Chamber and committees

We are hugely grateful to the efforts of health and social care staff across Scotland who have risen to the challenge of responding to the pandemic. This thank you payment recognised the particular debt we all owe to NHS and social care staff who have been on the front line of this crisis, helping to save lives and to protect us all.

For people working for private employers such as an Agency, it would be for their employer to determine their remuneration and any additions to existing pay which may be appropriate for these staff.

Agency staff are free to apply for and take up a post in the NHS or Social Care if they wish to enjoy the same benefits as the NHS or Social Care workforce. There are many flexible options available including working via the NHS Staff Bank, part-time and term-time working, all of which allow individuals to balance work and other commitments.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on‎ 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

The professional judgement of teachers is the key feature of this year’s National Qualifications assessment process. SQA has provided the key evidence requirements and associated national assessment standards that are critical to ensuring the fair and consistent application of standards across the country.

This guidance includes reduced evidence requirements in recognition of the disruption to learning this year, and schools have been given flexibility around the timing and nature of which assessment tools to use to inform teacher judgement of individual learners’ results.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group has agreed a later certification contingency for those who have experienced severe disruption to learning and teaching and have been unable to complete their assessment evidence within the flexibilities already provided. This is for learners who have completed the learning for their course but have not been able to complete their assessment as they have experienced extreme disruption during the centre’s evidence-gathering process.

Under these arrangements, there will be a limited opportunity for those learners to undertake assessments later and submit provisional results by 3 September 2021. These arrangements are separate and distinct from the appeals process, which learners undertaking the later certification will still be able to access.

Our commitment to tackling the climate emergency and transitioning to a net-zero society by 2045 is unwavering. In 2019, the whole-life carbon impact of Scotland’s household waste reached its lowest level since official recording began.

To help achieve this, building Scotland’s circular economy and reducing, recycling and reusing resources is vital. With this and our world leading climate change targets in mind, the Scottish Government have committed to review the role that incineration plays in Scotland’s waste hierarchy and will update Parliament on plans for this in due course.

To further accelerate progress, Scottish Ministers are fully committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill by 2025. This is in line with recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change.

We still need capacity to dispose of residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, while we make the transition to a circular economy in Scotland.

It is worth nothing, responsibility for dealing with any planning applications rests, in the first instance, with the local council as planning authority.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group was established in October 2020 with members from across the education system. The group is comprised of representatives of teachers, lecturers, learners and parents, working alongside Local Authorities, Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Scottish Government. The organisations on the National Qualifications Group agreed the model for this year, which has been co-produced by them, and is the fairest possible approach for our young people in the challenging circumstances resulting from the pandemic.

SQA carried out a public consultation on proposed modification to the assessment of National Courses. They received over 20,000 responses and as a result introduced reductions to the assessment of all National Courses to take account of learning disruption, whilst still maintaining the credibility of the qualifications for learners and end users. Within that context, SQA has provided subject-specific guidance documents for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses. These documents support teachers and lecturers in gathering key assessment evidence as the basis for provisional results. The documents also give guidance on the modifications that were made to courses, after public consultation, to streamline requirements to support teachers and learners and mitigate the impact of disruption.

The unavoidable second period of remote learning due to the pandemic has unfortunately meant that assessments are taking place over a shorter period than was first anticipated.

To help address this, the framework allows for a significant degree of local flexibility in which assessment tools are used in ways and at times which suit local circumstances and the specific needs of learners.

The deadline for submission of provisional grades has been extended to 25 June 2021 to allow for teaching and learning to be completed and to provide a longer opportunity for the gathering of assessment evidence.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group has been very clear that certification must be based on demonstrated attainment.

There is no externally assessed and marked examination diet this year. However, it is necessary for learners to be assessed to provide evidence to demonstrate their level of attainment and to allow teachers and lecturers to use their professional judgement to determine each learner’s provisional results.

The timing and nature of the assessments has been decided by local authorities, individual schools and colleges, providing flexibility to assess individual learners at different times and in different ways. This allows teachers and lecturers to take account of the variable disruption to learning that their pupils have experienced as a result of the pandemic.

Plans on the assessment approach for National courses in 2021-2022 are being considered by the National Qualifications 2021 Group based on the latest public health advice. SQA has also been engaging on assessment modifications for next year with teachers through its National Qualifications Support Teams for each subject. Contingency arrangements will be considered to allow for any further disruption to learning that may occur.

A decision will be made in time to allow schools and colleges to plan for delivery from the start of the 2021-2022 academic session.

Consideration of options for extending the Borders Railway continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). This is a national appraisal of strategic transport interventions and will conclude later this year.

As detailed in the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, STPR2 will create the evidence base for future transport investment decisions by the Scottish Government. Depending on the outcome of STPR2, feasibility work would then progress on the basis of, and informed by, findings from this appraisal work.

The Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward a Circular Economy Bill to advance Scotland's ambitions to promote an economy where materials remain in use for as long as possible, rather than being thrown away. Legislative plans will be set out in future Programmes for Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It would be a matter for individual GP practices in England to decide whether or not to register patients outside their practice areas.