- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities will be included in the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003; how much each local authority will receive from the #150,000 announced for the network, and what formula will determine the amounts received by local authorities.
Answer
The Inclusive Learning Network project is funded through the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Innovation Grants Programme, which is paid to the voluntary sector in support of good practice and new ideas in SEN provision. The Equity Group has been awarded £150,000 to take forward this project in partnership with six local authorities: Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, Scottish Borders and North Lanarkshire. Local authorities, although providing staff and other resources, will not directly receive any of the £150,000 project funding.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003 will be expanded to enable all local authorities to become part of the scheme.
Answer
The Inclusive Learning Network is a discrete project, ending in March 2004, funded via the Executive's Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Programme for the voluntary sector. There are no current plans to extend it beyond the six local authorities involved. There will be a final evaluation report on the project which should help inform best practice in other local authority areas.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what role rail services will play in the provision of rural transport, in the light of paragraphs 2-9 in section B of the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership, Implementing Services in Rural Scotland: A Progress Report.
Answer
The Scottish Executive's consultation paper Strategic Priorities for Scotland's Passenger Railway, published in November 2000, included our priorities for rail services in rural Scotland.In particular, the paper outlined the Executive's expectation that the rail industry in Scotland would assist in the development of viable rural communities and the objective of tackling the peripherality of many rural communities through the delivery of reduced journey times from those communities where sufficient benefits can be generated.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 81 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that some children's panel members and reporters had reservations about the capability of children's hearings to deal with persistent offenders in part due to a lack of resources.
Answer
Ministers have made clear that tackling persistent young offenders effectively is a priority. The fast-track children's hearing pilots which will begin soon will deal specifically with this group by offering a guaranteed place on an appropriate programme to help address their needs and prevent re-offending. The Executive is making available significant additional resources to support these programmes and the operation of the pilots in general.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 24 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-6086 by Mr Frank McAveety on 12 December 2002, what consideration it has given to adopting a policy in Scotland similar to that of Her Majesty's Government's of placing 700 defibrillators in 72 public places in England and Wales.
Answer
Our national advisory body on coronary heart disease will continue to keep under review the evidence on the benefits of siting automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places. This need not prevent local initiatives based on local assessments of cost-effectiveness.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 23 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 139 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "a serious problem is the lack of throughcare and aftercare" and "prisoners serving less than four years are not subject to statutory aftercare and may receive no support after leaving prison".
Answer
We have recognised the need for improved throughcare and aftercare of prisoners in a major new policy development based on the Tripartite Group's report, Developing the Service. The report, which is to be published later this month, identifies young offenders as a priority group. Membership of the Tripartite Group is drawn from the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Prison Service and local authorities.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 23 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what period the #150,000 announced by the Minister for Education and Young People on 14 January 2003 for the Inclusive Learning Network for children with special educational needs will cover.
Answer
The Inclusive Learning Network was formally launched on 14 January 2003. The Equity Group were awarded £150,000 to take forward this project within the period June 2002 to March 2004. Funding is paid through the Special Educational Needs Innovation Grants Programme.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to recruit retired staff, sessional staff and train other professionals to deal with young people who offend, in the light of the finding in paragraph 219 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people.
Answer
We are currently in the second phase of the Care in Scotland Life Changing Work campaign launched in October 2002. The campaign deals with all areas of social care, which includes young people who offend. In June 2002 I announced new funding of £400,000 for postgraduate bursaries and a further £800,000 will be made available this year. These measures have already attracted additional graduates into social work training. The Executive is working with COSLA to identify further measures.I also announced in December 2002 that £3 million would be made available from the Intensive Support Fund. Part of this funding will improve the aftercare of young people leaving secure accommodation to return to residential units or the community.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the statement in paragraph 163 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "there is no national information about the number of children in residential schools".
Answer
The statement in the Audit Scotland report reads in full:There is no national information about the numbers of young people in residential schools where offending is one of the difficulties that needs to be tackled.The Executive publishes annually figures on looked after children in residential schools. Those for 2001-02 were published on 28 November 2002 and are available via the link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00199-00.asp.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive in the light of the statement in paragraph 190 of the Audit Scotland report, Dealing with offending by young people, that "information about the progress of young people under supervision of local authorities is limited", what data it has and what action it has taken, or plans to take, to improve the collection and collation of such data.
Answer
Information on young people on a supervision requirement is held locally by local authorities. On 19 December, we allocated £3 million to local authorities to invest in IT to improve the information on and assessment of young people who offend.
