Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive is committedto removing barriers to public transport and to improving accessibility for disabledpeople. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) places a duty on transportproviders to avoid discrimination against disabled people in respect of matterswhich include timetables, booking facilities and waiting rooms.

All rail services in Scotland areaccessible by people with disabilities and First ScotRail provides a free assistedtravel service for customers requiring help at stations. First ScotRail timetablesadvise passengers requiring assistance to book this via the Customer Contact Centreat least 24 hours in advance. Transport Scotland, working in partnership with First ScotRail, is committedto improving access to rail services and is making significant investment in stationimprovements throughout Scotland.

Although bus timetables do notcurrently indicate which buses are accessible, the Confederation of Passenger Transport(CPT) and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) have set up a subgroupto take this matter forward. Bus operators are committed to providing disabled accesscodes on timetables to indicate accessible vehicles

Traveline Scotland (TLS), fundedby Transport Scotland, provides disabled people with timetable informationfor journeys made within Scotland on any mode of public transport and from any point inScotland to any main point in England or Wales. TLS provides this information to members of the publicvia telephone from a professional call centre and via its website.

This information is not heldcentrally.

The information requested isnot collected centrally.

I refer the member to theanswers to questions S2W-24996 and S2W-24998 on 27 April 2006. All answers towritten 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 information requested isnot collected centrally.

No comparisons have beenmade. The most important principle is to meet the needs of the individual childor young person in the most appropriate setting, whether that is in amainstream school, a special school, a specialist school like Struan House or acombination.

I recognise however thatthere is a need to evaluate educational provision for pupils with autisticspectrum disorder (ASD) in these settings and that is why Her Majesty'sInspectorate of Education are conducting a specific inspection of educationalprovision for children and young people with ASD across Scotland. Theinspection began in April 2005 and will conclude shortly with a report due inlate summer.

In 2003, the Executivecommissioned the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) to examinethe impact of the policy that requireseducation authorities to, wherever possible, mainstream pupils with specialeducational needs (SEN). The research assessed how education authorities implementedthe new duty and the impact of the mainstreaming policy, and examined the waysin which different policies and practices impacted on parents, teachers, andpupils with SEN, including pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, and theirpeers.

The findings were publishedin the Impact of the Presumption of Mainstreaming Research report on 13 January 2006, acopy of which is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/01/05142243/0andhttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/01/12121142/0.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

The work on the Scottish EnergyRating Tool (SERT) is currently in progress. If the research work is successfulthen SERT could provide a cost-effective solution to energy performance certificationof dwellings, particularly in the private rental sector. It is anticipated thatwork on rdSAP will be completed before SERT and that rdSAP will be better suitedto the data collection procedures which are associated with the proposed SingleSurvey.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

It is proposed that the principalindicator of energy performance of buildings will be expressed in terms of CO₂in order to promote the influence that this gas has with regard to climate changeand global warming.

Options for other indicatorswill appear in the forthcoming public consultation on Articles 7, 8 and 9. Thisconsultation is proposed for May 2006, will have a duration of 12 weeks and willbe accessible from the SBSA website www.sbsa.gov.uk.

I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:

Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of theDirective have been implemented using existing Scottish building legislation andalso guidance. The SBSA are currently out to public consultation on proposals thatwill build-on the implementation of these articles. This consultation commencedon 1 March 2006, has a duration of 12 weeks and is accessible from theSBSA website www.sbsa.gov.uk.

For implementation of Articles7, 8 and 9, there is a public consultation proposed for May 2006, which will havea duration of 12 weeks and will be accessible from the SBSA website.