Questions and answers

Question reference: S3W-37971

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive where the national event in Scotland to commemorate Holocaust Day 2011 will be held.

Question reference: S3W-37945

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37310 by Adam Ingram on 18 November 2010, what was discussed at the meeting between it and the new service providers on 21 October 2010.

The new Additional Support Needs National Advocacy Service will be delivered by a partnership between Barnardo''s and the Scottish Child Law Centre.

Barnardo''s, which submitted the application on behalf of the partners, was informed that the application had been successful on 15 October. A short introductory meeting was held with both Barnardo''s and the Scottish Child Law Centre on 21 October. This provided an opportunity for Scottish Government officials to meet the key individuals who would be involved in delivering the service, to provide some feedback on the application and to discuss key actions in disseminating information about the new service.

Question reference: S3W-37943

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37308 by Adam Ingram on 18 November 2010, how much over £40,000 and how much under £100,000 are the Government’s estimated provisional costs for this new service.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 places a legal duty on Scottish ministers to secure the provision of an advocacy service to be available on request and free of charge to support parents and young people in tribunal proceedings. The Scottish Government awarded a grant to Barnardo''s, following a competitive process, to enable it to deliver that service in partnership with the Scottish Child Law Centre. The provisional costs are £40,127 for year 1, covering five months of operation, £97,202 in year 2 and £99,991 in year 3.

Question reference: S3W-37946

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37308 by Adam Ingram on 18 November 2010, whether a pre-qualification questionnaire was used before inviting interested parties to complete the tendering process.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 places a legal duty on Scottish ministers to secure the provision of an advocacy service to be available on request and free of charge to support parents and young people in tribunal proceedings. The Scottish Government decided to run a competitive grant process to identify one or more organisation that would be awarded a grant to provide advocacy services. Pre-qualification questionnaires were not part of the grant process.

The Educational Development Research and Services (Scotland) Regulations 1999 and the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2009 provide the legal basis for the payment of such a grant.

Question reference: S3W-37941

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, in changing the providers of the national advocacy service from ISEA (Scotland) to the new provider of advocacy services commissioned under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009, whether the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE) regulations apply.

Question reference: S3W-37944

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-37308 by Adam Ingram on 18 November 2010, whether the costs of this contract for advocacy services are higher than the EU procurement threshold at which such contracts should be publicly advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 places a legal duty on Scottish ministers to secure the provision of an advocacy service to be available on request and free of charge to support parents and young people in tribunal proceedings. The Scottish Government decided to run a competitive grant process not a commercial tendering process to identify one or more organisations which would be awarded a grant to provide advocacy services. The EU procurement threshold is therefore not relevant in this instance.

The Educational Development Research and Services (Scotland) Regulations 1999 and the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2009 provide the legal basis for the payment of such a grant.

Question reference: S3W-37942

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 14 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration was given to the transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) regulations (TUPE) obligations prior to appointing a new provider of advocacy services under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 Act.

Question reference: S3W-38281

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 December 2010
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in relation to reviewing the implementation of mainstreaming children with additional support needs.

Question reference: S3W-37794

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34777 by Fergus Ewing on 21 July 2010, whether it considers that the conviction of Mohammed Sandia for posting anti-Semitic material on The Scotsman website is sufficient evidence that anti-Semitic graffiti at Glenduffhill Jewish cemetery was not an isolated incident.

We are aware of the recently reported conviction of an individual, following the posting of comments on newspaper websites. We are not aware of any connection between this incident and the incident referred to in S3W-34777.

However, the Scottish Government takes any incidents of anti-Semitic behaviour as of the utmost gravity whether these are isolated incidents or not. We condemn and abhor anti-Semitic views and anti-Semitic behaviour. We continue to work productively with the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and others and through this we can achieve the aspiration of One Scotland of many cultures, faiths and beliefs.

Question reference: S3W-37289

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Adam Ingram on 18 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were used to award the contract for the additional support needs national advocacy service and whether this included having experience of representing parents or families at the Additional Support Needs Tribunal.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 places a legal duty on Scottish Ministers to secure the provision of an advocacy service to be available on request and free of charge to support parents and young people in tribunal proceedings. The Scottish Government decided to run a competitive tendering process to identify one or more organisations which would be awarded a grant to run a suitably specified national advocacy service.

All applications were assessed individually and then collectively by an assessment panel. Applications were assessed on the basis of the information provided in the application form. Each question was scored and then a weighting applied to that score to produce a final mark. The questions and assessment criteria covered:

General operation and financial position of organisation;

Promotion of equal opportunities;

Information on the operation, management and location of the service;

Ability to deliver the service within the maximum of £100,000 per annum;

Detailed timetable of activities for first year of operation and outline arrangements for years two and three;

Explanation of how proposed service fits with organisation''s current aims and objectives;

Knowledge, experience and skills of staff and organisation;

Detailed information on how the organisation would deliver service including initial assessment; referral routes; closure of cases; how advocacy would be provided; capacity to deliver a national and fully inclusive service; how the provider would deliver both lay and legal elements of the service; freedom from conflicts of interest; and accountability to service users;

Training and development for staff;

Partnership working;

Information and awareness programme; and

Quality assurance.

Applicants were also required to provide copies of their health and safety policy; equal opportunities policy; confidentiality policy and environmental policy as well as confirming that all staff involved in the project would have Disclosure Scotland reports prior to commencement of the service.

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