Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-13409

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 24 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12428 by Rhona Brankin on 24 December 2004, how many dental practices in the Scottish Borders provided NHS treatment in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04, expressed also as a percentage of all practices for each year.

The number of dental practices in the Scottish Borders providing NHS treatment at 31 March in the relevant years is shown in the table.

It is not possible to express this number as a percentage of all practices in the Scottish Borders, as information on non-NHS dental practices is not held centrally.

Number of General Dental Practices in NHS Borders Providing NHS Treatment¹; at 31 March

2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
17	17	19	19	20

Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

Note: 1. Dental practices with at least one dentist within the practice providing NHS general dental services.

Question reference: S2W-13460

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources (a) were allocated to improve adult literacy and numeracy in 2004 and (b) have been allocated to improve adult literacy and numeracy in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006.

Question reference: S2W-13463

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to its news release of 8 September 2004 on the Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and given its target of helping 150,000 people by March 2006, how many people will be helped in each local authority area in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006.

The following table shows forecast figures for 2004-06 provided by the partnerships. There are currently no forecast figures available for the period after March 2006.

Local Authority	Forecast	Forecast	Total
2004-05	2005-06	2004-06
Aberdeen City	1,000	1,000	2,000
Aberdeenshire	1,100	898	1,998
Angus	880	605	1,485
Argyll and Bute	350	546	896
Borders	409	406	815
Clackmannanshire	327	346	673
Dumfries and Galloway	630	902	1,532
Dundee	1,237	1,607	2,844
East Ayrshire	367	258	625
East Dunbartonshire	291	355	646
East Lothian	780	626	1,406
East Renfrewshire	86	103	189
Edinburgh	5,100	4,397	9,497
Falkirk	560	662	1,222
Fife	2,398	2,433	4,831
Glasgow	4,746	5,250	9,996
Highland	760	891	1,651
Inverclyde	760	947	1,707
Midlothian	589	557	1,146
Moray	175	128	303
North Ayrshire	1,032	875	1,907
North Lanarkshire	3,000	3,000	6,000
Orkney	60	60	120
Perth and Kinross	353	367	720
Renfrewshire	950	1,000	1,950
Shetland	170	167	337
South Ayrshire	1,290	1,200	2,490
South Lanarkshire	1,755	1,969	3,724
Stirling	354	463	817
West Dunbartonshire	749	1,045	1,794
West Lothian	551	694	1,245
Western Isles	185	125	310
Totals	32,994	33,882	66,876

Question reference: S2W-13465

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-20130, S1W-25599 and S20-493 by Ms Wendy Alexander, Iain Gray and Mr Jim Wallace on 4 December 2001, 17 May 2002 and 25 September 2003 respectively and with reference to its news release of 8 September 2004 on the Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, whether the remaining £28.5 million will still be allocated for literacy and numeracy in 2005 and 2006 and, if so, whether this funding will (a) form part of the aggregate external finance allocated to local authorities and (b) be ring-fenced.

Question reference: S2W-13464

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to its news release of 8 September 2004 on the Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, what the breakdown of the £51 million invested over a five-year period is by (a) local authority and (b) year.

Of the £51 million allocated, £41.7 million is being routed through local authorities to Community Learning and Development Partnerships. The attached table shows the allocation of funding to local authorities for 2001-06. The balance of funding was allocated to learning connections within Communities Scotland to support the partnerships.

Allocation of Resources to Local Authorities for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (2001-06)

	2001-02 (£)	2002-03 (£)	2003-04 (£)	2004-05	2005-06	Total
Aberdeen City	78,305	156,611	301,621	316,122	357,000	1,209,659
Aberdeenshire	80,237	160,474	309,062	323,920	366,000	1,239,693
Angus	44,585	89,171	171,736	179,993	203,000	688,485
Argyll and Bute	39,482	78,964	152,078	159,390	180,000	609,914
Clackmannanshire	28,178	56,355	108,536	113,754	129,000	435,823
Dumfries and Galloway	74,235	148,470	285,943	299,690	339,000	1,147,338
Dundee City	95,732	191,465	368,747	386,475	437,000	1,479,419
East Ayrshire	95,530	191,059	367,966	385,657	436,000	1,476,212
East Dunbartonshire	28,447	56,894	109,574	114,842	130,000	439,757
East Lothian	29,122	58,244	112,173	117,566	133,000	450,105
East Renfrewshire	27,356	54,713	105,372	110,438	125,000	422,879
Edinburgh	255,368	510,735	983,638	1,030,928	1,166,000	3,946,669
Falkirk	61,672	123,344	237,551	248,971	281,000	952,538
Fife	148,822	297,644	573,240	600,799	679,000	2,299,505
Glasgow City	546,117	1,092,234	2,103,561	2,204,694	2,493,000	8,439,606
Highland	85,557	171,115	329,555	345,399	390,000	1,321,626
Inverclyde	65,822	131,645	253,538	265,727	300,000	1,016,732
Midlothian	34,566	69,132	133,142	139,543	158,000	534,383
Moray	35,239	70,479	135,737	142,263	161,000	544,718
North Ayrshire	84,625	169,250	325,963	341,634	386,000	1,307,472
North Lanarkshire	148,187	296,375	570,796	598,238	676,000	2,289,596
Perth and Kinross	46,485	92,969	179,052	187,660	212,000	718,166
Renfrewshire	99,797	199,593	384,402	402,883	455,000	1,541,675
Scottish Borders	41,615	83,230	160,294	168,001	190,000	643,140
South Ayrshire	57,280	114,560	220,635	231,242	261,000	884,717
South Lanarkshire	133,142	266,284	512,844	537,500	608,000	2,057,770
Stirling	40,305	80,610	155,248	162,712	184,000	622,875
West Dunbartonshire	68,838	137,676	265,154	277,902	314,000	1,063,570
West Lothian	51,640	103,280	198,909	208,472	236,000	798,301
Western Isles	27,973	55,947	107,749	112,929	128,000	432,598
Orkney Islands	20,746	41,492	79,910	83,752	95,000	320,900
Shetland Islands	24,994	49,989	96,275	100,904	114,000	386,162
Totals*	2,700,000	5,400,000	10,400,000	10,900,000	12,322,000	41,722,000

Note: *Rounded to nearest £1,000.

Question reference: S2W-13461

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-20130, S1W-25599 and S2O-493 by Ms Wendy Alexander, Iain Gray and Mr Jim Wallace on 4 December 2001, 17 May 2002 and 25 September 2003 respectively, what the reasons were for it not meeting its national adult literacy and numeracy target of enabling 80,000 people to be helped in 2004.

The main reasons for not achieving the 80,000 new adult literacy and numeracy learners during the period 2001 to 2004 are as follows:

Community Learning and Development partnerships found it difficult to engage new learners.

Delay in establishing the “development engine” within Communities Scotland.

A shortage of suitably trained ALN tutors.

Campaign to engage employers not yet in place.

The above issues are all currently being addressed.

Question reference: S2W-13462

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Allan Wilson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it set in respect of raising levels of adult literacy and numeracy for (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004, broken down by local authority area and what the actual performance was.

A target of helping 80,000 new adult literacy and numeracy learners in Scotland for the period 2001-04 was recommended in the Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland report, published in July 2001. The target number was not broken down by local authorities.

The following table gives a breakdown of new learners helped in each local authority area during the period 2001- 2004 as shown in their end year reports.

Local Authority	Actual	Actual	Actual	New Deal/ Job Centre+	Total
	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2001-04	2001-04
Aberdeen City	1,737	2,526	551	0	4,814
Aberdeenshire	984	168	595	11	1,758
Angus	1,173	618	821	0	2,612
Argyll and Bute	484	312	208	23	1,027
Borders	98	117	356	0	571
Clackmannanshire	118	174	268	120	680
Dumfries and Galloway	357	360	623	59	1,399
Dundee	621	795	913	77	2,406
East Ayrshire	85	462	262	7	816
East Dunbartonshire	193	209	247	0	649
East Lothian	136	529	780	0	1,445
East Renfrewshire	87	14	49	0	150
Edinburgh	2,762	2,189	4,815	0	9,766
Falkirk	331	820	470	0	1,621
Fife	1,624	2,344	2,988	0	6,956
Glasgow	3,125	4,486	5,752	30	13,393
Highland	466	395	691	0	1,552
Inverclyde	438	383	422	0	1,243
Midlothian	0	407	491	0	898
Moray	180	383	136	0	699
North Ayrshire	431	647	933	0	2,011
North Lanarkshire	366	1,125	872	5	2,368
Orkney	71	53	58	90	272
Perth and Kinross	572	163	293	0	1,028
Renfrewshire	422	584	839	365	2,210
Shetland	82	148	166	14	410
South Ayrshire	318	947	1,219	0	2,484
South Lanarkshire	387	746	628	0	1,761
Stirling	398	420	256	286	1,360
West Dunbartonshire	240	359	575	0	1,174
West Lothian	328	388	400	0	1,116
Western Isles	79	141	181	1	402
Totals	18,693	23,412	27,858	1,088	71,051

Question reference: S2W-13227

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 21 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12922 by Euan Robson on 22 December 2004, which measures within the retention strategy for recruitment for children"s panels have been implemented following advice by the Publicity Working Group.

The retention strategy was designed to address the principal reasons for resignation, i.e. failure of local authorities to implement supervision requirements; overstretch caused by too many hearings per session and poor facilities at hearings centres; late reports; lack of support from employers, and, lack of appreciation and support for the role played by the membersof the children’s panel.

In response the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 gave children’s panels the power to challenge local authorities through the courts where supervision requirements have not been properly implemented.

The Executive funded the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) to enhance its capital development programme. This will lead to a series of improvements to facilities at hearings centres, including family friendly improvements and property replacements.

SCRA has led the development of standards in the timing and management of children’s hearings, which will be implemented in 2005.

The Scottish Executive has refreshed the time intervals process to refocus on key standards so that agencies (police, SCRA and local authorities) can minimise the time it takes from referral of a child to implementation of hearings’ decisions.

The Scottish Executive has raised awareness amongst employers through an insert in the March 2004 Forum of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry, short television programmes in 2004 as part of the Talking Scotland series and through individual approaches to employers to stress the benefits to business of the transferable skills of trained panel members. Further work with employers is planned for 2005.

Since 2002 the Scottish Executive has actively demonstrated the value it places on the contribution of panel members by implementing many aspects of the retention strategy, e.g.

introduced an indemnity scheme for volunteers in the hearings system where they might be;

held a reception for panel members at Edinburgh Castle in 2004, hosted by the First Minister;

introduced an annual long service event for panel members with awards for those serving 25 years (the next such event is planned for March 2005);

provided funding for laptop computers for panel chairmen and their deputies;

introduced an extranet on the children’s hearings website to improve sharing of training and best practice materials;

developed software to help panel chairs compile panel rotas;

rolled out IT training for panel chairs, and,

provided media training for panel chairs.

Question reference: S2O-04938

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2005
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 20 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to promote learning and education among the most deprived communities.

Question reference: S2W-13034

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2004
Current Status: Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 January 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding was allocated to addressing child poverty in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04 and what funding will be allocated for this purpose in each of the next two financial years.

The Scottish Executive, alongwith the UK Government is committed to eradicating child poverty within a generation.The Executive’s Closing the Opportunity Gap approach to tackling poverty works bothdirectly and indirectly across all its departments, and within numerous spendingstreams. Universal services such as health, education and child care benefit allchildren, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable. Expendituretargeted on areas of deprivation such as the Community Regeneration Fund also hasan impact on children. A number of funding streams are specifically directed atdisadvantaged children such as Sure Start funding. The range of spending that hasan impact on children in poverty means it is not possible to give a total figurefor previous or future years.

Seòmar agus comataidhean