- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish its strategic plan for its programme of infrastructure development.
Answer
We will set out more details on our programme of infrastructure development in Spring 2017 as part of the Scottish Government’s response to the consultation.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish the revised statutory guidance on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
The statutory guidance is being revised in light of the amendments to the Additional Support for Learning Act which were brought forward through the Education (Scotland) Act 2016. The statutory guidance will be published for consultation, alongside non-statutory guidance and draft regulations in 2017.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the findings of the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, what its position is on the provision of out of school care.
Answer
We are currently working closely with the Scottish Out of School Care Network to develop a new policy framework for out of school care. The framework will be developed under the auspices of the Early Learning and Childcare Strategic Forum, whose remit is to develop and drive a strategic vision for high quality, flexible early learning and childcare in Scotland - integrated with an out of school care system - that is affordable and accessible for all.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the findings of the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish its findings regarding the extent of the onsite provision of early learning and childcare in higher and further education campuses.
Answer
We are working with partners to explore the extent of on-site provision and will set out more information in the Scottish Government’s response to the consultation in Spring 2017.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how much capital investment for early learning and childcare has been provided in each of the last five years by (a) the Scottish Futures Trust and (b) local authorities.
Answer
Scottish government provided significant additional capital funding to local authorities to support implementation of the early learning and childcare elements of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014: £71 million in 2014-15, £69 million in 2015-16 and £30 million in 2016-17.
Local authority capital expenditure on pre-primary education for financial years
2010-11 to 2014-15 (most recent data available) is shown in the following table.
Scottish Futures Trust have not provided any funding for capital investment during the last five years.
Local Authority Capital Expenditure – Pre-primary education, £’000s
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Total Gross Capital Expenditure
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2010-11
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4,280
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2011-12
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5,707
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2012-13
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4,926
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2013-14
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3,873
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2014-15
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16,927
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Source: Local Financial Returns
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- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland, what estimate it has made of the total hourly (a) term-time, (b) holiday day-time and (c) yearly capacity of the early learning and childcare sector and what impact (i) demographic changes and (ii) the expansion of funded provision will have on this.
Answer
We are currently in the process of gathering detailed information on the available capacity within the early learning and childcare sector.
In line with National Records of Scotland 2014-based population projections, we do not expect any significant demographical changes in terms of eligible children by 2020.
In order to ensure that the expansion of funded entitlement will support the delivery of more flexible provision, the Scottish Government is committed to substantially increase the number of qualified early years practitioners and invest in early learning and childcare infrastructure.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, how many additional trade envoys it plans to employ and at what cost, and how this compares to the number and cost of the envoys that it currently employs.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting Scottish companies to access global markets and to ensuring that Scotland is open for business with Europe and the rest of the world.
Plans to appoint a number of trade envoys to champion export market opportunities are currently being developed and details will be made available in due course. There are no envoys currently employed by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, whether it will provide details of Scottish Development International’s (SDI) current presence in Europe, and what areas would be covered by SDI doubling this.
Answer
The Scottish Government proposes an increase in the number of people working for Scottish Development International in Europe from 20 to 40 over the next two years.
SDI currently has four European offices in Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Paris and Stavanger. Detailed work, including location proposals, is being undertaken to ensure that additional resources deliver maximum benefit for Scotland.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, by what date the review of the (a) existing data and evaluation functions, (b) learning journey, (c) innovation support ecosystem, (d) effectiveness of investment in learning and skills and (e) role, position and governance of Scottish Development International (SDI), and its possible establishment as a distinct and separate organisation, will be completed.
Answer
Phase 2 of the Enterprise and Skills Review will conclude in Spring 2017. A programme of work for implementation of the recommendations from phase 1 will be set out during phase 2. This programme will be undertaken over the lifetime of the parliament.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, how many members the new Scotland-wide statutory board that is expected to deliver international activities and support will have; when its chair will be appointed; whether the Parliament will be involved with this appointment, and what salary will be offered.
Answer
Detailed operational planning for the new Scotland-wide statutory board, including how many staff will be delivering international activities, the chair of the new board and the appointment process, will take place as part of phase 2 of the review.