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-21790

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to using some of the funding allocated to the Young Person's Guarantee to promote or fund increases in young people's earnings to the National Living Wage.

The Scottish Government announced the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, with the aim of protecting young people against the immediate economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guarantee aimed to ensure every young person between 16 and 24 had the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. Between November 2020 and March 2023 we invested over £175m in additional support from Covid-related funding.

We have now mainstreamed this work across Government and, through our championing of the payment of the real Living Wage (which has a higher hourly rate than the National Living Wage), we continue to promote increases in young people’s earnings.

Question reference: S6W-21781

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it gathers data on the number of students accessing mental health services at colleges and universities.

Question reference: S6W-21835

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its working groups are currently under the remit of its Education and Skills portfolio.

The following working groups sit under the remit of the Education and Skills portfolio:

National Response to Improving Mathematics in Scotland Short Life Working Group

National Response to Improving Literacy in Scotland Short Life Working Group

NIF Statutory Guidance Working group

National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy External Strategic Working Group

Scottish Government Cross-policy Working Group on Transitions

Improvement and Regulation Working Group

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group

Short Life Working Group on Data Sharing in Relation to Student Sexual Misconduct

Access Data Short-Life Working Group

Short Life Working Group on the Scope of the Accreditation and Regulation Function for the New Qualifications Body

Short Life Working Group on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic

Question reference: S6W-21802

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to offering funding for employability services on a multi-year basis.

Question reference: S6W-21800

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to offering further support to local authorities for (a) data collection and (b) reporting on the (i) No One Left Behind and (ii) Young Person's Guarantee programme.

Data collection and reporting for devolved employability services delivered under the No One Left Behind approach occurs quarterly, with provision in all 32 Local Authority areas aligning with the Employability Shared Measurement Framework. To support this, we have worked with Local Authorities in their Lead Accountable Body role to develop a single reporting template, and accompanying guidance, which has been made publicly available. This reporting contributes to our quarterly statistical publication.

Data collection and reporting has been a key theme identified in our recent national stakeholder discussion events and the actions will be reviewed to identify how we can improve. This will be outlined in the Strategic Plan and National Improvement Plan which will be published later this financial year.

We will continue to work with partners to refine data collection and reporting practices, including identifying where additional support would be beneficial.

Question reference: S6W-21801

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is undertaking any work to address mental health and wellbeing issues in the context of employment support.

The Scottish Government works in partnership with Local Government and Local Employability Partners to offer key worker led, person-centred holistic support. At a local level they work in communities and with partners to deliver employability services to those who are experiencing or are at risk of becoming long term unemployed and this includes people with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Supported employment including Individual Placement and Support can offer assistance to those requiring intensive and specific help especially those with severe and enduring mental ill health.

These evidence-based models of delivery help people find or re-enter sustainable employment that fits their needs and interests. It offers intensive, individual support, rapid job search followed by placement in paid employment in the open labour market, and time-unlimited in-work support for both the employee and the employer.

We are working with a range of partners, to inform options on development of the Supported Employment offer which is currently delivered through Fair Start Scotland. From 2024 this type of support will be made available through our No One Left Behind approach with the Local Employability Partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-21777

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20608 by Christina McKelvie on 30 August 2023, what percentage of children aged between 11 and 15 have taken part in a sport activity in each of the last five years.

The most recent data from the Scottish Health Survey on sports participation by children aged between 11 and 15 in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.

Percentage of children (aged 11-15) participating in any sport in the last week, SHeS 2016-2021*
					%
Any Sport?	2016	2017	2018	2019	2021
Yes	70	67	60	65	65
No	30	36	40	35	35
* Data for 2020 was not comparable due to the impact of the pandemic on data collection.

The 2022 SHeS report is due to be published at the end of this year.

Question reference: S6W-21799

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee.

Learning and evaluation continue to be a key aspect of our approach to employability services in Scotland.

The Implementation evaluation of the development and early delivery of No One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee was commissioned by the Scottish Government and published on 10 August 2023.

We will consider the recommendations from the evaluation alongside the outputs from our recent national stakeholder discussion events and actions will be reviewed to identify how we can improve.

Question reference: S6T-01590

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recently announced Centre of Teaching Excellence.

Question reference: S6W-21788

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many Employer Recruitment Incentives have been created as part of the Young Person's Guarantee since it was launched.

Support available through the Young Person’s Guarantee was delivered through Local Employability Partnerships, with Local Authorities acting as lead accountable body.

Specific details on Employer Recruitment Incentives are not held by the Scottish Government, therefore requests for this information would need to be directed towards Local Authorities.

Employability contacts for each local authority can be found on the Employability in Scotland website which can be accessed here: https://www.employabilityinscotland.com/local-employability-services/