Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6F-03599

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-31422

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many qualified childminders are currently registered in the (a) Argyll and Bute Council, (b) Highland Council, (c) Moray Council, (d) Orkney Islands Council, (e) Shetland Islands Council and (f) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, however the data can be found by contacting the Care Inspectorate directly or searching the Care Inspectorate datastore.

Scottish Government is committed to supporting and growing our childminding sector, which is why we launched the Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future in June 2024, in partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA). The programme is supporting the recruitment of new professional childminders across Scotland, offering a package of funded support and training in addition to a £750 start-up grant, providing everything needed to establish a new childminding business from home.

The programme also includes a range of pilot measures to address the retention of the childminding workforce, delivering more practical support to ensure our existing professionals are supported with their workloads and professional development.

The recruitment support is available across 19 local authorities during 2024-25, and 12 local authorities are participating in the retention pilots. SCMA are currently in discussions with local authorities regarding participation for year 2 (2025-26), and we welcome their commitment to supporting the childminding workforce.

Question reference: S6W-31411

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it is increasing the number of locally accessible education routes for healthcare professions in rural and remote settings.

The Scottish Government are currently funding a dedicated resource in NHS Education for Scotland to scope the current skills landscape and identify where earn as you learn programmes could be expanded and where further development work is required with aim of widening the pathways into health and care careers, including in rural and island areas.

We already work collaboratively with professional bodies and higher education institutions (HEI) on the delivery of education programs that can meet the needs of the NHS workforce. Work is underway through the AHP Education and Workforce Policy Review to support the development of alternative delivery models of education such as part time and distance learning.

Question reference: S6W-31338

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data it expects national standardised assessments to produce; whether it considers that the cost of these assessments matches the value of this data, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

National Standardised Assessments produce data at: classroom, school, local authority and national levels.

The primary purpose of NSA is to provide teachers with indicative, diagnostic information about learner strengths and development needs. They provide information directly to teachers on what individual learners can and cannot do in aspects of literacy and numeracy, at a particular moment in time. Data is broken down by curriculum content, for example in literacy, data includes information on “tools for reading” and “finding and using information”.

At school level, assessment data shows how well learners perform in relation to a number of characteristics, for example free school meal entitlement, and provides information about how learners progress over time.

NSA produces aggregated data that can help local authorities by providing information to inform conversations about school improvement. It can also help identify effective practice to disseminate, as well as areas for authority wide professional learning.

At national level, anonymised data is broken down by both curriculum content and learner characteristics, e.g. gender and ethnicity. It allows the Scottish Government to identify trends, strengths, and areas for improvement in literacy and numeracy. This informs national policy, improvement priorities, and the type and level of support provided.

The Scottish Government is clear that NSA and the data they produce represent good value for money. NSA data is also valued by school staff – our 2023-24 survey of school staff who use the assessments found that over 72% agree that NSA data informs teaching and learning in their school.

Question reference: S6W-31491

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on work to develop its National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy since 23 November 2023.

To support the development of the Strategy since 23 November 2023, we have spent approximately £19k on engagement, and on the publication costs of our analysis of engagement on the Statement of Intent. In addition, staffing costs to develop the Strategy have continued to be met from our operating costs budget for 2023-24 and 2024-25.

During this timescale, the Scottish Government has also continued to provide funding to a number of organisations whose work supports transitions and the development of the Strategy including, but not limited to, the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland, Capability Scotland, Enable Scotland, and the Independent Living Fund Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31360

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Funding Council provides funding for College Employers Scotland, and what information it has regarding the objectives of this organisation.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) provides funding to College Employers Scotland (CES) to support a fair and sustainable implementation of National Pay Bargaining through a shared partnership agenda and work plan with the trade unions.

In terms of objectives of CES, these are outlined in their business case to SFC for funding as follows:

1.Put in place a clear and visible strategy for the employers;

2.Engage positively and proactively with our key stakeholders;

3.Create a clear identity, brand and voice for the Employers’ Association which differentiates it from Colleges Scotland, and be effective in our communications, both internally within the sector and externally, promoting its value and achievements;

4.Ensure the employment services team can deliver the workload expected of them to service the Employers’ Association and National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC).

Question reference: S6W-31280

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £28 million that it has spent on the National Care Service.

The National Care Service is an ongoing programme of work with funding allocated as set out in last year’s Budget.

The reported £28 million reflects the amount of funding allocated to developing the National Care Service proposals since August 2021. The majority of funding allocated to the programme is funding for existing Scottish Government staff and therefore business as usual spend.

Other areas of funding allocation include co-design and engagement work ensuring people with lived experience of accessing and delivering social care services, social work and community health are partners in developing the National Care Service proposals. We further provide grant support to lived experience groups to ensure they remain at the forefront in the design of a National Care Service. Whilst the majority of development work is carried out by Scottish Government staff, the Scottish Government occasionally requires external professional advice on complex issues, as previously set out.

The breakdown of spend on the NCS since August 2021 is as follows;

Staff - £24.4 million
Staff Related - £0.3 million
NCS Programme Development – Non-Staff - £4.1million
Total Spend - £28.7 million.

Question reference: S6W-31358

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27639 by Jenny Gilruth on 28 May 2024, for what reason the summary report on access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services for January to June 2023 has not yet been published, and by what date it will be.

Question reference: S6W-31349

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of primary school meals is prepared from fresh ingredients.

Question reference: S6W-31412

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, what action it is taking to increase the number of so-called earn as you learn opportunities.