- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 22 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of the total cost of teachers' salaries on a local authority by local authority basis.
Answer
Teachers' pay and conditions are a matter for local authorities and we do not hold this information centrally. The latest available information on gross expenditure on employee costs for teachers is for 1997-98 and is set out in the table below.
1997-98 Gross Revenue Expenditure on Employee Costs: Teachers (£000s) | Salary | Superannuation | National Insurance | Allowances & other costs1 | Total All |
| Scotland | 1,223,212 | 86,434 | 93,308 | 23,305 | 1,426,259 |
| Aberdeen City | 45,281 | 3,031 | 3,424 | 763 | 52,499 |
| Aberdeenshire | 58,654 | 3,944 | 4,461 | 509 | 67,568 |
| Angus | 26,637 | 1,895 | 2,037 | 589 | 31,158 |
| Argyll & Bute | 23,450 | 1,626 | 1,828 | 220 | 27,124 |
| Clackmannanshire | 11,376 | 1,037 | 867 | 139 | 13,419 |
| Dumfries & Galloway | 36,987 | 2,695 | 2,827 | 570 | 43,079 |
| Dundee City | 37,082 | 3,075 | 2,876 | 404 | 43,437 |
| East Ayrshire | 30,689 | 2,061 | 2,360 | 129 | 35,239 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 27,981 | 1,888 | 2,121 | 123 | 32,113 |
| East Lothian | 18,921 | 1,329 | 1,445 | 454 | 22,149 |
| East Renfrewshire | 22,231 | 1,904 | 1,719 | 6 | 25,860 |
| Edinburgh, City of | 79,529 | 5,592 | 5,974 | 1,719 | 92,814 |
| Eilean Siar | 10,928 | 737 | 790 | 490 | 12,945 |
| Falkirk | 32,217 | 2,156 | 2,265 | 1,082 | 37,720 |
| Fife | 87,082 | 5,940 | 6,673 | 2,034 | 101,729 |
| Glasgow City | 132,180 | 8,978 | 10,162 | 4,056 | 155,376 |
| Highland | 59,484 | 4,218 | 4,726 | 545 | 68,973 |
| Inverclyde | 21,588 | 1,491 | 1,645 | 255 | 24,979 |
| Midlothian | 20,860 | 1,461 | 1,579 | 294 | 24,194 |
| Moray | 22,445 | 1,534 | 1,726 | 418 | 26,123 |
| North Ayrshire | 33,893 | 2,292 | 2,624 | 330 | 39,139 |
| North Lanarkshire | 85,853 | 6,597 | 6,640 | 181 | 99,271 |
| Orkney Islands | 7,001 | 492 | 529 | 247 | 8,269 |
| Perth & Kinross | 30,385 | 2,126 | 2,314 | 542 | 35,367 |
| Renfrewshire | 42,736 | 2,776 | 2,924 | 901 | 49,337 |
| Scottish Borders | 25,540 | 1,777 | 1,969 | 706 | 29,992 |
| Shetland Islands | 9,657 | 899 | 779 | 754 | 12,089 |
| South Ayrshire | 27,163 | 1,843 | 2,072 | 34 | 31,112 |
| South Lanarkshire | 72,804 | 5,306 | 5,634 | 3,555 | 87,299 |
| Stirling | 20,083 | 1,394 | 1,541 | 526 | 23,544 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 24,692 | 1,687 | 1,899 | 188 | 28,466 |
| West Lothian | 37,803 | 2,653 | 2,878 | 542 | 43,876 |
Source: As reported by Councils on Local Finance Returns (LFR1 Education).Notes:
1. Includes relocation, interview and training expenses, advertising, severance payments, Pensions Increase Act, transfer values for unfunded schemes and employee related insurances.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 22 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the amount payable to Scottish teachers towards the purchase of a personal computer from #200 to the maximum of #500 available to teachers in England.
Answer
Nearly 5,000 Scottish teachers have already taken up the offer of a tax-paid £200 refund on the purchase of any computer which meets or exceeds a published minimum specification. Continuing the scheme on the present pattern will benefit many more Scottish teachers than increasing the amount of the subsidy.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 18 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to distribute the #41.783 million in the excellence fund which has not yet been allocated to local authorities.
Answer
£28.333 million is being
distributed through the programmes noted in the following table :-| Undistributed Excellence Fund | Amount (millions) |
| Reducing Class Sizes | £15.6 |
| New Community Schools | 8.0 |
| Specialist Provision | 4.733 |
Most of this funding has already been allocated and authorities have been advised about the procedures for claiming the rest.Authorities will be advised about the balance of funding, £13.45 million, in due course and following the report of the McCrone Committee.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 18 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to give its response to the recent consultation on regulation of early education and childcare.
Answer
We expect to set out in March our conclusions following the consultation exercise on regulation of early education and childcare.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 17 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3276 by Mr Jack McConnell on 21 January 2000, whether it will quantify the estimated end year flexibility within the Education, Culture and Sport budget and specify what it has been allocated to.
Answer
As a result of the end year flexibility arrangements £1.8 million was held within the Education, Culture and Sport budget. This was allocated on the basis of £1 million to Scottish Opera and £0.8 million to Historic Scotland.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the membership, remit and timescale for reporting of the proposed National Planning forum to oversee the development of a national strategy on parental involvement in schools education.
Answer
The remit of the group is:
To advise and assist the development of strategies in schools and education authorities designed to improve effective involvement of parents through:
- understanding and assisting their children's learning;
- addressing parental information needs at individual, school and authority level;
- responding to parents - including complaints procedures and advice services;
- seeking parental views on relevant issues.
The group will be made up of representatives from the Scottish School Boards Association, Scottish Parent Teacher Council, Scottish Consumer Council and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland. It will advise Ministers at regular intervals as necessary, and therefore does not have a fixed timescale for reporting.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to provide details of the proposed consultation on national priorities in education.
Answer
We will be issuing a consultation paper on national priorities later this month. The paper will go to a wide range of interested groups including education authorities, school boards, teaching unions, employers and pupil councils. My officials will also be holding a series of consultation meetings around Scotland. A report on the consultation will be published later in the year.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what is the membership, remit and estimated timescale for reporting of the Ministerial Strategy Committee on Continuing Professional Development for Teachers.
Answer
The Strategy Committee on Continuing Professional Development for Teachers will be chaired by the Deputy Minister for Children and Education. The membership is being finalised and, alongside practising teachers, will include eminent figures from business, education and other fields.The remit is as follows:
- to oversee the development and implementation of a national strategy for teachers' continuing professional development (CPD);
- to ensure that the strategy reflects national priorities for school education, in particular the raising of standards and improvement in levels of attainment;
- to ensure the effective promotion and marketing of CPD to teachers, parents, policy makers and other stakeholders;
- to ensure the strategy, and the standards and programmes forming part of the strategy, address future as well as current requirements of schools and teachers;
- to consider any other strategic issues relating to teachers' professional development.
Working practices and timescales for particular tasks will be established at the first meeting of the Committee.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Donald Dewar on 3 February 2000
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Executive is taking to improve school buildings in Scotland.
Answer
An additional £115.7 million over five years was announced in the July 1997 Budget under the New Deal for Schools. We have, in partnership with CoSLA, enhanced authorities' ability to prioritise their capital expenditure in favour of school building work. And this is complemented by public private partnership schemes in 10 authorities with a capital value of around £430 million.
- Asked by: Nicola Sturgeon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sam Galbraith on 2 February 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the responses to the consultation on the proposed transfer of Department of Social Security resources for young care leavers to local authorities.
Answer
Copies of individual responses may be obtained in the usual way from the Scottish Executive unless individuals have asked that their reply remain confidential.
