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: S5W-35045

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for the delivery of new affordable homes was allocated to East Lothian in each year since 2016-17, and how this compares with the local authority area average in each year.

The Scottish Government publishes annual Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Outturn Reports. These Outturn Reports have details of all Resource Planning Assumptions by local authority area, as well as actual outturn expenditure. You can access the Outturn Reports for 2016-17 to 2019-20 from this link - More homes: Affordable Housing Supply Programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This web page also includes a link to the published Resource Planning Assumptions for 2020-21.

Question reference: S5F-04800

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2021

To ask the First Minister how far people should be expected to travel to attend a vaccination appointment at a COVID-19 vaccination hub.

Question reference: S5W-34324

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government, (b) the European Commission and (c) Universities Scotland regarding how students from Scotland might continue to participate in the Erasmus scheme, similar to students from Northern Ireland, and what funding it could provide toward this.

The Scottish Government’s priority has always been for the whole of the UK to fully associate to the Erasmus programme. Extensive engagement with the UK Government before and after the end of the transition period has taken place both at ministerial and official level. I have been in regular contact with the UK Government Universities Minister at bilateral level with our most recent meeting on 19 January 2021. Additionally I have been taking part in all-UK nations quadrilateral meetings and most recently in EU Exit Committee- XO meeting on 20 January 2021. I have also been engaging regularly with Universities Scotland in meetings including the wider further and higher education sectors.

Erasmus Plus has been a hugely beneficial programme for Scotland. The regretful decision by the UK Government not to associate to the programme has led us to pursue other options. The Scottish Government remains committed to Erasmus, and is exploring what alternative options are open to Scotland to remain close to this critical programme. I had a meeting with EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel on‎ 13 January 2021, to explore how we might keep Scotland as close to Erasmus as possible.

Question reference: S5W-34326

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Universities Scotland regarding the (a) future of Erasmus and (b) participation of institutions from Scotland in the proposed Turing scheme, which aims to replace participation in Erasmus.

The Scottish Government is regularly engaging with Universities Scotland and the further and higher education sector in Scotland regarding the Erasmus programme and the Turing scheme. Further and higher education sector are acutely aware of the damaging impact the loss of access to Erasmus will have on our students and universities. The UK Government’s proposed alternative scheme is an insufficient replacement to Erasmus that has relegated support for our colleges and schools to a ‘trial’ status, while offering no support at all for Youth Work and Adult Education mobilities.

Question reference: S5W-34323

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many students from Scotland have participated in the Erasmus scheme in each of the last five years.

ERASMUS+ does not provide a breakdown for Scottish- domiciled students only. Table 2 of https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/file/6042/download published on the central UK Erasmus+ website shows the outgoing student numbers for all UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including for all Scottish. The most recent data available is for 2017/18 and therefore only figures for the last four years are provided.

Outgoing ERASMUS+ students from a Scottish HEI

Academic year	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
No. Students	2,202	2,429	2,548	2,705

Source: ERASMUS+

Numbers include students on either Study or Work programmes abroad through ERASMUS+ from a Scottish Higher Education Institution (HEI).

Does not include students in Scotland studying at Open University.

Available data downloaded in January 2021

Question reference: S5W-34325

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 5 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the proposed Turing scheme, which aims to replace participation in Erasmus.

The Scottish Government has had extensive engagement with the UK Government both at ministerial and official level, on the UK Government’s proposed domestic alternative to Erasmus, the Turing Scheme. I have regular meetings with the UK Government’s Universities Minister and with my counterparts in the devolved administrations on this issue. Scottish Government officials also have regular engagement with the Department for Education officials. During these discussions I have reiterated that the Turing scheme does not match the Erasmus programme in scope and breadth, that we will see support for our most disadvantaged learners cut and opportunities for all our students reduced. The UK Government’s intention to use the Internal Market Act to implement Turing negatively impacts our ability to provide students in Scotland with the best options for educational mobility and exchange, and threatens our devolved rights.

Question reference: S5W-34513

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the SQA and (b) teaching unions regarding the time available for teaching staff to accumulate sufficient evidence to estimate student grades for the 2021 awards.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group draws its membership from the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, the Educational Institute of Scotland, School Leaders Scotland, the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Colleges Scotland, National Parent Forum of Scotland, and the Scottish Youth Parliament.

It is overseeing changes to the alternative certification model for national qualifications and the associated timeline that was announced in December. Time for learning, teaching, assessment and the gathering of evidence has been central in these considerations. On 27 January, the Group confirmed that the date for schools and colleges to submit provisional grades has moved from 28 May 2021 to 18 June 2021.

Question reference: S5W-34515

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held discussions with the SQA regarding providing more time for teachers to provide estimates of students’ attainment, in line with what was required in May 2020.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group, which draws its membership from the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, the Educational Institute of Scotland, School Leaders Scotland, the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Colleges Scotland, National Parent Forum of Scotland, and the Scottish Youth Parliament, has been considering the time required for teachers to provide estimates of students’ attainment.

Following the announcement of the introduction of remote learning on 4 January, and its extension on 19 January, the National Qualifications 2021 Group has been considering the impact this will have on delivery of National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses under the alternative certification model.

The Group is overseeing changes to the alternative certification model and associated timeline that was announced in December. This includes moving the final date for schools and colleges to submit provisional grades from 28 May 2021 to‎ 18 June 2021.

Question reference: S5W-34517

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has held with the SQA regarding the publication date of the 2021 results and, to allow more time for teachers to assess and compile evidence and additional learning time for students, what its position is on pushing back the 6 August date.

The priority for schools and colleges during this time should be to maximise learning and teaching time to ensure that young people have the necessary foundation and coverage of course content. Young people's mental health is a priority and I recognise that the timing of assessments to support the determining of provisional grades will also have an impact on young people’s wellbeing.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group, which includes representation from the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, and other key stakeholders is working through a range of scenarios and is considering potential flexibilities for the alternative certification model, should they be needed as a result of the current remote learning approach. On 27 January, the Group confirmed that the date for schools and colleges to submit provisional grades has moved from 28 May 2021 to 18 June 2021.

There are currently no plans to change the date of publication of the results from‎ 10 August 2021.

Question reference: S5W-34514

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the SQA will advise teachers of the timescale for recording and uploading Higher and Advanced Higher award estimates based on their judgement of evidence of students’ attainment.

The National Qualifications 2021 Group published guidance on the alternative certification model for National 5 on 8 December 2020. The model for Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications will follow a similar process.

Following the move to remote learning, the Group is overseeing changes to the alternative certification model and associated timeline that was announced in December. This includes moving the final date for schools and colleges to submit provisional grades from 28 May 2021 to 18 June 2021.