§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what steps he has taken to monitor the provision by education authorities in Scotland of community-based adult basic education and English as a second language service; what criteria he has used to682W determine whether or not those are adequate (a) in terms of scale and (b) in terms of quality; and what conclusions he has drawn from the application of these criteria;
(2) what plans he has to ensure that all those leaving long-stay institutions without essential skills in literacy and numeracy receive adult basic education tuition;
(3) what guidance he has issued to Scottish education authorities in order to ensure the development of an educational dimension to care in the community; and what steps has he taken to ensure that these guidelines have been implemented;
(4) what steps he has taken to assess (a) increases in volume and (b) improvement in quality in community-based adult education over the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 20 June 1990]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave on 12 June to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) at columns 123–24.
§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total amount of funds made available in each of the past five years to train and accredit adult basic education practitioners in Scotland.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 20 June 1990]: The funding of adult basic education practitioners in Scotland is primarily the responsibility of education authorities to determine in the light of local needs and with regard to their own priorities and the total resources available to them, including the resources provided by central Government.
In addition to revenue support grant, the Government have made available to education authorities in both 1989–90 and 1990–91 specific grant of £30,000 towards the costs of in-service training for adult basic education practitioners.