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The Executive has no plans toproduce a new range of playwork training materials or courses for the educationprofession.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority(SQA), working in partnership with the relevant sector skills councils, Skills Activefor playwork and Skills for Care and Development for early education and child care,update and where appropriate develop new training courses to meet the needs of thesector. This is an on-going process designed to ensure employers, the current workforceand new entrants are appropriately trained.

Teachers also have a commitmentto continuing professional development and can access a range of training publications,best practice case studies, events and courses on play through Learning and TeachingScotland.

Teachers are contractually obligedto undertake 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) each year. Eachteacher, in discussion with his/her line manager, produces an annual plan of CPDactivity based on personal need taking account of school, local and national priorities.The Executive is providing  £13.5 million in 2006-07 to allow local authoritiesto co-ordinate and provide CPD for teachers. This could include the developmentof training resources for teachers and other school staff relating to the valueof play.

The Executive has no plansto place a general duty on local authorities in the way described.

Local authorities have aspecific duty under the School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland)Regulations 1967. These regulations also state that at every school there shallbe an outdoor area or areas laid out and surfaced for educational andrecreational activities.

The Executive is currentlyin the process of drafting a National Overview of the Partnership in Practice(PiP) agreements for 2004-07. The agreements indicate local authorities are generallymaking good progress and identify locally agreed priorities for action. TheNational Overview will highlight areas of good practice and draw attention tonational initiatives that assist local authorities in developing their Partnershipin Practice agreements for 2007-10.

In addition to writtenreporting, the Executive holds Partnership in Practice Network meetingsregularly. These meetings enable local authority and NHS board representativesto discuss positive local initiatives and also give the Executive regularopportunities to receive and give feedback on the PiP process.

Local authorities receive£16 million Change Fund per annum, to help implement the recommendations in Thesame as you? review of services for people with learning disabilities.Additionally they are to receive an extra £4.2 million in 2006-07 and £5 million2007-08 to take account of the increasing population and of post-hospitalclosure demands. The additional change funds are included with general localgovernment grant aided expenditure. A breakdown of Change Fund allocations by localauthority can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39507).

With this exception, nospecific funding allocation is made to local authorities for learningdisability services. Funding comes from community care allocations and it isfor local authorities to allocate these resources as appropriate for their localarea.

A table showing net revenueexpenditure figures for learning disability services, by local authority area,has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39534).

The Executive is not awareof any reduction in learning disability services provided by local authorities.Patterns of local authority expenditure for learning disability services areoutlined in the answer to question S2W-25133 on 8 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Executive monitors therange of services provided by local authorities for people with learning disabilitiesin a number of ways. Monitoring of services for people with learningdisabilities is delivered through the inspection of services by the Social WorkInspection Agency (SWIA). A pilot multi-agency inspection of learningdisability services led by the SWIA and involving service users, carers, theCare Commission, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorateof Education and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, is currently underwayin Ayrshire. An evaluation of this multi-agency inspection will be carried outprior to further inspections.

The Scottish Executivecollects annual statistics on implementation of The same as you? and the2005 statistical release is due for publication at the end of May. The NationalOverview of the Partnership in Practice agreements will also includeinformation on the way the Change Fund is being spent by each local authority.

The work of The same asyou? National Implementation Group, Users and Carers Group, and Partnershipin Practice Network helps to highlight the range and quality of services thatare available in each local authority area, and to consider areas where furtherdevelopment is needed.

The same as you? Implementation Group has produced a number of reports,which demonstrate areas where work has been taken forward to implement therecommendations of The same as you?. These reports look at hospitalclosure and service reprovision, employment, advocacy, children’s services, andday services.

The majority ofrecommendations were not for the Executive to implement, however, the NationalOverview of the Partnership in Practice agreements will outline areas ofprogress at a national and local level.

The outcome of discussions withthe Department of Work and Pensions is the proposal in the Bankruptcy and DiligenceBill to stop creditors from arresting all the money in a bank account. A minimumbalance will be protected, currently fixed at £370. This reform will help all debtors,including those who rely on benefit income.

We are currently developing monitoringarrangements on the use of New Future Fund successor funding as part of the guidanceto Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs). The Enterprise, Transport and LifelongLearning Department with assistance from Communities Scotland, will be monitoringthe reports from CPPs.