- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the action referred to by the Minister for Communities in the Parliament on 11 September 2003 in relation to education services at the Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre was.
Answer
I refer the member to the answergiven to question S2W-2655 today, which is available on the Parliament’s website,the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional resources for South Lanarkshire Council for translation, interpretation and close support for children detained at the Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre if the Home Office allow the education of such children in mainstream schooling.
Answer
Such matters would be considered,as appropriate, within the context of our discussions with the Home Office aboutthe recommendations in the recent reports by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and HMInspectorate of Education.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional work for existing staff in respect of the one-year probationary teacher system was taken into account in the recent job-si'ing exercise carried out as part of the McCrone agreement.
Answer
The job-sizing exercise encompassesall management responsibilities outlined in the agreement A Teaching Professionfor the 21st Century. This includes the management and guidance of colleagues.However, it should be noted that there is no requirement for probationer teachersto be supported by a particular grade of teacher.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional pressures have been put on school staffing as a result of mentoring and supervising probationary teachers in the one-year probationary teacher system.
Answer
None. Probationer teachers havealways required support and mentoring, and this has traditionally been a responsibilityof all teachers. Since the introduction of the teacher induction scheme, with itsmore formalised mentoring regime, the Executive has made additional funding availableto local authorities towards the cost of mentoring. Local authorities receive 10per cent of a probationer teacher’s salary for each probationer they employ specificallyto contribute to mentoring costs.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made in the education system at the Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre, as referred to by the Minister for Communities in the Parliament on 11 September 2003.
Answer
HM Inspectorate of Education’supdate report on education provision at Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre,published by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in August 2003, sets out the improvementsmade following the October 2002 inspection. The information requested is on page2 of the report, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre,(Bib. number 29149) or on the internet at
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs2/dungavelupdate.pdf.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 29 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will take forward the recommendations on education provision at the Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre, as referred to by the Minister for Communities in the Parliament on 11 September 2003.
Answer
The recent HM Chief Inspectorof Prisons and HM Inspectorate of Education reports are addressed to the Home Office.Home Office ministers are discussing with the Scottish Executive how the recommendationscan be taken forward.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether schools considering running supported study or homework classes after the end of the timetabled school day would have a guaranteed right of access to classroom facilities in schools managed under PPP or PFI schemes.
Answer
Access to facilities in suchschools out of timetabled school hours is for individual local authorities todetermine within the PPP contract.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on faculty-style departments in secondary schools.
Answer
The agreement
A Teaching Professionfor the 21st Century provides for an improved and simplified career structurefor all teachers. The agreement also provides for local negotiation and enhancesthe flexibility to determine staffing issues at local level.
Within the framework of theagreement, it is therefore a matter for local authorities to decide what staffingstructures best suit their local needs. However, existing experience suggests thatfaculty-style departments are already working well in many schools, and can contributeto increasing both the quality of management resources and the teaching resourcesavailable within a school. As such, it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Executive to intervene.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in each local authority area run supported study or homework classes after the timetabled school day.
Answer
A breakdown of the number ofschools participating in the Scottish Executive’s Study Support programme at March 2003 is given in thefollowing table. Information on supported study or homework classes funded fromany other source is not held centrally.
| Aberdeen City Council | 12 |
| Aberdeenshire Council | 173 |
| Angus Council | 8 |
| Argyll and Bute Council | 92 |
| Clackmannanshire Council | 22 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 41 |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | 16 |
| Dundee City Council | 10 |
| East Ayrshire Council | 55 |
| East Dunbartonshire Council | 29 |
| East Lothian Council | 45 |
| East Renfrewshire Council | 31 |
| City of Edinburgh Council | 139 |
| Falkirk Council | 40 |
| Fife Council | 48 |
| Glasgow City Council | 205 |
| The Highland Council | 35 |
| Inverclyde Council | 43 |
| Midlothian Council | 43 |
| Moray Council | 12 |
| North Ayrshire Council | 67 |
| North Lanarkshire Council | 164 |
| Orkney Islands Council | 2 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | 40 |
| Renfrewshire Council | 64 |
| Scottish Borders Council | 31 |
| Shetland Islands Council | 22 |
| South Ayrshire Council | 58 |
| South Lanarkshire Council | 95 |
| Stirling Council | 21 |
| West Dunbartonshire Council | 38 |
| West Lothian Council | 32 |
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 24 September 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the employment of the 3,500 additional non-teaching staff to provide support for teachers.
Answer
The agreement A TeachingProfession for the 21st Century included a commitment to introduce approximatelythe equivalent of 3,500 support staff into schools by 31 March 2004. Authorities have been provided with £50 millionannually from March 2001. It is a matter for authorities how the funds arespent but within the overall intention of reducing the administrative burdenson teachers. Some authorities have, for example, invested in capital equipmentsuch as improved management systems. Aworking group of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers has beenestablished to monitor the impact. It has yet to report.
