children.

The Scottish Government and its partners are currently developing the Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool to help local authorities and schools to analyse, compare and improve the performance of pupils in the senior phase of Curriculum for Excellence. This will support efforts to drive up attainment and tackle disadvantage including improving outcomes for looked-after children.

Question reference: S4O-02044

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.

Question reference: S4O-02068

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what emphasis it places on its work on equality.

Question reference: S4W-13965

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 17 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the outcomes have been of the national managed clinical networks in the last five years.

Question reference: S4O-01999

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what educational programmes there are to help schools tackle sectarianism.

Question reference: S4W-13372

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what projects it has funded to tackle sectarianism in each of the last two years, broken down by (a) project, (b) amount awarded and (c) date of award.

Scottish Government funding to tackle sectarianism in 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown in the following table, broken down by organisation and project, amount awarded and date of award:

Organisation and Project	Funding Amount (2011-12)	Date of Award	Funding Amount (2012-13)	Date of Award
Cambridge University Technical Services – ‘Integrative Complexity’ Project	n/a	n/a	£167,920	06-08-2012
Children’s Parliament – ‘Me+Us’ Project	n/a	n/a	£50,670	12-06-2012
Citizen’s Theatre – ‘Divided City’ Project	n/a	n/a	£116,500	15-08-2012
City of Edinburgh Council – ‘Community Research’ Project	n/a	n/a	£6,600	15-08-2012
Conforti Institute – ‘Lederach’s Peace Building Model’ Project	n/a	n/a	£111,141	02-07-2012
Faith in Community Scotland – ‘Developing an Asset-based Approach to tackling sectarianism’ Project	n/a	n/a	£69,793	12-07-2012
Festival of Spirituality and Peace – ‘Civic Cafes’ Project	n/a	n/a	£9,000	11-06-2012
Football Co-Ordination Unit Scotland (FoCUS)	£1,022,035	01-09-2011	£797,703	18-05-2012
The Iona Community – ‘Can you hear the bigots sing’ prisons’ Project and ‘Community Youth Work’ Project	£42,000	16-03-2011	£42,000	16-04-2012
Nil by Mouth – ‘Beyond Religion and Belief’ and ‘Champions for Change’ Projects	£59,647	16-03-2011	£60,000	11-04-2012
Outward Bound Trust – ‘Community Unity’ Project	n/a	n/a	£60,000	15-08-2012
A Place for Hope – ‘Community Mediation’ Project	n/a	n/a	£50,000	16-08-2012
SACRO (Safeguarding Communities – Reducing Offending) – ‘Together Project’	n/a	n/a	£100,000	15-08-2012
Scottish Community Development Centre – ‘Proof of Concept’ Project with Community Links, Yipworld.com and Getting Better Together Ltd	£36,700	07-12-2011	£107,537	19-06-2012
Scottish Community Development Centre – ‘Community-led Action Research’ Project with, Fauldhouse Community Development Trust, Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council and Pilmeny Development Trust	n/a	n/a	£59,000	12-07-2012
Scottish Marriage Care – ‘Evaluate Models of Intervention’ Project	n/a	n/a	£69,690	22-10-2012
Scottish Sports Futures – ‘Stand Tall’ Project	n/a	n/a	£84,000	19-09-2012
Sense over Sectarianism – ‘Schools and Community Engagement through Education’ Project and ‘Small Grant Scheme’ Project	£150,000	16-03-2011	£150,000	11-04-2012
Show Bigotry the Red Card – ‘Anti-Sectarian Educational Work’ Project	£20,000	16-03-2011	£20,000	11-04-2012
Voluntary Action Fund – ‘Community Engagement and support’ Projects with Inverclyde Community Development Trust, Twechar Community Action and Central Scotland Regional Equality Council	£29,271	07-12-2012	£110,682	14-05-2012
Voluntary Action Fund - Community Engagement and support’ Projects with Renton Community Development Trust, Stewarty Council of Voluntary Services, Brora Community Learning Centre, Brag Enterprises, Engender, Scottish Women’s Convention, Edinburgh and Lothian’s Regional Equality Council and Scottish Women’s Library	n/a	n/a	£138,198	12-07-2012
Voluntary Action Fund – Glasgow Scoping Project	n/a	n/a	£25,000	12-07-2012
Youth Scotland – ‘Stand Up to Sectarianism’ Project.	n/a	n/a	£55,045	29-10-2012
YouthLink Scotland – ‘Web Portal’ Project.	n/a	n/a	£87,780	15-10-2012

I also refer the member to the answers to questions S4W-13159 on 5 March 2013, S4W-08770 on 17 July 2012, and S4W-03239 on 25 November 2011.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Question reference: S4W-13378

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase public awareness of the dangers of exposure to ultraviolet light and help reduce the incidence of skin cancer.

The Scottish Government recognises the dangers of over-exposure to ultraviolet light.

In October 2012, we launched the R UV Ugly? Campaign in partnership with Cancer Research UK, to raise public awareness of the dangers of overexposure to ultraviolet light through sunbed use.

Scotland has also led the way in the UK by being the first country to introduce legislation for sun bed use to help reduce the incidence of skin cancer. The Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008 (Sunbed) Regulations 2009 were brought into force on 1 December 2009. The Act bans operators from allowing the use of sunbeds by under 18s in commercial premises; prohibits the sale or hire of sunbeds to under 18s; requires operators to supervise the use of sunbeds; places a duty upon the operator of a sunbed premise to display a public information notice; and requires operators to provide customers with health information on the health risks associated with sunbed use.

Question reference: S4W-13379

Asked by: Siobhan McMahon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 12 March 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to develop and publish updated referral guidelines for GPs on skin cancer as part of the Detect Cancer Early Initiative.

The Detect Cancer Early Programme aims to increase the proportion of cancers detected at the early stage of disease. Although directed at lung, breast and colorectal cancers in the first instance, early diagnosis and high quality treatment and care for all patients with cancer is a top priority. It is anticipated that the programme will benefit other groups of people as general awareness raising initiatives are expected to result in earlier presentation, referral and assessment for all those with a possibility of cancer.

Colorectal, lung and breast cancer represent 45 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in Scotland per year. To allow the early stages of the programme to be appropriately managed and be the most effective, a decision was taken to focus on these three cancers initially. This will enable the greatest impact both in terms of patient numbers and in tackling cancer in areas of deprivation where survival has historically been poorest. It will be easier to demonstrate shifts in outcomes and in population attitudes by choosing the high incidence tumour types as the initial focus, it is anticipated that this will build the momentum for the programme that will then facilitate roll out to the rarer tumour types.

The original Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer were developed by a working group formed by the Scottish Executive Health Directorate and were published in April 2002. These guidelines include skin cancer. They were reviewed in 2006, with a revised publication issued in February 2007. In 2009 the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group (SPCCG) developed a quick reference guide as an “aide memoire” to the full guidelines, this publication was supported by the Scottish Government.

Once the initial phase of the Detect Cancer Early Programme is completed, consideration will be given to which other cancers need to be tackled in a similar way. This includes review of the referral guidelines.

Chamber and committees