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: S4W-19163

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next increase the level of vocational training allowance and by what amount.

Question reference: S4W-19156

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains its policy to match available dental vocational training places with the number of graduates from dental schools.

Following careful assessment of a range of factors which apply to supply and demand within dental service provision within Scotland, and advice from the chief dental officer for Scotland, the Scottish Government has concluded that a revised policy should apply regarding the provision of dental vocational training places (DVT) in Scotland.

From 2014, Scottish Government policy is to match the number of DVT places to the number of dental graduates who have applied for a DVT place in Scotland. This will deliver a more equitable and manageable process for the provision of DVT places, ensuring that no Scottish dental graduate, who presently make up the majority of applicants for Scottish places, will suffer any detriment. It remains the case however that securing a DVT place is a competitive process, and the decision on whether to offer a dental graduate employment rests with the employing dental practice.

Question reference: S4W-19157

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many students are expected to graduate from dental schools in 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-19162

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it last increased the level of vocational training allowance.

The grant paid to vocational trainers and salary paid to vocational trainees, were last increased with effect from 1 April 2009. There is an additional vocational training practice allowance which was introduced in 2003 and remains at the level set at that time.

The various grants and allowances paid to dentists who provide NHS general dental services are kept under review and revised where appropriate.

Question reference: S4W-19158

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many dental vocational training places will be made available in 2013-14.

In 2013, 173 dental vocational training (DVT) places were provided. For 2014, in accordance with our revised policy, we will match the number of DVT places to graduates who have applied for such a place, which is 179.

It is NHS Education for Scotland (NES) which has operational responsibility for delivering the Scottish Government’s policy, and NES is in the process of recruiting the required number of dental trainers.

Question reference: S4W-19159

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many dental vocational trainers it has recruited in 2013-14.

Question reference: S4W-19160

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there are sufficient dental vocational trainers to meet the needs of graduates in 2013-14.

Question reference: S4T-00569

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report in The Herald on 20 January 2014 on the pay of university principals.

Question reference: S4W-19097

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 16 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in implementing section 122 (2) of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.

Section 122 of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (2011 Act) relates to access to advocacy services for children attending children’s hearings. To date, this section has not been commenced.

Scottish Government officials have undertaken detailed discussions with relevant partners via the Voice of the Child Group to scope out a range of models and consider possible future options for advocacy services for children in the modernised children’s hearings system.

The structural and procedural changes flowing from the 2011 Act took effect in June 2013, and will be subject to benefits review in 2014. We will commence section 122 of the 2011 Act and introduce the associated regulations when we are satisfied that new services can be suitably designed and sustainably resourced for the young people within the hearings system that want and need this provision.

Other related activity is being progressed to support vulnerable children and the ‘voice of the child’ measures within the 2011 Act, including guidance for the provision of advocacy services for children. In December the Scottish Government supported the recommendations in the LACSIG Mentoring Hub Report which calls for the development of a national mentoring scheme for looked after children. In the first half of 2014 initial Scottish Government funding will support work on the identification of mentors and the current availability of services. This activity will inform our understanding of the demand for, and benefits of, advocacy provision.

Question reference: S4W-19099

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 16 January 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to enter into arrangements for the provision of children's advocacy services as set out in section 122 (5) of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.