Fiona McLeod: I have listened with great interest and I am glad to hear that members of other parties are not hostile to the intent behind my amendment. Unfortunately, what I hear from the minister is talk about marketing rather than principle. My amendment is about ensuring principles rather than a marketing campaign. The figure of 25 per cent was arrived at after careful consideration of the facts of...
Fiona McLeod: Amendment 3 is about targeting. It would ensure that the grants provide for the associated costs of learning that are incurred by two particular groups—those who care for others and those who need care for themselves. The statistics bear out the fact that those two groups are under-represented in education and training courses. The new section 1(2A) that would be created by amendment 3...
Fiona McLeod: In formally moving amendment 3, I would like to refute some of the comments that were made. Nicol Stephen said that this was about funding of individual learning accounts. However, it must be about funding the associated costs as well. I raised those issues at stage 1, so they should not have come as a surprise. I would have thought that the Government would have thought of those people in...
Fiona McLeod: I thought that, with the guillotine, I would not be able to speak to the amendment. Amendment 5 is in the same vein as amendment 4, and ensures that the Parliament and its committees have a positive role to play in the content of the regulations. It was worrying to hear the deputy minister say in committee: "The advantage of the negative procedure is that it allows the regulations to be...
Fiona McLeod: Yes.
Fiona McLeod: We have heard many assurances and guarantees from Nicol Stephen—the SNP will ensure that those are honoured. We have also heard much about marketing and monitoring. I am concerned that we are leaving some principles behind and that there will be marginalised groups in society until the monitoring and marketing are done and there has been an annual review. I would like the Executive to...
Fiona McLeod: I was pleased to hear the minister mention the importance of healthy lifestyles for children in the battle against future heart disease. Will she tell the Parliament, as well as local authorities around the country, how much of the £9 million that she just mentioned will be available to reverse the cuts that hard-pressed local authorities continually have to make to leisure and sports facilities?
Fiona McLeod: I want to ask the minister a brief question. Following this debate, could we commission research, or have research produced by the Scottish Parliament information centre, on this subject? We have heard statistics such as that 50 per cent of 999 calls are non-emergency calls, and I want to know if that is the case. We also heard that children make most of those calls and, again, I want to know...
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking either alone or in conjunction with Her Majesty’s Government to advise women employees of their rights to maternity leave, maternity payments and parental leave.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking either alone or in conjunction with Her Majesty’s Government to help protect women employees against discriminatory practice during pregnancy and maternity leave and after maternity leave.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) public librarians, (b) school librarians and (c) teachers have been trained to date through the New Opportunities Fund ICT training initiative.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how many public libraries have been linked to the People’s Network since the launch of the initiative, how many remain to be linked up and what the target date is for completion of that process.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive what the remaining £11.5 million in the New Opportunities Fund for ICT will be used to fund.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether training for library services through the New Opportunities Fund began in April 2000 and what targets have been set for ICT training of school and public librarians and teachers.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is receiving an appropriate equivalent amount from Her Majesty's Treasury to that allocated to the children's fund in England and Wales and, if so, how much it is receiving and how it intends to spend any such funds. (S1O-2136)
Fiona McLeod: At a Treasury briefing a few months ago, voluntary organisations were told that a sum of between £100 million and £120 million would be allocated to a children's fund. Is the minister saying that that is not the case?
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to doctors and other medical staff on the administration of vaccines for mumps and rubella after a child has been vaccinated for measles separately.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwives are currently employed broken down by health board and NHS Trust.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwifery students graduated last year and how many found full-time permanent employment (a) in Scotland, (b) elsewhere in the UK and (c) outwith the UK.
Fiona McLeod: To ask the Scottish Executive how many colleges and universities currently offer a course in midwifery and how many students are currently enrolled on these courses.
