Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-03587

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have enrolled on educational psychology courses in each year since 2010-11.

In Scotland, the Universities of Dundee and Strathclyde offer 2 year Master of Science (MSc) courses in educational psychology with intakes in alternate years. The number of new students enrolling on the course each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:

Year Enrolled	University	New Students Enrolling on an Educational Psychology MSC Course
2016	Dundee	17
2015	Strathclyde	12
2014	Dundee	24
2013	Strathclyde	17
2012	Dundee	21
2011	Strathclyde	22
2010	Dundee	22

Source: Data provided by Dundee University and Strathclyde University

Question reference: S5W-03588

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have obtained an educational psychology qualification in each year since 2010-11.

In Scotland, the Universities of Dundee and Strathclyde offer 2 year Masters of Science (MSc) courses in educational psychology with outputs in alternate years. The number of students obtaining an educational psychology qualification each year since 2010 is shown in the following table:

Year Obtained	University	Numbers Obtaining an Educational Psychology MSc
2016	Dundee	23
2015	Strathclyde	16
2014	Dundee	21
2013	Strathclyde	20
2012	Dundee	21
2011	Strathclyde	27
2010	Dundee	26

Source: Data provided by Dundee University and Strathclyde University

Question reference: S5W-03515

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychology met in each of the last three years, and whether it will provide the minutes of those meetings.

The National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists met on: 11 February, 2 June and 11 October 2016; 26 January, 17 June and 18 November 2015; and 7 March and 8 September 2014.

The minutes for meetings up to June 2016 are available in SPICe, Bib number 55570. The minutes for the meeting of 11 October 2016 have yet to be finalised and will be available in SPICe in due course.

Question reference: S5W-03731

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 25 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action Skills Development Scotland is taking to ensure that Shetland will be able to benefit from the recent contracts awarded under the (a) Third Sector Employability Fund and (b) Work Able Scotland programme.

As a result of the ring-fenced element of the Highlands & Islands contract not being fully met for the National Third Sector Fund, a fresh procurement exercise is now underway which is exclusively for the Highlands & Islands area. This action has been taken to try and ensure that bids will be received from all geographical areas in Highlands and Islands, including Shetland.

The Work Able Scotland programme will have four contract package areas. Area One, which includes the Highlands & Islands, Clyde Coast and Grampian is not split into Local Authority areas. Instead SDS have created a Sub-Contract Package Area and indicated the volumes that will apply. This is intended to encourage the successful contractor to work with a network of sub-contractors thus ensuring that there is appropriate provision for areas with smaller numbers, such as Shetland.

Additionally, and to support rural areas like Shetland, a rural supplement of an additional £250 per person per sub-contract package area has also been added to the service fee payment for delivery of the Work Able Scotland contract.

Question reference: S5W-03618

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Skills Development Scotland has split the country into four broad areas for the delivery of its Work Able Scotland programme.

During 2017-18 we will operate a transitional programme where we want to start to move away from the very large prime contractor approach of the Work Programme, where Scotland was one contract package area (CPA). There were two key considerations in determining the 4 CPA approach.

By aligning with the 4 Work Choice CPAs, the data we gather on each of the two transitional services will be co-terminus and therefore be easier to analyse in terms of geography. This data will help inform the new programme from 2018;
It was essential that the contracts be viable, particularly in rural areas where there was a real risk of market failure. With four contracts which require bidders to be able to offer a service across the whole geographic area of the contract, we are able to ensure a service offer is in place across Scotland.

The 4 CPA approach has only been defined for the transitional year so far. We are giving further consideration to the optimal geographical structure for the delivery of devolved employment services from 2018 onwards.

Question reference: S5W-03517

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it understands to be the reasons for the departure of CalMac’s chief executive on 31 March 2017, which was announced on 5 October 2016.

Mr Martin Dorchester’s reasons for departing CalMac in March 2017 were set out in David MacBrayne Ltd’s press statement of 5 October 2016.

The statement indicated that Mr Dorchester has been with the company since 2012 and, having led CalMac Ferries Ltd during its successful bid for the new Clyde and Hebrides Ferry service contract, he wishes to pursue new opportunities once that contract has bedded in.

I would like to thank Martin for his contribution to David MacBrayne Ltd and wish him well with his future endeavours.

Question reference: S5W-03516

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school head teachers there have been in each year since 2013-14, broken down by local authority.

The number of head teachers in publicly funded primary schools between 2013 and 2015 is shown in table 1. The number of head teachers in publicly funded primary schools between 2013 and 2015 is shown in table two. Please note the caveats presented in the footnotes for each table when interpreting figures.

Table 1: Primary school head teachers, 2013-2015

	2013	2014⁽¹⁾	2015
Aberdeen City	43	42	40
Aberdeenshire	138	138	137
Angus	44	44	41
Argyll and Bute	61	56	59
Clackmannanshire	17	19	19
Dumfries and Galloway	85	67	66
Dundee City	32	34	30
East Ayrshire	41	40	40
East Dunbartonshire	36	31	31
East Lothian	30	32	31
East Renfrewshire	22	22	21
Edinburgh, City of	84	83	79
Eilean Siar	18	19	16
Falkirk	43	45	38
Fife	133	129	122
Glasgow City	139	132	130
Highland	139	130	121
Inverclyde	20	21	19
Midlothian	29	26	29
Moray	43	41	41
North Ayrshire	50	42	40
North Lanarkshire	116	112	121
Orkney Islands	12	11	12
Perth and Kinross	65	65	64
Renfrewshire	47	46	47
Scottish Borders	41	41	41
Shetland Islands	24	23	24
South Ayrshire	38	37	35
South Lanarkshire	119	118	118
Stirling	32	32	34
West Dunbartonshire	32	31	32
West Lothian	62	62	64
All local authorities	1,832	1769	1740
Grant aided	1	1	1

1) 2014 teacher figures were revised in February and December 2015, see background notes 3.5a and 3.5b to the published data for details. The published data can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/7925

Table 2: Secondary school head teachers, 2013-2015

	2013	2014⁽¹⁾	2015
Aberdeen City	11	12	12
Aberdeenshire	17	18	17
Angus	8	8	8
Argyll and Bute	11	9	9
Clackmannanshire	3	3	3
Dumfries and Galloway	16	15	13
Dundee City	9	9	7
East Ayrshire	9	10	9
East Dunbartonshire	8	8	8
East Lothian	6	6	6
East Renfrewshire	7	8	7
Edinburgh, City of	22	23	23
Eilean Siar	3	2	3
Falkirk	8	8	8
Fife	19	19	19
Glasgow City	29	27	30
Highland	28	29	28
Inverclyde	6	6	6
Midlothian	6	5	6
Moray	8	8	8
North Ayrshire	9	9	9
North Lanarkshire	23	22	27
Orkney Islands	4	4	4
Perth and Kinross	10	10	10
Renfrewshire	11	11	11
Scottish Borders	9	8	9
Shetland Islands	5	4	4
South Ayrshire	8	8	8
South Lanarkshire	17	17	17
Stirling	7	7	7
West Dunbartonshire	5	5	5
West Lothian	11	11	11
All local authorities	353	349	351
Grant aided	1	1	1

1) 2014 teacher figures were revised in February and December 2015, see background notes 3.5a and 3.5b to the published data for details. The published data can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/7925

Question reference: S5W-03493

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-03024

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises in Shetland do not have access to superfast broadband under the existing or planned infrastructure programmes and will be dependent on the winner of the bid for the contract for the superfast broadband programme that was published on 9 September 2016.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme will deliver 95% fibre broadband access by the end of 2017. Following completion of DSSB deployment, 76% of premises in Shetland will have access to fibre broadband. Only 21% coverage would have been delivered commercially.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering 100% superfast broadband access by 2021. We plan to launch an Open Market Review, ahead of new procurement activity in 2017, to determine (a) what has been delivered commercially and (b) what will be delivered commercially over the next three years. This will require suppliers to provide speed information at an individual premises level. We will use this information to define a new intervention area for future public investment in broadband, comprising those premises that are unable to receive superfast speeds.

Question reference: S5T-00102

Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what environmental assessment it has made of the leak from the Clair oil platform, west of Shetland.

Chamber and committees