- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many community bus permits, as specified in section 22 of the Transport Act 1985, were issued in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 2 May 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any public transport provider that indicates on its timetables whether or not there is disabled access on each service and what the Executive’s position is on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive is committedto removing barriers to public transport and to improving accessibility for disabledpeople. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) places a duty on transportproviders to avoid discrimination against disabled people in respect of matterswhich include timetables, booking facilities and waiting rooms.
All rail services in Scotland areaccessible by people with disabilities and First ScotRail provides a free assistedtravel service for customers requiring help at stations. First ScotRail timetablesadvise passengers requiring assistance to book this via the Customer Contact Centreat least 24 hours in advance. Transport Scotland, working in partnership with First ScotRail, is committedto improving access to rail services and is making significant investment in stationimprovements throughout Scotland.
Although bus timetables do notcurrently indicate which buses are accessible, the Confederation of Passenger Transport(CPT) and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) have set up a subgroupto take this matter forward. Bus operators are committed to providing disabled accesscodes on timetables to indicate accessible vehicles
Traveline Scotland (TLS), fundedby Transport Scotland, provides disabled people with timetable informationfor journeys made within Scotland on any mode of public transport and from any point inScotland to any main point in England or Wales. TLS provides this information to members of the publicvia telephone from a professional call centre and via its website.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it is undertaking on the effectiveness of the mainstreaming of children with additional support needs.
Answer
In 2003, the Executivecommissioned the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) to examinethe impact of the policy that requireseducation authorities to, wherever possible, mainstream pupils with specialeducational needs (SEN). The research assessed how education authorities implementedthe new duty and the impact of the mainstreaming policy, and examined the waysin which different policies and practices impacted on parents, teachers, andpupils with SEN, including pupils with autistic spectrum disorder, and theirpeers.
The findings were publishedin the Impact of the Presumption of Mainstreaming Research report on 13 January 2006, acopy of which is available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/01/05142243/0andhttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/01/12121142/0.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning support units there are in mainstream schools suitable for children with autistic spectrum disorder, in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information requested isnot collected centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken on the effectiveness of the mainstreaming of children with autistic spectrum disorder.
Answer
I refer the member to theanswers to questions S2W-24996 and S2W-24998 on 27 April 2006. All answers towritten 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: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for placement were made by local authorities to (a) Struan House School, Alloa and (b) New Struan in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The information requested isnot collected centrally.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Robert Brown on 27 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what comparisons it has made of the effectiveness of the education of children with autistic spectrum disorder in mainstream schools and in specialist schools, such as Struan House.
Answer
No comparisons have beenmade. The most important principle is to meet the needs of the individual childor young person in the most appropriate setting, whether that is in amainstream school, a special school, a specialist school like Struan House or acombination.
I recognise however thatthere is a need to evaluate educational provision for pupils with autisticspectrum disorder (ASD) in these settings and that is why Her Majesty'sInspectorate of Education are conducting a specific inspection of educationalprovision for children and young people with ASD across Scotland. Theinspection began in April 2005 and will conclude shortly with a report due inlate summer.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will interpret Article 7.3 of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in respect of the definition of a public building.
Answer
I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:Proposals for the descriptionand characterisation of “public building” will appear in the forthcoming publicconsultation on Articles 7, 8 and 9. This consultation is proposed for May 2006,will have a duration of 12 weeks and will be accessible from the SBSA website
www.sbsa.gov.uk.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, in implementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, what the advantages will be of using Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure as an alternative methodology to the Scottish Energy Rating Tool.
Answer
I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:
The work on the Scottish EnergyRating Tool (SERT) is currently in progress. If the research work is successfulthen SERT could provide a cost-effective solution to energy performance certificationof dwellings, particularly in the private rental sector. It is anticipated thatwork on rdSAP will be completed before SERT and that rdSAP will be better suitedto the data collection procedures which are associated with the proposed singlesurvey.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Johann Lamont on 26 April 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has obtained any legal advice as to whether a property owner completing an information sheet about that property could be described as an “independent expert” under the terms of article 10 of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and, if so, what that legal advice is.
Answer
I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard,Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. Hisresponse is as follows:
The SBSA works closely with theOffice of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive (OSSE) on all matters concerningScottish building legislation.
A property owner (unless suitablyqualified) could not be described as an independent expert in terms of Article 10of the Directive. Any part of the certification process that does have input froman unqualified or non-accredited individual, will be subject to the scrutiny ofa verifier or local authority, acting as the independent accredited experts.
