Aug172017

News story: A level results day 2017

HM Government

Congratulations to everyone receiving their results today, which are the culmination of two years of dedication and hard work. We want everyone, regardless of background, to be able to fulfil their potential and, for many, A levels are the pathway to a university degree.

The increase in entries to facilitating subjects, those that give students the greatest choice of options at university, mean even more young people will have access to all the opportunities higher education provides.

There has been a strong uptake in core subjects, such as maths, which continues to be the most popular A level with maths and further maths having nearly 25 per cent more entries than in 2010. This and increasing entries to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects bodes well for the economic prosperity of our country. It will help to grow our workforce in these sectors, allowing young people to secure well-paid jobs and compete in the global jobs market of post Brexit Britain.

Increasing the number of girls studying STEM subjects has been an important objective of the Government, so it is particularly pleasing to see that more young women are taking STEM subjects and that for the first time since 2004 there are more young women than young men studying chemistry. I hope everyone receiving their results will go on to successful careers.

Aug172017

More than 1000 mental health patients sent to other boards for care

Scottish Conservatives
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17 Aug 2017

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More than 1000 mental health patients have been sent to other health boards for treatment in the past three years, new figures have revealed.

Research by the Scottish Conservatives showed patients being sent between NHS boards north of the border, with some even being asked to travel to England.

In Glasgow, there was an example of a patient being sent 480 miles to Tavistock in Devon, and to parts of London.

The Freedom of Information request showed the conditions suffered by those being transferred elsewhere included eating disorders, bipolar, severe depression and learning disabilities.

In total, 1007 mental health patients were asked to travel “out of area” between 2014/15 and 2016/17, the equivalent of 17 a week.

NHS Highland had the highest number of instances with 295, followed by Fife with 229.

Health boards serving large cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh were less likely to send patients elsewhere, the figures showed.

The Scottish Conservatives said while it was understandable some patients had to travel to receive specialist care, the numbers were too high given that mental health is supposed to be a priority issue for the Scottish Government.

The statistics showed 334 people were moved in 2014/15, followed by 370 a year later, and 303 last year.

Scottish Conservative mental health spokesman Annie Wells said:

“There will always be cases when it’s in the patient’s best interests to be sent elsewhere for treatment.

“But the scale of these figures suggests some health boards in Scotland just aren’t equipped to deal with a range of conditions.

“All sides of the political debate in Scotland agree that mental health should have a parity of esteem with physical health.

“But if that’s to be the case, people need to be able to rely on their own health board for treatment.

“In cases of exceptionally rare and challenging conditions it can make sense for everyone for a patient to go elsewhere for care.

“However, many of the conditions set out here are not rare, and people would expect at least one of their local hospitals to be able to cope with it.”

Below is the number of patients sent to other health boards for mental health treatment in the last three years:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran – 73
NHS Borders – 94
NHS Dumfries and Galloway – n/a
NHS Fife – 229
NHS Forth Valley – 52
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – 17
NHS Grampian – 151
NHS Highland – 295
NHS Lanarkshire – n/a
NHS Lothian – 14
NHS Orkney – n/a
NHS Shetland – n/a
NHS Tayside – 28
NHS Western Isles – 54
Total – 1007

Aug172017

Press release: Lord Lieutenant for Caithness: Viscount Thurso

HM Government

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Viscount Thurso as Lord Lieutenant for Caithness to succeed Ms Anne Dunnett.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint The Right Honourable John Archibald Sinclair, Viscount Thurso of Ulbster, PC as Lord-Lieutenant for Caithness to succeed Ms Anne Dunnett CVO who retired on 25 June 2017.

Background information

Viscount Thurso was Managing Director of the Savoy Group’s Lancaster 5star Hotel in Paris at the age of 27. He then went on to lead a number of hospitality businesses including Cliveden, which under his leadership become the UK’s highest rated hotel, East Sussex National Golf Course, and Champneys. He has served as a non-executive member on a number of public company boards and is Chairman of the family company in Caithness. In 2016 he was appointed Chair of VisitScotland and serves as an Ex-Officio Board Member of VisitBritain. He was awarded a “Catey” for services to Tourism in 2003 and is a Fellow of The Institute of Hospitality as well as aMaster Inn Holder. He is President of the Tourism Society.

He served in the House of Lords as a hereditary peer until 1999 and was then elected to the House of Commons as MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross until 2015. He returned to the House of Lords in 2016 by winning a by-election fora vacancy created by the death of Lord Avebury. He sits on the Lib Dem benches, but is no longer a member of the Party. He was made a Privy Councillor in 2014.

He is aged 63 and married with three grown up children.

Aug172017

Press release: Lord Lieutenant for West Lothian: Moira Niven

HM Government

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Ms Moira Niven MBE as Lord-Lieutenant for West Lothian to succeed Mrs Isobel Brydie CVOMBE who retires on 20 September 2017.

Background information:

Ms Niven spent 38 years in public service working in local government, 20 years of which were spent in service to the West Lothian Community. From 2011 to 2015 she was Deputy Chief Executive of West Lothian Council which incorporated the role of Director of Education. She was also responsible for Planning and Economic Development and a wide range of community services including Sport, Libraries, Regeneration and Employability and Community Youth Services.

From 2004 to 2011 Ms Niven worked as Head of Schools within Education Development for West Lothian Council. She was a member of the Education Services senior management team with responsibility for pre-school and primary school education as well as support services including school placement, strategic resources and the school estate. She was a member of the National School Estate Strategy Group. She was awarded an MBE in 2010 for her services to Education.

Previous to that she was Head of Planning and Resources in Education and Cultural Services and was involved in establishing the new Education Service for West Lothian. In her teaching career which spanned from 1977 to 1991, she taught at James Gillespie’s High School and then at Balerno High School.

From 1983, as Principal Teacher of Business Studies and subsequently as Acting Assistant Head Teacher, she contributed to the development of the new Balerno Community High School. She was involved in running school hockey and other outdoor education activities such as hill walking, canoeing and weekend school camps, as well as running a youth club and photography club. Since her retirement, she has been involved in voluntary activities in West Lothian, supporting the work of the Girl’s Brigade and working with senior school students assisting with interview experience.

Aug172017

A-level and Welsh Baccalaureate students congratulated by Kirsty Williams

Welsh Government

This year’s A-level results show:

  • 75.3% gained A* to C, the highest since 2009, with 25% achieving A*-A. 
  • In maths, Wales again outperformed England at A* and A* to C, with 19.4% gaining A*, and 80.4% gaining A* to C.
  • There have been increases at A* in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
  • At A* to C the results have gone up in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography.
  • For All Subjects the performance of both male and females learners has improved across all of the grades.

The Welsh Baccalaureate results show:

  • 94.1% of candidates achieved the Skills Challenge Certificate.
  • 77.5% of candidates passed the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate.

Over the last year the Welsh Government has taken action to improve A-level results. This includes working with regional consortia, reviewing performance measures and ensuring professional learning support programmes are available for staff.

On a visit to John Frost School in Newport, Kirsty Williams said:

“I want to congratulate everyone receiving their results and thank pupils, teachers and staff for all their hard work.

“These set of results show an encouraging increase in the number achieving the top grades, with improvement in results across maths, biology, chemistry and physics.

“We have also seen the results go up across a range of subjects and I want us to continue to build on this.

“I am committed to making sure our education system provides pupils with the skills and knowledge they need for the modern world.

“Our ongoing reform of A-levels is an important part in our national mission to raise standards and extend opportunities for all our young people.”