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: S6W-18712

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many staff have completed the National Endoscopy Training Programme to date.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme (NETP) offers a range of training packages to improve the quality of endoscopy care for patients in Scotland, helping to provide the clinical capacity needed to reduce Endoscopy and Cancer waiting times. This includes:

Immersion Training
Basic Endoscopy Skills Courses
Train the Trainer Course
Upskilling for Colonoscopy
Endoscopy Non-Technical Skills (ENTS)
National Assistant Practitioner Programme

As of 31 May 2023, over 380 staff have participated in NETP programmes, helping to develop the endoscopy workforce in a coordinated ‘Once for Scotland’ approach.

Question reference: S6W-19491

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to teachers undertaking (a) Into Headship, (b) Excellence in Headship and (c) master's-level qualifications in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

a) Into Headship

The Scottish Government provided grant funding to Higher Education Institutions to deliver the Into Headship programme, as set out in the following table. This funding was not allocated to local authorities, therefore we do not hold a breakdown by local authority.

	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	Total
University of Aberdeen	£79,716	£98,112	£107,310	£285,138
University of Dundee	£58,254	£45,990	£36,792	£141,036
University of Edinburgh	£110,376	£162,498	£101,178	£374,052
University of Glasgow	£113,442	£82,782	£67,452	£263,676
University of Highlands & Islands	£76,650	£180,894	£95,046	£352,590
University of Stirling	£177,828	£165,564	£134,904	£478,296
University of Strathclyde	£144,102	£104,244	£135,926	£384,272
Total	£760,368	£840,084	£678,608	£2,279,060

b) Excellence in Headship

The Scottish Government provided funding to Education Scotland to deliver the Excellence in Headship programme, as set out in the table below. This funding was not allocated to local authorities, therefore we do not hold a breakdown by local authority.

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

Scottish Government Funding to Education Scotland

£400,000

1. Masters-Level Learning for Teachers

The Scottish Government provided grant funding to the recipients set out in the table below to enable the delivery of Masters-level learning for teachers. This funding was allocated to these recipients on behalf of Teacher Education Partnerships, except for City & Guilds and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. We do not hold a breakdown by local authority.

Grant Recipient	Universities in Teacher Education Partnership	Local Authorities in Teacher Education Partnership	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	Total
University of Aberdeen	University of Aberdeen	Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Moray and Shetland	£71,400	£88,500	£88,500	£248,400
City & Guilds	NA	NA	£45,750	£45,000	£26,000	£116,750
Dumfries and Galloway Council	University of Glasgow, University of Stirling	Dumfries and Galloway	£15,900	£6,964	£5,547	£28,411
University of Dundee	University of Dundee	Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth & Kinross	£81,900	£81,720	£81,000	£244,620
University of Edinburgh	University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh City, East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, Fife	£132,200	£132,400	£132,100	£396,700
University of Strathclyde	University of Strathclyde, University of Glasgow	East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire	£217,100	£218,700	£218,700	£654,500
University of Highlands & Islands	University of Highlands & Islands	Argyll & Bute, Shetland, Orkney, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray	£53,900	£53,100	£54,000	£161,000
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland	NA	NA	£18,300	£18,300	£18,300	£54,900
University of Stirling	University of Stirling	West Lothian, Falkirk, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Perth & Kinross	£55,000	£55,600	£55,080	£165,680
University of West of Scotland	University of West of Scotland	East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, North Ayrshire	£40,320	£40,600	£41,000	£121,920
Total			£731,770	£740,884	£720,227	£2,192,881

Question reference: S6W-19511

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of poverty rates in Aberdeen.

Question reference: S6W-19269

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has been notified of a cyber-attack on a public body or educational institution since August 2021.

Between 1 August 2021 and 21 June 2023, the Scottish Government has been notified of 19 cyber incidents on public sector organisations under our Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Policy and Procedure. Cyber incidents notified do not however necessarily equate to cyber attacks.

The Scottish Government will not provide further details. The organisations that report cyber incidents under the Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents procedure reasonably expect these details to be treated as confidential. Disclosure of these to a wider audience would undermine this confidentiality and adversely affect the openness with which organisations currently report incidents and participate in the reporting process.

Question reference: S6W-19274

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that mobile phones will soon be replaced by landlines across the prison estate, what the cost of the scheme to provide mobile phones to people in custody has been since it was announced in April 2020.

Question reference: S6W-19273

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many mobile phones have been confiscated from prisoners and offenders in HMP and YOI Grampian in each month since January 2022.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table provides the number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets that have been confiscated at HMP & YOI Grampian, each month, from 1 January 2022 to 20 June 2023:

2022	Number Confiscated

January	14
February	11
March	15
April	19
May	21
June	22
July	32
August	20
September	19
October	20
November	28
December	25

2023
January	30
February	27
March	27
April	30
May	10
June (up until 20 June)	3

Question reference: S6W-19308

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to promote (a) domestic and (b) international routes from Scottish airports to support the aviation industry’s continued recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

My predecessor as Transport Minister met with airline representatives in May and was pleased to note an ongoing recovery in passenger numbers and the extent to which Scotland’s route network has recovered

I will continue our engagement with aviation stakeholders in order to deliver the Scottish Government’s commitment to working with Scotland’s airports to help restore lost connectivity, and grow international connectivity, while not returning to previous levels of emissions. Our overall ambition is for Scotland to be as well connected as peer nations and regions. I welcome recent route launches to Beijing, Atlanta and Calgary which demonstrate a growing confidence in the Scottish aviation market. Transport Scotland, working in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, continues to work with airlines to promote Scotland and grow our international connectivity for business, tourism, exports and the wider economy.

In terms of domestic connectivity, we continue to provide funding to support the operations of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL). In 2022-23 we provided £62 million of funding, which helped to enable the operation of commercial air services by keeping HIAL’s airport charges lower than they would otherwise be. In addition we continue to support lifeline routes between Glasgow and Campbeltown, Barra and Tiree.

Question reference: S6W-19737

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

The Scottish Government has held the following meetings with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since May 2021. No agreed outcomes were recorded for these meetings:

1 June 2021: Introductory meeting between Jamie Hepburn (Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training) and Jeffrey Sharkey (Principal of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
22 and 28th February 2022: Annual forum between Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and Scottish college and university officials (including Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) – To provide SAAS operational and policy updates to help support students in higher education.
24 March 2022: Meeting between Jamie Hepburn (Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training) and Committee of Scottish Chairs (including Nick Kuenssberg, Chair of Board, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
12 May 2022: Meeting between Jamie Hepburn (Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training) and Jeffrey Sharkey (Principal of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
23 and 28 February 2023: Annual forum between Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and Scottish college and university officials (including Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) – To provide SAAS operational and policy updates to help support students in higher education.

Question reference: S6W-19841

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to recruit and train carbon audit advisers in all local authorities to ensure that farmers and crofters receive advice from someone who has local knowledge and understanding.

Question reference: S6W-19843

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support farmers and crofters in Shetland to undertake carbon audits, in light of reports that there are currently no accredited advisers based in Shetland.