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-07498

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have recently reviewed their additional support needs (ASN) policy.

The responsibility for the review of education authority policy on additional support needs rests with each individual education authority. This is in addition to the requirements of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) which requires education authorities to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Education Scotland works in partnership with the Scottish Government, ELC, schools and local authorities to improve the outcomes and educational experiences for all learners, including those who require additional support through a range of activities. These include:

Support and challenge from Education Scotland Inclusion Wellbeing and Equality Officers through the national and regional focus
Information, guidance, professional learning and reflective opportunities which include a focus on additional support needs and inclusion
The HM Inspection model of education which provides support and challenge to promote improvement for all learners through the fulfilment of statutory duties, inclusion and equality.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published our joint national response to the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning in October 2020. Angela Morgan’s report sets a clear direction in how we can continue to build on progress in this area. The joint action plan sets out the measures we will take to implement her recommendations.

Local authorities should consider these recommendations as part of implementation of additional support for learning policy locally.

We published an updated action and progress report on 1 st November 2021. The action plan and governance arrangements for this work are available from: Additional support for learning action plan: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-00936

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce the same proposals as the UK Government that will remove unsafe cladding from all medium- or high-rise buildings.

Question reference: S6O-00835

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns expressed by homeowners over the delay to help residents in homes with unsafe cladding.

Question reference: S6O-00749

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons school pupils taking examinations in some subjects, such as business or geography, will reportedly receive advance notice of what content will or will not be assessed, while those taking other subjects, such as chemistry, will receive no advance notice.

Question reference: S6W-04884

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 11,000 hectares, which have reportedly been planted with trees in the last year, were planted as (a) commercial forestry, (b) agroforestry and (c) private/community woodland.

The area of new woodland that has been planted as (a) commercial forestry, (b) agroforestry and (c) private/community woodland in Scotland in the last year, December 2020 to November 2021, is shown in Table 1. There were no grant applications for the specific agroforestry option, which is different from tree planting on farms. More than half of the applications for tree planting in private and commercial forestry were from the agricultural sector.

Commercial Forestry	7,379	ha
Agroforestry	0	ha
Private or Community Owned Forestry	11,399	ha

Question reference: S6W-04882

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the 11,000 hectares that have reportedly been planted with trees in the last year.

Question reference: S6W-05087

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when NHS dental care will resume operating at the same capacity as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-05086

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for people who are unable to pay for dental services due to an increase in charges that are reportedly a result of NHS dental care services being reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have set out our ambitious plan to remove NHS dental charges in this Parliament. As a first step to delivering this Manifesto Commitment, we introduced on 24 August 2021 changes to abolish dental charges for all young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

There are a present set of arrangements in place to ensure that vulnerable groups in the community are protected. For example, pensioners in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit are automatically entitled to free NHS dental treatment. Others on low incomes may be entitled to full or partial help with health costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS).

Scotland is the only part of the UK where free examinations are available to NHS patients.

NHS registered patients are entitled to a full range of NHS care and treatment. While dentists are able to offer private care and treatment they must also advise NHS patients of the treatment available to them under NHS arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-05085

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on NHS dental care services.

Many dental procedures involve the use of an aerosol which, for the safety of both patients and staff, needs to be done under strict Infection Prevention and Control guidelines. This means that NHS dental teams are unable to see the same numbers of patients as before the start of the pandemic.

From February 2022, we will bring in new and increased fees for dentists for a range of treatments, supporting them in their efforts to clear the backlog which has built up during the pandemic. We have already provided £50 million of additional financial support (on top of the budget for General Dental Services), plus supplied £30-£35 million of free PPE, to ensure NHS dental services emerge well-placed to care for the oral health of everyone in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-04881

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government who designed the questionnaire for the Health and Wellbeing Census for schools in 2021-22.