Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-00390

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the impact on the food and drink supply chain, what its response is to a recent survey of 1,000 UK businesses by Gallagher, which reportedly found that many businesses have been affected by a shortage of staff because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of Brexit regulations.

Question reference: S6W-04079

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Clare Haughey on 29 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its approach to implementing the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 to entitle all children, whose school start is deferred, to access funded early learning and childcare in their deferred year, from August 2023.

On the 2 October 2019, my predecessor confirmed that the Scottish Government would introduce legislation in this parliamentary session to entitle all children whose school start is deferred to access funded early learning and childcare in their deferred year.

The legislation required, an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument (SSI) under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, was laid on 7 December 2020.

Last year, to progress the implementation of this policy and allow us to develop an evidence base for our evaluation, five pilot authorities were funded to offer an additional year of funded ELC to all children who choose to defer entry to primary 1. These authorities were: Angus, Argyll and Bute, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and Shetland Islands.

To allow us to expand our evaluation of the impact of the legislation, five additional authorities have been selected to receive funding to implement this policy from August 2022.

These authorities will be: Aberdeen City, Clackmannanshire, Fife, Glasgow City, and Stirling. The Scottish Government has committed £8.9 million to support this early implementation.

The evaluation of the experience in pilot authorities is being undertaken to monitor the impact of the policy, inform assessment of likely uptake of the entitlement and inform wider implementation of this legislation.

Question reference: S6O-00166

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in supporting the removal of flammable cladding.

Question reference: S6O-00132

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on supporting the recovery of city centres through the City Centre Recovery taskforce.

Question reference: S6W-02629

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the OECD’s comparative paper on assessment and qualifications published today, and whether it will provide an update on the work regarding the OECD’s recommendations on the Curriculum for Excellence as outlined on 22 June.

I welcome Professor Stobart’s paper on the future of qualifications and assessment.

It is important to note that this paper has not produced recommendations but looks at approaches taken around the world, outlining a number of possible options for Scotland to consider as part of a wider conversations on any future changes to its qualifications and assessment system.

These options include:

the development of a Senior Phase qualification system based on a combination of teacher assessment and exams
the simplification of S4-5 assessment by “de-cluttering” the historical diet of exams
the increased use of online exam resources and oral presentations as an assessment format
the inclusion of pupils views in decisions around assessment
enhancing the role of vocational qualifications

Working with stakeholders across the education sector, including learners, we will give full consideration to the options that Professor Stobart has outlined.

I will update Parliament on how this work will be taken forward and on the on-going implementation of OECD recommendations on Curriculum for Excellence in due course.

Question reference: S6O-00067

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies and actions across government will support local authorities in their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-02185

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the assessment plans for National 5/Higher and Advanced Higher courses in the 2021-22 session.

I can confirm that the central planning assumption is that an examination diet for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses will be held in session 2021-2022.

My decision has been informed by the views of stakeholders, including the National Qualifications Group, and by public health advice.

Assessment modifications across National courses for the next academic session have already been confirmed by the SQA. These modifications reduce the expected course content compared to a normal year, in recognition of the disruption learners have experienced. Fairness for learners sitting exams in 2022 is a central concern for me. We will set out details on further support available for learners in September.

I can also confirm that careful contingency planning has taken place to ensure there is sufficient flexibility to respond to two key scenarios that might be faced as a result of the pandemic. First, in circumstances were there was further significant disruption to learning and teaching, a further round of modifications would be introduced in order to ease assessment. Second, should public health conditions do not allow for the holding of an examination diet in Spring 2022, awarding would be made on teachers’ judgements based on normal in–year assessment.

These contingencies offer stability for teachers and learners in the coming academic session and will allow their focus to be on normal practices in teaching, learning and assessment. More detailed guidance will be issued by the SQA at the earliest opportunity.

Question reference: S6W-00921

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the OECD report on Curriculum for Excellence published on 21 June 2021, and what the implications of the report are in relation to the planned reform of the SQA and Education Scotland.

I welcome the OECD’s report and can confirm that the Scottish Government is accepting the OECD’s 12 recommendations in full.

Recommendation 3.2 of the OECD’s report identifies the need to simplify and better align the institutional structures that support our education system. I therefore intend to replace the SQA with a new, specialist agency and I am minded to make this new body responsible for both curriculum and assessment, to ensure clarity, coherence and alignment as recommended by the OECD. I would like to thank teachers and all SQA staff for all their ongoing efforts to deliver qualifications in challenging circumstances this year.

The report found that having the inspectorate as part of an organisation that is also responsible for supporting school leaders, curriculum design and support, teacher professional learning and a range of other initiatives is an “unusual configuration”.

It is therefore my intention to move the inspection function out of Education Scotland.

During my statement to Parliament tomorrow, I will provide more details on how this will be taken forward, along with our overall response to the report and the other recommendations. I can give an assurance that we will engage widely and will consult on plans for implementation.

Question reference: S6W-00917

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 June 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with introducing the Single Building Assessment, which was announced in a ministerial statement on 19 March 2021.

Following the publication of the recommendations from the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding, we invited property owners living in buildings where safety concerns had been determined to submit an Expression of Interest in participating in the first phase of the Single Building Assessment. Over 300 Expressions of Interest were submitted. The selection of the buildings to be included in the first phase has been completed and building owners will be notified of the outcome this week.

The Single Building Assessment is a safety assessment on buildings with flatted properties with external wall cladding and will provide us with the clear evidence on the total need for remediation. All flatted properties will be covered; that’s around 770 high-rise buildings and many more at lower heights.

This approach will allow us to identify buildings that are at risk and if there are no problems identified, it will release people from safety and mortgage lending concerns. It will also save homeowners the hundreds of pounds they may otherwise have faced through paying for an individual EWS1. The costs of Single Building Assessment will be met by the Scottish Government.

Once the Single Building Assessment programme has been established we will target remediation at the buildings at most risk.

Chamber and committees