- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are being put in place to ensure that university applicants from Scottish schools, who have been given unconditional offers, will not in any way be disadvantaged by new UCAS regulations, which take effect in academic session 2009-10, allowing pupils holding conditional offers the automatic right to upgrade to universities not listed on their UCAS application forms if their exam results exceed the conditions asked for.
Answer
No safeguards are required because applicants who hold an unconditional offer will not be affected by the proposed new arrangements. Anyone holding an unconditional offer will have that offer honoured by the higher education institution concerned.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 April 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many emergency calls originating from (a) public payphones and (b) mobile phones were made to raise the coastguard in each year since 1999.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts it is making to improve the quality of training provision for teachers and trainee teachers.
Answer
The Scottish Executiveencourages and supports partnership working between local authorities and teachereducation universities to ensure that initial teacher education courses and inductionarrangements provide the best possible preparation for student and probationer teachers.
We are also committedto ensuring that all teachers engage in relevant, high quality continuing professionaldevelopment opportunities that enable them to meet their full potential.
A recent example ofhow discussion about how a particular issue should be covered in initial teachereducation and reinforced by continuing professional development was a constructivemeeting involving Ministers, Deans of Faculties of Education and Sir Jackie Stewartabout dyslexia.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what average mileage claims were made by contractors carrying out work on homes being fitted with heating systems under the central heating programme in each year since 1999.
Answer
I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:
This information isnot held centrally as under the terms of the contract, the managing agent is notrequired to collate this information.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times were from assessment to completion of work carried out under the central heating programme in each year since 1999.
Answer
I have askedJames Hynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Hisresponse is as follows:
The centralheating programme did not start until September 2001.
The averagewaiting time on the central heating programme reported by the Managing Agent,from application to installation, since 2002-03 is shown in the following table:
| Year | Average Waiting Time (Months) |
| 2002-03 | 8 |
| 2003-04 | 8 |
| 2004-05 | 5-6 |
| 2005-06 | 5-6 |
| 2006-07 | 5 |
| 2007-08 (current) | 5-6 |
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses and cottages on private estates have received new heating systems under the central heating programme in each year since 1999.
Answer
I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:
This information isnot held centrally as under the terms of the contract, the managing agent is notrequired to collate this information.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases contractors carrying out work on homes being fitted with heating systems under the central heating programme did not come from the local authority area in which the homes were located, broken down by (a) year since 1999 and (b) local authority area.
Answer
I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:
Under the terms of the contract the managing agent, Scottish Gas, is not required to collate or holdinformation in this way. Consequently, the information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on houses and cottages on private estates under the central heating programme in each year since 1999.
Answer
I have askedJames Hynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Hisresponse is as follows:
This informationis not held centrally as under the terms of the contract, the managing agent isnot required to collate this information.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 November 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 27 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants there have been under the central heating programme in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
I have asked JamesHynd, Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. His response isas follows:I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-5966 on 14 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 October 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 5 November 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with procedures used in the public inquiry system for windfarm applications.
Answer
The procedures currentlyused in the public local inquiry system are set out in the Town and Country (InquiryProcedure) Rules 1997, amended 1998. It is vitally important that Reporters fromthe Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals obtain the material necessaryto make an informed and reasoned recommendation or decision on a development proposal.In doing so, they must always act in accordance with the principles of fairness,openness and impartiality established by the Franks Committee in its 1957 Report(Administrative Tribunals and Inquiries). Scottish ministers are satisfied withthe procedures used in these cases and are of the view that they are sufficientlyrobust to allow this.
