- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the reasons for pre-school closures and make the findings available to the Parliament.
Answer
Theresponsibility for planning and delivering pre-school education lies with localauthorities. Authorities need to take population projections into account toensure that there is enough pre-school education provision available in theright areas. Over time this may involve opening new provision and closing othercentres in line with patterns of demand.
The Scottish governmenthas no plans to undertake an investigation into the reasons for the closure ofindividual pre-school education settings.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 6 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spends per child on pre-school provision.
Answer
Statistics onlocal authority spend are not collected on a per child basis. The pre-primaryeducation expenditure figures for 2005-06 (the latest year for which figuresare available) are provided in the following table. Pre-primary educationexpenditure includes expenditure on nursery schools, other under 5s expenditurenot located in primary schools or special schools, childcare services andregistration services.
Pre-primary EducationExpenditure 2005-06 (£000)
Local Authority Area | Gross | Net |
Scotland | 284,484 | 267,174 |
Aberdeen City | 8,689 | 8,608 |
Aberdeenshire | 9,661 | 9,623 |
Angus | 4,706 | 4,602 |
Argyll and Bute | 5,252 | 4,854 |
Clackmannanshire | 3,563 | 2,900 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 7,592 | 7,389 |
Dundee City | 8,077 | 7,384 |
East Ayrshire | 8,824 | 7,905 |
East Dunbartonshire | 4,776 | 4,251 |
East Lothian | 5,053 | 4,472 |
East Renfrewshire | 6,346 | 5,693 |
Edinburgh, City of | 20,793 | 19,179 |
Eilean Siar | 1,587 | 1,474 |
Falkirk | 8,405 | 7,269 |
Fife | 16,265 | 15,777 |
Glasgow City | 45,061 | 43,826 |
Highland | 11,478 | 9,766 |
Inverclyde | 5,224 | 5,004 |
Midlothian | 4,855 | 4,547 |
Moray | 4,035 | 3,899 |
North Ayrshire | 6,951 | 6,750 |
North Lanarkshire | 18,916 | 18,023 |
Orkney Islands | 801 | 801 |
Perth and Kinross | 5,380 | 5,155 |
Renfrewshire | 12,625 | 12,054 |
Scottish Borders | 4,767 | 4,519 |
Shetland Islands | 1,365 | 1,329 |
South Ayrshire | 5,403 | 5,157 |
South Lanarkshire | 13,391 | 12,191 |
Stirling | 5,934 | 5,472 |
West Dunbartonshire | 8,255 | 7,630 |
West Lothian | 10,454 | 9,671 |
Source:LFR 1 (Education) returns.
Note:Gross expenditure is the total expenditure. Net expenditure is the grossexpenditure minus any income, for example from grants, fees or charges.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 5 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total estimated cost is of meeting the Scottish Housing Quality Standard by 2015 in respect of local authority owned housing stock, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
I have asked Angiolina Foster Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:
Local authoritiesthat have submitted Standard Delivery Plans (SDPs), setting out how they will achievethe Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS), plan to invest approximately £1.94billion by 2015. This figure is in 2004-05 prices and is based on individual localauthorities’ interpretations of the Standard and assessment of investment needs.
The breakdown of plannedSHQS investment by local authority is as follows:
Local Authority | Total Expenditure to Meet SHQS (£000) |
Aberdeen City Council | 210,752 |
Aberdeenshire Council | 115,084 |
Angus Council | 10,405 |
Clackmannanshire Council | 15,307 |
Dundee City Council | 133,760 |
East Ayrshire Council | 91,759 |
East Dunbartonshire Council | 38,019 |
East Lothian Council | 131,485 |
East Renfrewshire Council | 40,191 |
Falkirk Council | 124,796 |
Fife Council | 200,420 |
Midlothian Council | 34,534 |
Moray Council | 7,382 |
North Ayrshire Council | 147,474 |
North Lanarkshire Council | 237,317 |
Orkney Islands Council | 5,066 |
Perth and Kinross Council | 53,729 |
Shetland Islands Council | 6,777 |
South Ayrshire Council | 65,712 |
South Lanarkshire Council | 213,000 |
West Lothian Council | 55,350 |
Total Expenditure | 1,941,328 |
Local authoritiesthat have transferred their stock to housing associations (Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Eilean Siar and Argyll and Bute),or that are in the process of doing so (Inverclyde) are not required to submit anSDP. Stirling, Renfrewshire, Highland, Edinburgh and West Dunbartonshire Councilsare currently developing their SDPs which will include details of their plannedSHQS related investment.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 5 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase public awareness of the National Child Protection Line.
Answer
We are currently consideringhow best to increase public awareness of the national Child Protection Line andwill be discussing proposals with the national working group for this project andwith Child Protection Committees.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 5 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the operation and effectiveness of the National Child Protection Line.
Answer
The operation of theChild Protection Line is under review and development through a national workinggroup, whose membership includes representatives from Child Protection Committees(including police and social workers) and out-of-hours and phone-based child protectionservice providers. See
www.scotland.gov.uk/childprotectionfor further information.
We plan to commissiona rigorous independent evaluation of the service after it has been operational for18 months, in August 2008.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce red tape for the voluntary sector.
Answer
The Independent Reviewof Scrutiny, led by Professor Lorne Crerar, is examining how regulation, audit,inspection and complaints are functioning in Scotland’s public services. The review is developing recommendations for a bettersystem of scrutiny which should reduce the burden of regulation on third sectorbodies which deliver such services.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to encourage local authorities to provide three year funding arrangements to voluntary organisations.
Answer
We support the principlesof the Scottish Compact, which was explicit that Government should apply best practicein funding and in the administration of grants. We support the practice ofthree-year funding for the voluntary sector across the public sector and encouragethe use of longer term funding agreements, where possible, to provide a stable andefficient operating environment for the sector.
Within that context,we are considering what more can be done to enable local authorities and voluntaryorganisations to develop contracts which ensure effective delivery of services whilenot jeopardising the sustainability of the service provider.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the role of the voluntary sector in delivering public services.
Answer
We recognise the importantcontribution that third sector bodies can make in delivering public services. Inmany areas they are already substantial suppliers of service. Overall, it is clearthey have capacity to do more and we are considering work to improve commissioningby local authorities and public bodies which should enable third sector bodies toplay their full part.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that terms and conditions of staff working for voluntary sector public service contractors are maintained at the same level as equivalent public sector staff.
Answer
Voluntary sector employersare independent of government. Staff terms and conditions are a matter for staffand the employer, within the boundaries of employment law.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 4 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the terms and conditions of staff working for voluntary sector public service contractors.
Answer
Voluntary sector organisationsare independent of government.