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-30514

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its commitment to provide 25,000 free laptops and tablets to assist schoolchildren learning from home, how many of each have been issued in each local authority area.

Funding offers have been made to every Scottish local authority and each authority has flexibility to decide upon the split of devices and connectivity they require to meet local need. The breakdown of the initial 25,000 devices has not yet been fully determined as local authorities are working through the process of developing their proposals. We expect that the 25,000 devices will be issued at the start of the new term in August.

Question reference: S5W-30513

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its commitment to provide 25,000 free laptops and tablets to children who need them in order to learn at home, how many children have been identified as being in need of such a device.

The Scottish Government has committed to investing £25m to combat digital exclusion amongst children and young people. The 25,000 laptops are the first phase of that investment. We have worked closely with SOLACE, ADES and COSLA to establish the scale of need across the country. However, there is no single dataset which tells us exactly who is suffering from digital exclusion.

Schools and councils know their families best and funding offers have now been made to every Scottish local authority. This funding will allow local authorities to procure devices and connectivity solutions to tackle the issue of digital exclusion in their respective areas.

Question reference: S5W-30062

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the next steps are for the short-term working group on diversity in the teaching profession, in light of the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Despite a small increase in the diversity of Scottish teaching in recent years, we acknowledge that there is still unacceptable under-representation of BAME teachers at all levels in Scotland’s schools – the Scottish Government continues to be committed as a minimum, to doubling existing numbers by 2030 through implementing the recommendations of the Teaching in a Diverse Scotland report.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, will we hope, help to improve awareness and the importance of ensuring that our teaching profession, at all levels, reflects the broader diversity of the Scottish population. The messages which are stemming from BLM, should act to encourage more active leadership and engagement by all key Scottish education stakeholders, to help achieve many of the report’s recommendations.

Question reference: S5W-30207

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the UK Government regarding progressing an islands deal, and what was discussed.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering the Islands Growth Deal and welcomes the significant progress made by Shetland Islands Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Orkney Islands Council and partners in developing project proposals.

I spoke with Iain Stewart MP, Under Secretary of State for Scotland, on 29 June and emphasised the need for the UK Government to announce funding arrangements for the Islands Growth Deal as soon as is practicable to enable things to move forward.

Investment in the regional growth deals will be a vital enabler of economic recovery in our rural areas, but only if we can move forward at pace to put the deals in place. I reinforced this point with Mr Stewart in seeking early progress and underlined that the Scottish Government is ready to move forward as soon as the UK Government is able to do so.

Question reference: S5W-30065

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what professional learning is available to established teachers regarding how to (a) address any issues of racism and discrimination in their schools and (b) teach the social contexts of BAME people's experiences, and what information it has regarding the take-up of this, and what support is offered by Education Scotland.

As set out in the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Standards for Professional Registration, all teachers in Scotland must have respect for social and cultural diversity at the heart of what they do, engage learners in real world issues and help them to embrace equality and social justice. The National Improvement Hub, managed by Education Scotland, already offers a range of materials to support professional learning and school improvement.

To support this, Education Scotland are developing new professional learning activities with a particular focus on diversity, anti-racist education and culturally responsive pedagogy.

In addition, Education Scotland are also currently developing a race equality resource in collaboration with partners BEMIS and CRER. This is an outcome of the work of the race equality resource group which met as part of delivering the Race Equality Action Plan. This resource will comprise of a set of guiding principles for promoting race equality in education settings and a series of case exemplars.

Curriculum mapping to support a whole school approach to race equality education is at the early stages of development.

Question reference: S5W-30063

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) trainee, (b) probationary and (c) newly-qualified teachers are taught how to (i) address any issues of racism and discrimination in their schools and (ii) teach the social context of BAME people's experiences.

As set out in the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Standards for Professional Registration, teachers are expected at all stages of their careers to demonstrate professional values and personal commitment to social justice and cultural diversity by engaging learners in real world issues.

Teacher Education institutions will differ in the ways in which they deliver content to students on racism and discrimination, but all do. In terms of support provided to probation and post probation teachers, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30065 on 7 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The National Framework for Inclusion has also been designed to ensure that all teachers are appropriately guided and supported throughout their careers towards gaining the required knowledge and understanding of inclusive education.

Question reference: S5W-29642

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the 2019-20 child poverty report will be published.

As I outlined in response to S5W-29680 on 8 June 2020; due to the unprecedented impact of Coronavirus we have made the difficult decision to delay preparation and publication of the 2019-20 Progress Report on Child Poverty, which was required by end June 2020.

This has allowed officials to focus efforts on protecting communities from the impacts of the virus in line with the powers provided by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020.

We will consult with the Poverty and Inequality Commission in relation to progress made and the further progress required, ensuring they have the time they need to consider this request.

Tackling child poverty remains an absolute priority and we are committed to publishing the report as soon as reasonably practicable in the circumstances.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5O-04454

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting older people to keep connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-29016

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26932 by Paul Wheelhouse on 22 January 2020, whether it will provide an update regarding by what date section 14 of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 will come into force.

Activity on Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) had, regrettably, to be put on hold to enable Scottish Government officials, across a number of portfolios of relevance, to focus on delivering the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including specific, targeted engagement with islands communities with resilience matters and drawing in resources from across Government and our partners on their behalf.

However, as communicated at a recent meeting with the Chief Executives and Leaders of the Islands Authorities at the Islands Strategic Group on 26 May 2020, we had been exploring how to recommence this work, given that civil service resources are gradually being released back to portfolio teams. The development of regulation for ICIAs has now been re-activated and prioritised, and a timetable for the implementation of ICIAs has been finalised.

Owing to the reduction in sitting time that the Scottish Parliament currently is operating, and the need to strictly prioritise urgent COVID 19 legislation, it is difficult to give a firm timescale for the coming into force of the provisions relating to ICIAs. However, the current aim is that the necessary regulations will be laid later this year, and we will seek to do as early as possible within the context of the Parliamentary constraints outlined, in recognition of the importance of this to our islands communities.

Question reference: S5O-04416

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Brexit negotiations.