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The Executive has no plans toproduce a new range of playwork training materials or courses for the educationprofession.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority(SQA), working in partnership with the relevant sector skills councils, Skills Activefor playwork and Skills for Care and Development for early education and child care,update and where appropriate develop new training courses to meet the needs of thesector. This is an on-going process designed to ensure employers, the current workforceand new entrants are appropriately trained.

Teachers also have a commitmentto continuing professional development and can access a range of training publications,best practice case studies, events and courses on play through Learning and TeachingScotland.

The Scottish Executive currentlyhas no plans to develop specific guidance in this area.

Within early education and childcare,the National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the age of 16require that activities provided by staff allow children and young people to enjoyboth organised and free play. The Care Commission’s role in inspecting servicesincludes ensuring that risks are appropriately managed.

The Executive has no plansto place a general duty on local authorities in the way described.

Local authorities have aspecific duty under the School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland)Regulations 1967. These regulations also state that at every school there shallbe an outdoor area or areas laid out and surfaced for educational andrecreational activities.

The Executive has no plans todevelop guidance specifically to facilitate the development of a community-buildplay area programme. However, the £318 million Community Regeneration Fund allocatedto Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) is supporting a range of projects andservices to help deliver better outcomes in disadvantaged communities. It is forCPPs to decide locally whether to support the development of community play facilities.

The three to five curriculumrecognises the powerful contribution that play makes to children’s learning. Thecurriculum review will extend the approach used in pre-school to the initial stagesof primary. Any changes to the curriculum, including any relating to the benefitsof play, and amendments to national policies covering pre-school and the early yearsof primary education will be reflected in teacher training courses.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority(SQA), working in partnership with the relevant sector skills councils, Skills Activefor playwork and Skills for Care and Development for early education and childcare,update and where appropriate develop new training courses to meet the needs of thesector. This is an on-going process designed to ensure employers, the current workforce,including nursery staff, and new entrants are appropriately trained.

No specific funding allocationis made to NHS boards for learning disability services. Each NHS board is givenan annual allocation of funds to meet the health care needs of its residentpopulation, including the cost of learning disability services, taking accountof national and local priorities. It is for NHS boards to decide and prioritiseon what services they provide for their residents. There are no plans toring-fence funds for expenditure on learning disabilities.

A table showing learningdisabilities services expenditure by NHS board has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39508).

The Executive is currentlyin the process of drafting a National Overview of the Partnership in Practice(PiP) agreements for 2004-07. The agreements indicate local authorities are generallymaking good progress and identify locally agreed priorities for action. TheNational Overview will highlight areas of good practice and draw attention tonational initiatives that assist local authorities in developing their Partnershipin Practice agreements for 2007-10.

In addition to writtenreporting, the Executive holds Partnership in Practice Network meetingsregularly. These meetings enable local authority and NHS board representativesto discuss positive local initiatives and also give the Executive regularopportunities to receive and give feedback on the PiP process.

The same as you? Implementation Group has produced a number of reports,which demonstrate areas where work has been taken forward to implement therecommendations of The same as you?. These reports look at hospitalclosure and service reprovision, employment, advocacy, children’s services, andday services.

The majority ofrecommendations were not for the Executive to implement, however, the NationalOverview of the Partnership in Practice agreements will outline areas ofprogress at a national and local level.

The Executive monitors therange of services provided by local authorities for people with learning disabilitiesin a number of ways. Monitoring of services for people with learningdisabilities is delivered through the inspection of services by the Social WorkInspection Agency (SWIA). A pilot multi-agency inspection of learningdisability services led by the SWIA and involving service users, carers, theCare Commission, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorateof Education and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, is currently underwayin Ayrshire. An evaluation of this multi-agency inspection will be carried outprior to further inspections.

The Scottish Executivecollects annual statistics on implementation of The same as you? and the2005 statistical release is due for publication at the end of May. The NationalOverview of the Partnership in Practice agreements will also includeinformation on the way the Change Fund is being spent by each local authority.

The work of The same asyou? National Implementation Group, Users and Carers Group, and Partnershipin Practice Network helps to highlight the range and quality of services thatare available in each local authority area, and to consider areas where furtherdevelopment is needed.

The Executive is not awareof any reduction in learning disability services provided by local authorities.Patterns of local authority expenditure for learning disability services areoutlined in the answer to question S2W-25133 on 8 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can befound at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.