Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 117, 5th June 2002
SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE CHAMBER
Following the departure of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, the Chamber is now being converted back to again house the Parliament. No Chamber business, therefore, is taking place.
IN COMMITTEE
Instead, Committee business will dominate the week:
SECTION 2 - NEWS
MINISTER'S MESSAGE FOR NEW
TEACHERS
Education Minister, Cathy Jamieson, has told new teaching
graduates they are about to enter a profession with many
challenges, but also many rewards.
Delivering the closing speech at the end of a ten-day conference for students graduating from the Faculty of Education at the University of Edinburgh, the Minister said:
"The teaching profession you are about to enter is very different to the profession that attracted you when you began your studies four years ago.
"The Executive - through the Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000 - put children and young people at the heart of teaching. And we realised that to do that successfully, we needed to accord teachers a status that recognised the importance of their role.
"You will be among the first to benefit from the improvements brought about by A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century. The Agreement recognises that for too long our teachers have worked in conditions where we have expected much and provided too little incentive. … And I am pleased to underline the commitment of the Executive, local authorities and teaching unions to its full implementation by 2006.
"One of the most significant parts of the Agreement, and which you will benefit from right away, is the new Teacher Induction Scheme - a guarantee of a one year training contract with a reduced classroom commitment to ensure time is set aside for professional development.
"Earlier this month we announced that every eligible primary student has been found a place from this autumn. Good progress is also being made in working towards a similar successful implementation in the secondary sector. I am pleased to be able to say that we are almost finished this exercise and expect to issue letters in the very near future."
£3.2 MILLION FOR DENTAL
PREMISES AND TRAINING
A £3m investment to fund improvements in premises and help
dentists meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination
Act, has been announced. Deputy Health Minister, Mary Mulligan,
has also allocated an extra £220,000 for dentistry training,
amounting to £2,000 for each of Scotland’s 110 dental
trainers who supervise trainees during vocational training.
The announcement follows an additional £3.8m investment in NHS dental services in November last year, and a £1m "golden hello" package announced in April this year to improve the recruitment and retention of NHS dentists in areas where there is a need to improve access.
Ms Mulligan said:
"The £3m investment I am announcing today will help Primary Care Trusts … work with their local dental profession to improve dental premises and facilities for the benefit of staff and patients alike. It will also help dentists introduce access improvements for patients with disabilities, helping practices to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.
"In addition to this investment in practices, I am also delighted to announce that as part of our commitment towards encouraging and supporting more newly qualified dentists to work in the NHS, we will be providing additional funding to vocational trainers. This is in addition to the financial support through the £1m Golden Hello package I announced in April."
Of the £3m investment in NHS dental services, Argyll & Clyde will receive £271,444.
Primary Care Trusts and Island Health Boards will agree with their local dentists how best to target the funding. The Scottish Executive will then receive a summary of how this investment has been spent. Plans should take into account local needs and the current and ongoing commitment of individual practices to the NHS.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
As mentioned above, all business takes place in the Committees this week. More detail will follow in tomorrow's Committee News.
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Articles ] [ Calendar ] [ Contacts ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]