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Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S3W-37527

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 25 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of pupils has left school with a higher-level qualification in information technology or a related topic in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority

Details are as follows:

Table 1. Proportion of School Leavers with a Higher Qualification in Information Technology¹ Related Subjects, by Local Authority, 2000-01 to 2008-09.

Data for 2009-10 will not be available until after the publication of post-appeal statistics in March 2011.

Proportion of Leavers (%)

Local Authority	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Aberdeen City	6.9	7.9	6.6	7.3	8.1	7.8	5.6	6.3	6.4
Aberdeenshire	8.0	8.1	10.3	9.0	9.2	8.4	6.3	5.8	6.2
Angus	5.8	5.7	7.1	6.4	5.6	5.6	4.2	4.8	5.7
Argyll and Bute	6.8	5.7	7.6	6.4	4.8	5.1	5.1	4.3	6.6
Clackmannanshire	3.5	4.0	4.5	4.6	5.4	5.1	5.6	4.2	5.7
Dumfries and Galloway	6.0	6.7	6.7	5.5	4.9	4.3	3.8	3.0	4.2
Dundee City	7.8	8.1	7.9	9.2	9.1	8.5	7.6	7.7	8.1
East Ayrshire	8.6	8.2	6.5	8.5	7.5	6.7	5.3	5.3	4.7
East Dunbartonshire	12.3	13.2	13.9	16.5	15.8	12.5	10.7	12.6	12.7
East Lothian	6.1	7.4	7.9	6.9	6.6	6.3	6.1	4.3	7.5
East Renfrewshire	12.2	16.6	15.5	17.0	18.0	13.6	12.7	9.3	10.2
Edinburgh, City of	7.0	7.9	7.4	8.8	8.2	6.8	6.6	7.5	7.4
Eilean Siar	9.0	4.9	8.7	9.9	4.8	6.1	5.2	7.5	6.7
Falkirk	5.3	5.5	6.2	5.6	5.3	3.0	3.8	4.2	4.1
Fife	4.8	5.8	7.0	7.6	7.3	6.0	4.6	5.7	6.2
Glasgow City	4.0	4.3	4.9	5.1	5.3	4.6	4.3	4.5	4.3
Highland	6.4	5.7	6.5	7.4	5.7	5.3	4.5	3.9	4.4
Inverclyde	6.2	7.9	6.2	6.2	7.0	8.0	5.9	4.8	8.3
Midlothian	6.8	6.2	6.8	7.7	7.3	4.7	4.2	6.3	5.9
Moray	8.2	8.7	9.2	7.5	4.6	5.1	5.2	3.9	4.5
North Ayrshire	10.2	12.8	9.9	9.4	10.4	9.7	8.1	6.7	8.9
North Lanarkshire	5.7	6.2	6.2	6.6	6.8	5.8	4.8	5.7	6.1
Orkney Islands	3.9	4.1	3.6	6.8	5.4	1.4	5.2	2.2	3.2
Perth and Kinross	6.5	9.1	8.4	9.2	8.7	9.2	7.9	6.6	8.3
Renfrewshire	7.5	9.3	6.1	10.0	8.9	7.7	5.5	5.3	6.3
Scottish Borders	5.1	5.1	4.8	5.6	4.4	3.7	3.3	4.2	3.8
Shetland Islands	3.7	2.0	6.3	9.9	6.8	1.7	3.9	5.1	7.3
South Ayrshire	9.3	13.3	12.4	9.8	12.3	13.0	12.2	9.2	11.1
South Lanarkshire	7.4	8.8	7.6	8.4	8.9	6.8	6.3	6.5	7.5
Stirling	10.0	8.8	7.9	10.8	11.7	7.4	5.3	5.6	5.9
West Dunbartonshire	6.6	7.4	8.3	7.0	9.3	9.6	5.6	6.9	8.1
West Lothian	6.7	7.7	7.1	8.7	6.3	6.5	5.9	5.8	8.2
Scotland	6.8	7.6	7.5	8.1	7.8	6.8	5.8	5.8	6.5

Table 2. Proportion of School Leavers with an Advanced HigherQualification in Information Technology¹ Related Subjects in Scotland², 2000-01 to 2008-09.

Year	Proportion of Leavers (%)
2000-01	0.2
2001-02	0.6
2002-03	0.7
2003-04	0.7
2004-05	0.7
2005-06	0.6
2006-07	0.4
2007-08	0.5
2008-09	0.6

Notes:

1. Information technology related subjects include, Information Systems, Computing, Computing (new), Computing Studies (new), Computing and Information Technology.

2. The breakdown for Advanced Highers by local authority is very small.

Question reference: S3W-37534

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in ensuring that public bodies provide best value

Since April 2002, there has been a duty of best value on accountable officers to ensure arrangements are in place to secure best value. Compliance with the duty of Best Value is an auditable requirement for public bodies under section 22(1)(c) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. The organisation''s auditors will typically audit performance alongside its finances. Audit Scotland set out its approach in the leaflet Auditing Best Value in central government bodies which is available on the Audit Scotland website at:

http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/corp/2009/bv_audit_best_value_central_gov.pdf

Guidance about best value in public bodies was issued in 2003 and revised in 2006. In May 2009, Officials wrote to all chief executives of agencies, non-departmental public bodies, non-ministerial departments and public corporations reminding them of the specific duty on accountable officers to ensure that arrangements are in place to secure best value. A small reference group, the Best Value Reference Group, was also formed.

The Best Value Reference Group is currently refreshing the guidance on the duty of best value for public bodies. The group also worked closely with Audit Scotland on the development of its 18 best value toolkits. These toolkits are used by Audit Scotland auditors during the annual financial audit of a public body. The toolkits were published in August 2010 and are available on the Audit Scotland website at:

http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/work/toolkits/.

Question reference: S3W-37544

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what changes there have been in passenger numbers for each station on the Kilmarnock to Glasgow rail line since the introduction of a half-hourly rail service

Based on comparison of one-off ScotRail passenger counts conducted in March 2009 and March 2010, after introduction of the half-hourly service in December 2009, there have been the following changes in passenger numbers of each station on the Kilmarnock to Glasgow rail line:

Weekday	% Difference
Glasgow Central	55
Crossmyloof	70
Pollokshaws West	2
Kennishead	44
Priesthill and Darnley	N/A
Nitshill	12
Barrhead	18
Dunlop	93
Stewarton	116
Kilmaurs	141
Kilmarnock	204

Question reference: S3W-37543

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures whether there have been changes in the number of pupils participating in sport at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools

Question reference: S3W-37539

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive how it measures whether there has been progress in increasing the number of schools offering two hours of physical education per week for each pupil

Question reference: S3W-37540

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in providing pupils with access to two hours of physical education per week

Question reference: S3W-37541

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what activities undertaken by pupils outwith the school setting it classifies as contributing to the delivery of two hours of physical education per week

Question reference: S3W-37542

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive how it supports schools to enable pupils to move on from physical exercise to participation in sport

Question reference: S3W-36011

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive when is the estimated date for completion of the final account for the construction of the Floak to Fenwick extension of the M77, including settlement of all associated compulsory purchases of land.

Question reference: S3W-36010

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many compulsory purchases of land to enable the construction of the Floak to Fenwick extension of the M77 were (a) required, (b) outstanding at the date of completion of the works and (c) still outstanding on 1 August 2010.

(a) The compulsory purchase order linked to the M77 Fenwick to Floak special roads scheme required various plots of land from 34 landowners in order to build the scheme.

(b) At the date of completion of the works, final settlement of land compensation payments was still to be reached with all 34 affected parties