The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-31178

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of play parks received a rating of (a) excellent, (b) good, (c) satisfactory, and (d) poor in each year since 2012, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-31181

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases in the children’s hearings system have been subject to delay due to a shortage of panel members or professionals since 2012.

Question reference: S6W-31073

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25927 by Natalie Don on 14 March 2024, whether it will provide an updated table regarding how much Disclosure Scotland has spent on employing temporary staff, based on the latest information available.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland, to respond. His response is as follows:

The spend on employing temporary staff in the 9 month period of January to September 2024 was £7,504,000. The spend on employing temporary staff from 2012-2023 was provided in the answer to question S6W-25927 on 14 March 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

To note, these figures relate to both agency staff and contractors.

Question reference: S6W-31061

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25674 by Patrick Harvie on 7 March 2024, whether it will provide an updated table regarding the number of children who have undertaken cycling proficiency training, based on the latest information available.

Further to question S6W-25674, the latest Bikeability Scotland participation statistics are as follows:

LOCAL AUTHORITY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Aberdeen City	21%	25%	31%	57%	68%	62%	68%	42%	47%	9%	27%	67%	100%	100%
Aberdeenshire	93%	93%	76%	91%	91%	63%	80%	79%	85%	27%	51%	65%	65%	71%
Angus	74%	72%	74%	57%	43%	45%	50%	67%	78%	41%	71%	88%	94%	96%
Argyll & Bute	45%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	Pilot	Pilot	22%	26%
Clackmannanshire	11%	11%	37%	37%	39%	44%	17%	33%	100%	33%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Dumfries & Galloway	70%	73%	47%	30%	29%	41%	43%	38%	36%	4%	5%	29%	69%	86%
Dundee	0%	0%	3%	23%	29%	17%	11%	53%	91%	67%	82%	97%	100%	100%
East Ayrshire	7%	9%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	Pilot	Pilot	10%	8%
East Dunbartonshire	5%	3%	5%	24%	14%	8%	22%	15%	67%	76%	94%	100%	100%	100%
East Lothian	0%	0%	11%	26%	29%	23%	29%	41%	49%	24%	47%	94%	100%	100%
East Renfrewshire	33%	40%	70%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	0%	100%	67%	83%	96%
Edinburgh	29%	40%	52%	72%	70%	48%	68%	60%	53%	7%	26%	40%	41%	38%
Falkirk	4%	6%	10%	8%	22%	12%	4%	6%	8%	19%	6%	2%	21%	19%
Fife	31%	21%	16%	16%	18%	21%	36%	22%	29%	23%	24%	33%	35%	21%
Glasgow	4%	4%	15%	28%	25%	34%	29%	35%	34%	22%	33%	31%	22%	24%
Highland	34%	28%	16%	29%	28%	29%	36%	21%	30%	12%	15%	22%	32%	26%
Inverclyde	4%	21%	35%	10%	30%	30%	20%	15%	26%	0%	5%	5%	10%	30%
Midlothian	10%	40%	63%	87%	63%	63%	81%	75%	69%	22%	41%	65%	67%	67%
Moray	96%	65%	58%	47%	62%	49%	37%	40%	56%	27%	62%	76%	93%	95%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	5%	96%	100%	0%	100%	100%	100%	100%
North Ayrshire	0%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return
North Lanarkshire	0%	7%	5%	0%	4%	No return	9%	10%	11%	15%	29%	50%	82%	64%
Orkney	40%	40%	65%	95%	90%	65%	68%	63%	58%	37%	90%	65%	100%	100%
Perth & Kinross	91%	61%	40%	37%	34%	62%	52%	51%	61%	26%	67%	87%	90%	99%
Renfrewshire	6%	8%	22%	29%	20%	22%	20%	22%	29%	10%	59%	72%	84%	86%
Scottish Borders	54%	54%	43%	8%	27%	29%	31%	31%	8%	2%	25%	41%	100%	100%
Shetland	100%	53%	45%	90%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	25%	100%	100%	100%	100%
South Ayrshire	79%	55%	73%	76%	83%	76%	81%	83%	88%	44%	34%	41%	59%	58%
South Lanarkshire	0%	10%	17%	28%	39%	34%	39%	39%	43%	15%	10%	40%	40%	32%
Stirling	17%	18%	5%	43%	65%	68%	50%	72%	66%	26%	58%	74%	87%	100%
West Dunbartonshire	9%	12%	9%	21%	44%	41%	49%	56%	59%	13%	38%	28%	31%	38%
West Lothian	21%	0%	15%	15%	15%	15%	17%	11%	26%	9%	9%	22%	30%	37%
TOTALS	32%	32%	35%	37%	40%	38%	42%	42%	47%	20%	37%	50%	60%	60%

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Number of pupils trained across all levels of Bikeability Scotland	25,974	30,800	32,105	33,082	36,711	36,314	43,700	16,327	41,046	52,604	60,228*	54,039

Question reference: S6O-03998

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times for dental extractions in rural NHS board areas.

Question reference: S6W-31072

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of nurseries received a rating of (a) excellent, (b) good, (c) satisfactory and (d) poor from inspections conducted by (i) the Care Inspectorate and (ii) Education Scotland in each year since 2012, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6O-03961

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that approximately 1,200 applications for places in special schools were refused, whether it will increase funding and resources to ensure that all children requiring specialised support can access appropriate education without placing any additional pressure on families.

Question reference: S6W-30088

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish what direct engagement the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills had with young people, in light of the comments made in her ministerial statement on 19 September 2024 on the Scottish Government's response to the recommendations from the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment.

I routinely discuss the development of education policy, including in respect of qualifications and assessment, with young people through frequent visits to schools and a range of other events and meetings. The Scottish Government does not intend to publish details of this range of engagements.

I also met with representatives of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) on the 19th of September, prior to the statement, to provide an overview of the Scottish Government response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment ahead of its publication.

The views of young people have, and continue to be, vital to informing our approach to evolving the qualifications and assessment system and I remain committed to meaningfully engaging with young people (including the SYP) as we take this work forward.

Question reference: S6W-30065

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data is available on the retention rates of young people in (a) employment and (b) education after completing the Young Person's Guarantee.

The Young Person’s Guarantee Implementation Progress Report (July 2021) and Update Report (March 2023) both highlight progress made over the 2 years. The links for these reports can be found below.

Young Person's Guarantee - implementation: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Young Person's Guarantee: update report March 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government publishes quarterly statistics on its devolved employability services which can be found at the link below.

https://www.gov.scot/collections/scotlands-devolved-employment-services-statistics/

These statistics show that through the No One Left Behind approach, 12,204 (35%) participants aged under 25 have entered employment, with 6,599 (19%) entering Further or Higher education and 5,350 (15%) gaining a qualification.

From April 2023 the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities. We therefore do not hold data on retention rates of young people completing the Young Person’s Guarantee.

Question reference: S6W-30069

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on the participation rates of different demographic groups in the Young Person’s Guarantee, and how any such data is used to address any disparities.

The Scottish Government collect data on all 16-19 year olds through the Skills Development Scotland’s Annual Participation Measure and publish Labour Market Statistics for 16-24 year olds.

From April 2023 the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities. We therefore do not collect the data requested.

Data will continue to inform our approach to policy-making.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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