- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 29 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding for the extension of free school meals to children in families in receipt of maximum working tax credit and maximum child tax credit in August 2009 will come from existing local authority funding allocations or whether it will provide additional funding.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6744 on 3 December 2007. All answers to written 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.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is collecting statistics on class sizes from local authorities, in addition to the annual census of class sizes, as part of its funding for 300 additional teachers announced on 20 June 2007 (Official Report, c. 880) and, if so, when these statistics will be made available.
Answer
No. The returns we will shortly be receiving from individual local authorities in respect of their share of the £6 million made available in 2007-08 through the National Priorities Action Fund for the employment of 300 additional teachers are designed to show the number of additional primary teachers employed and the numbers of schools benefiting from the funding. We expect this information to be available in March. The other £3 million was allocated for 2008-09 to complete the academic year. The total £9 million has been baselined as part of the local government finance settlement.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the progress of national strategies such as The Same As You? and Changing Lives, to which it has made an ongoing commitment but which are not directly related to the outcomes and indicators set out in its concordat with COSLA.
Answer
Improving outcomes for individuals and communities is at the core of
The Same As You? and Changing Lives and is also central to the concordat with local government. Achievement of a significant number of the outcomes and indicators in the concordat will require substantial contribution from social work and social care services and adoption of the principles and aspirations of these reports. In addition, implementation of some of the key recommendations in
The Same As You? will continue to be monitored through the collection of annual statistical returns.
The Scottish Government is also working closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to promote a community care outcomes framework. This offers a carefully designed suite of 16 measures which community care partnerships can use to evidence the improvement of outcomes for people who use community care services and their carers. There is a close alignment between these measures and the intentions of The Same As You? and the community care elements of Changing Lives.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of primary 1 to primary 3 pupils in Fife Council primary schools were in class sizes of (a) 18 and under, (b) 19 to 25, (c) 26 to 30 and (d) over 30 in each school year from 2003-04 to 2007-08.
Answer
Information for the 2007 census is due to be published on 26 February 2008. Data for the previous years are shown in the following table:
Percentage of P1-P3 Pupils in Fife Council Primary Schools, by Size of Class
| | 0-18 | 19-25 | 26-30 | >30 |
| 2003 | 8 | 56 | 35 | 1 |
| 2004 | 8 | 54 | 38 | 0 |
| 2005 | 10 | 55 | 35 | 1 |
| 2006 | 10 | 50 | 40 | 1 |
Notes: *All percentages are rounded separately and breakdowns may consequently not sum up to 100 per cent.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that local government continues to deliver “the full range of quality services that can be reasonably expected by our citizens”, as set out in Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007, when these services, such as social care services for adults, do not directly relate to the outcomes and indicators set out in its concordat with COSLA.
Answer
The
Scottish Budget: Spending Review 2007 said that: there will be over-riding obligations [on local government] to deliver value for money across all activities and to deliver the full range of quality services that can reasonably be expected by our citizens. Those obligations include statutory obligations and on-going accountability to their electorates for the delivery of local services. The outcomes and indicators in the concordat with COSLA neither take the place of, nor diminish, the importance of continued delivery of the statutory responsibilities placed on councils and their partners to care for all people in their communities.
Councils will also be able to demonstrate their commitment to improving care and support services through single outcome agreements (SOAs) with the Scottish Government. In the process of agreeing the SOAs, we would expect to have discussions with each council about their ambition for key policy areas including social care. The national outcome to live longer, healthier lives and the national indicator to increase the percentage of people aged 65 and over with high levels of care needs who are cared for at home are among those that will impact on social care services for adults.
More generally, the President of COSLA has said, in relation to concerns raised about funding for vulnerable groups, that: it is inconceivable that their needs, their aspirations and their required services will not impinge on the decision-making of local councils.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what average class sizes are in the Fife Council area, broken down by year group.
Answer
The latest available information on average class sizes by year group and local authority is set out in table 6.4 of the Statistical Bulletin
Pupils in Scotland, 2006 which can be accessed using the following hyperlink:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/02/27083941/76.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it or local authorities will be held accountable should the move to single outcome agreements and the removal of ring-fencing from the Supporting People programme result in a reduction in the quality or availability of social care services for adults.
Answer
We look forward to working with COSLA, local authorities, providers and others to ensure that the interests of the most vulnerable in society are appropriately reflected in single outcome agreements. Local authorities will of course be responsible for meeting the commitments made in their outcome agreements. Both sides will monitor the new arrangements and discuss and agree issues relating to policy development.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to have completed the work with Forth Ports plc on its assessment of proposals for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth.
Answer
Forth Ports'' assessments of the proposals for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth can be accessed on
http://www.forthports.co.uk/ports/marine/shiptoship/.
SNH have provided comments on earlier drafts of the environmental report.
In these circumstances, where Forth Ports plc have decided not to proceed with the proposal, the Scottish Government does not intend to continue working with Forth Ports on the assessment, or to provide further comment on the reports.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget will be for the national concessionary fare scheme for young people in each of the next three years.
Answer
The Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 provides a total Concessionary Fares Budget as follows:
2008-09: £181.4 million
2009-10: £187.4 million
2010-11: £189.4 million.
The budget provides support for the development and delivery of concessionary travel schemes for older, disabled and young people. It covers reimbursement to bus, ferry and rail operators participating in the schemes and the marketing and survey costs of running the schemes.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 21 February 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to increase the use of the national concessionary fare scheme for young people.
Answer
Transport Scotland has been working in partnership with Local Authorities, Young Scot and transport operators to promote the Scotland-Wide Concessionary Travel Scheme for Young People since the scheme started in January 2007.
There has been a great deal of media coverage (radio and press), online promotion, direct mailing of parents of 16 to 18-year-olds, posters on buses and trains and a dedicated website www.givememycard.org to encourage young people to take advantage of the scheme.
An extensive marketing campaign is now nearing completion and has resulted in the number of young people applying for and receiving a National Entitlement Card increasing by around 50%.
Application forms and information leaflets are available from local authorities and their nominated agents.
