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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 956 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-03829

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether young people have the opportunity to study subjects that they are interested in.

Question reference: S6W-29931

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Assisted Support for Learning Project Board last met, and what was discussed.

The Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Project Board last met on the 12 September 2024. The Project Board discussed the upcoming publication of the ASL Progress Report and updated Action Plan. This included discussions on how the relevant outcomes from the Education, Children and Young People Committee Inquiry on ASL, would be reflected.

The minutes of every Project Board meeting are published on the groups dedicated Scottish Government web page. A more detailed view on discussions held at the last meeting will be published soon.

The Scottish Government continue to work at pace, working closely with local government partners through the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to improve the experience of children and young people with additional support needs at school, implementing the recommendations of the 2020 review of additional support for learning.

Question reference: S6W-30268

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) short- and (b) long-term aims are of its Post-school Education and Skills Reform Programme Board.

Question reference: S6F-03413

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding whether teachers are essential to raising educational attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Question reference: S6W-29914

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the impact on employment of any delays to interventions on chronic pain.

The Scottish Government is aware that chronic pain can impact on an individual's ability to work. While no specific work has been done to consider the impact on employment of any delays to interventions on chronic pain, work continues to improve service delivery. We also continue to work with people with lived experience to understand the impact chronic pain has on daily life, including employment.

We are working across Economy and Health to focus on how those at risk of leaving the labour market through ill health can be identified at the earliest opportunity so they, and their employers, can receive the right support to prevent this happening. Schemes such as Healthy Working Lives and Working Health Services Scotland provide support to people with ill health in employment on matters related to health, work and wellbeing.

Question reference: S6W-29899

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Public Sector Employment figures that were published in September 2024, which recorded that, between 23 June 2023 and 24 June 2024, employment in Scotland's further education colleges decreased by 550 (-4.3%).

Question reference: S6W-29857

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the need and demand for mental health support in colleges and universities.

Our new Student Mental Health Action Plan, published on 13 September, seeks to move to a mainstreamed approach to student mental health which will help students better access services.

It is informed by a significant number of research sources, in particular, the Thriving Learners studies published by the Mental Health Foundation in 2021 and 2022 in relation to universities and colleges. In addition, college and university sector input was sought throughout the development of the Action Plan as were the views from NUS Scotland and Think Positive. The Action Plan was also shaped by student voices from the wider Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy consultation last year.

The Scottish Government will publish the required Impact Assessments for the Action Plan in due course.

Question reference: S6W-29856

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are for colleges and universities of the reduction in mental health services that were set out in the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 3 September 2024.

The cessation of funding, referred to in the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government’s letter, was extensively discussed with the sector. Since 2019/20, the Scottish Government has invested over £19 million to support student mental health and wellbeing in colleges and universities. This includes the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Fund 2023-24 for Academic Year 2023-24, to help institutions to transition to a more sustainable means of providing mental health support for students.

Our new Student Mental Health Action Plan, published on 13 September, seeks to move to a mainstreamed approach to student mental health which will help students better access services. The Government will work with NHS Boards, CoSLA, Public Health Scotland and community based providers to join up support that is already available, embedding students’ mental health needs into the wider communities in which they live and study.

The Action Plan recognises the importance of each college and university having a Student Mental Health Agreement in place. To enable this we continue to support NUS Think Positive with £130,000 in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-29913

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what advice and support it offers to self-employed people through its employability programmes.

In Scotland, employability services are delivered through the No One Left Behind approach. Through this approach, Scottish and Local Government are working together with public, private, and third sector organisations to design and deliver place-based, person-centred employability services in Scotland.

Self-employed people on low-income and experiencing poverty, particularly parents, are eligible for support through our No One Left Behind offer.

Our services recognise self-employment as a positive destination for participants, with 400 people achieving this outcome between April 2019 and March 2024. Services will ensure on-going support is available to those supported to enter self-employment.

Question reference: S6W-29821

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the Pupil Equity Fund evaluation.

A programme of evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF), of which Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) is a key part, has been ongoing since the inception of the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC). The evaluation aims to provide learning about the overall implementation of the ASF and to assess progress towards its long-term outcomes. Pupil Equity Funding is considered in all evaluation activity and reporting.

The current ASF Evaluation Strategy, which can be found here: Attainment Scotland Fund - 2022 to 2026: evaluation strategy, was published in 2022 and sets out plans for evaluation between 2022-23 and 2026-27. Alongside this, a detailed analytical plan outlining evaluation activity in support of the high level strategy will be published annually over the course of this parliament. The first two analytical plans can be found here:

The most recent publications that contribute to the ASF Evaluation Strategy are:

Prior to 2022, the evaluation reported annually with an initial report on Year 1 and 2 (2015 to 2017) published in 2017 and found here: Evaluation of the Attainment Scotland Fund - interim report (Years 1 and 2) (www.gov.scot), and annual evaluation reports published from 2018 to 2022 which can be found here:

In March 2021, Scottish Government and Education Scotland published the Closing the poverty-related attainment gap: progress report 2016 to 2021.

In addition to the ASF Evaluation, Education Scotland publish a range of evidence detailing how the Attainment Scotland Fund programmes, including Pupil Equity Funding, are helping to close the poverty related attainment gap.

The latest national report, published in August, is a high-level evaluative summary drawn from Education Scotland Attainment Advisors’ reports on 32 local authorities for the period December 2023 to March 2024. The key theme for this reporting period was ‘Evidence-based approaches’. Case studies from each local authority focused on different aspects of equity. The national summary report contains links to all case studies. The report can be accessed here: National Summary Report March 2024 | Scottish Attainment Challenge | Learning in Scotland | Education Scotland

Complementing this work, officials are undertaking a PEF Sampling exercise with over 100 schools across Scotland to draw out key learning on how PEF is contributing towards improving the educational outcomes of children and young people and their families, impacted by poverty. Once completed we will seek to share the innovative work taking place in our schools and communities, supported by PEF, with other Headteachers, Local Authorities and key stakeholders.