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: S5W-35193

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current requirement for teachers in both primary and secondary sectors.

Each year the Scottish Government undertakes a teacher workforce planning exercise in partnership with other educational stakeholders through the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group. Statistical modelling and other intelligence relating to teacher supply and demand is taken into account.

Information on the projections of teacher numbers can be found at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-workforce-planning---2021-exercise
-statistical-model---november-2020/

The statistical teacher workforce planning model indicates a reduction in primary student teachers. However, the Scottish Government has recommended to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) maintaining intakes to initial teacher education (ITE) in 2021-22 at 2020-21 levels, 1,934 in primary and 2,136 in secondary. This is on the grounds that pressures on Education Recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic may require additional teachers in the system moving forward.

Question reference: S5W-35198

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of current probationary teachers (i.e. the 2020-21 cohort) who will not secure a permanent teaching post after their first year of employment.

Whilst the recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities, given the significant additional funding we have made available to local government to support education recovery, and the need to ensure that children and young people have appropriate support for their learning and wellbeing as we return to in-person learning, we would expect employment opportunities to be available for many teachers.

Since the start of the pandemic we have committed to investing over £300 million to support education recovery, this has helped to recruit an additional 1,400 teachers and over 200 support staff.

Question reference: S5W-35194

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to current probationary teachers who are not able to secure permanent teaching posts when their contracts end.

The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with‎ £80 million of additional investment in education staff, sufficient for the recruitment of around 1,400 additional teachers, and 200 support staff this year.

In addition, a package of £45 million of new funding was announced on 13 January to support the delivery of remote learning. This funding is sufficient to employ an additional 2,000 teachers during this financial year, and a further £25 million has been made available to local authorities to support this to the end of the school year.

The funding is not ring-fenced for a specific group of teachers, and may be used by local authorities to recruit additional newly qualified teachers, recently qualified teachers and other qualified teachers.

This money is additional to the £160 million that we have already committed for education recovery since the start of the pandemic. A further £100 million for‎ 2021-22 was announced on 16 February to support education recovery.

Question reference: S5W-35196

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities about the allocation of roles for probationary teachers for the academic year 2021-22.

The process to allocate probationer teachers to local authorities is undertaken by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) through the Teacher Induction Scheme. Applications from Initial Teacher Education students for the 2021-22 scheme closed on 12 February. The scheme allows students to select 5 local authorities they wish to be placed in to undertake their induction placement.

The formal allocation process will commence shortly and the Scottish Government will work in partnership with Local Authorities and the GTCS to ensure students have notification of their induction placement at the end of the summer term as normal.

The Teacher Induction Scheme Ongoing Review Group (TISORG) which comprises membership from Scottish Government, local authorities and GTCS regularly review and monitor the allocation process.

Question reference: S5W-35078

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) written communications and (b) meetings it has had with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regarding written evidence submissions as part of the review of Curriculum for Excellence.

Since the beginning of the Review the Scottish Government National Co-ordination Team has had been in regular communication with the OECD, including weekly meetings which focus on planning and implementing the review, in line with the established OECD guidelines and methodology.

Submissions of evidence have been discussed as part of those meetings, along with all other aspects of planning the Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence.

Question reference: S5W-35079

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is accepting written evidence submissions as part of its review of Curriculum for Excellence, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The OECD is not taking formal written submissions for the Review of Curriculum for Excellence. The Review is independent and the OECD are international experts in this type of work. This approach has been the OECD’s position from the outset.

The Review has been taken forward through on-line discussions with key education bodies, schools, practitioners, parents and learners.

An initial draft evidence base for the Review was submitted to the OECD in July 2020. The document was developed in line with guidelines provided by the OECD and in collaboration with Education Scotland, SQA and ADES.

In addition to the evidence pack, the OECD also gathered a significant level of documentation themselves to ensure a wide range of perspectives inform the work of the Review team.

The OECD has been clear that it is not feasible for the Review team to consider more information than what they asked for, nor is it the purpose of the Review to generate new written submissions or replace what would otherwise be a national consultation.

Question reference: S5W-34990

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Air Discount Scheme for islands residents will continue beyond 31 March 2021.

Question reference: S5W-34991

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the 2021-22 budget will be allocated to the centralisation of air traffic control for Highlands and Islands Airports.

Question reference: S5O-05032

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports victims of crime in remote and rural communities.

Question reference: S5W-34565

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people who employ carers and social care personal assistants using direct payment packages can afford the PPE they require and purchase it without the risk of overspending their package budget.

As at 19 January 2021, over 4.8 million items of PPE had been distributed free of charge via the PPE hubs to unpaid carers and PAs to support the additional need for PPE as a result of pandemic.

The Scottish Government is providing additional funding across health and social care services to recognise the additional costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in relation to PPE, and ensure safety remains the top priority at all times. If a direct payment holder has concerns about being able to meet the costs of the PPE recommended for those in caring roles during the pandemic within their direct payment, they should contact their Health and Social Care Partnership to discuss.

The Scottish Government (via NHS National Services Scotland (NSS)) is also providing top-up and emergency provision of PPE from the national stock to ensure that staff, PAs and unpaid carers have the PPE they need. This is being supplied through two routes:

1. local PPE Hub(s) in every Health and Social Care Partnership area where providers, PAs/their employers and unpaid carers can access PPE if they cannot get it through their normal routes, and

2. a central social care PPE support centre dedicated to urgent need, that can be accessed in emergency situations.

In order to find out the details of their local Hub and how to access it, people using a direct payment to employ PAs or carers, or PAs and carers themselves, can contact their Health and Social Care Partnership or phone the NSS Social Care PPE Support Centre on 0300 303 3020. This information is also set out on the Scottish Government website .