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: S6O-01359

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is regarding the impact in Scotland to reports that the UK Government is considering a post-Brexit removal of workers’ rights.

Question reference: S6W-09615

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded apprenticeship places have been (a) offered to and (b) taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.

Official statistics from our national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland show that there were 26 Modern Apprentice (MA) Starts, in the 16-19 age grouping, who were recorded as having a hearing impairment and were recorded as being school pupils prior to commencing their apprenticeship. This data covers MA starts from 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2022 and further apprenticeship data will be available when the Quarter 1 2022-23 report is published, which is expected in August 2022. These figures are on the basis of self-declaration and therefore may be higher than this.

Question reference: S6W-09616

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded college sector places have been taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.

In 2020-21 academic year, the estimated number of school leavers who self-identified as deaf/having a hearing impairment was 170, which represented 0.6% of all school leavers who were enrolled in college. Of the estimated 680 school leavers recorded for Young Person’s Guarantee funded courses (which began in January 2021), 10 were school leavers who self-identify as deaf/having a hearing impairment, which represented over 1% of enrolments. The number of enrolments in 2020-21 for Kickstart placements cannot be provided due to small numbers.

Advancing equality and inclusion, and working to eliminate discrimination, is central to the Young Person’s Guarantee, ensuring that no one is left behind. Provision is supporting tailored education, training and employment opportunities for young people with protected characteristics across Scotland, including young people who identify as deaf or have a hearing impairment.

Through the Guarantee we have provided colleges with additional funding of £10m per year in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, to enable them to deliver shorter industry focused opportunities for young people, including skills boost and fast track courses, to meet the needs of employers and support economic recovery. We are continuing to engage with the college sectors and key partners to ensure opportunities are targeted at supporting individuals who experience barriers to participating in the labour market, including disabled young people.

It’s important to note that as disabilities and health conditions are self-declared at the point of application, these figures may not provide the total number of deaf school leavers accessing these opportunities. The figures are also estimates based on data returned from colleges.

Question reference: S6W-09617

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many opportunities have been provided for deaf young people, including those with mild or moderate hearing impairments, through (a) the Kickstart Scheme and (b) funded local partnerships through the Young Person’s Guarantee.

Since the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, we have provided additional funding, with the aim of supporting new and enhanced opportunities for young people, through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs). In 2022-23, Local Employability Partnerships will receive almost £113 million in funding for local employability services through the No One Left Behind approach, which includes the Young Person’s Guarantee, to provide support that meets both individual and labour market needs in each area. This is crucial to achieving shared aims around tackling poverty and inequalities.

As part of funding arrangements, Local Authorities are required to complete Equality Impact Assessments for the funding provided through the Guarantee, outlining how their plans and policies will support young people with protected characteristics, including disabled young people, and where they will target supported education, employment and training projects.

Recently published experimental statistics show that between January 2021-December 2021, 1189 disabled young people received employability support via LEPs, which included Young Person’s Guarantee funding. This data cannot be further disaggregated by type of disability.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to Kickstart, which is reserved to the UK Government. Data relating to the Kickstart Scheme is collated by the UK Government and is not currently shared with the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6O-01258

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will raise awareness of the Water Safety Action Plan ahead of the summer to ensure people stay safe in and around Scotland’s waters.

Question reference: S6O-01226

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported labour shortages and significant cost increases on materials will have on social housing construction in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01189

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is providing to local authorities as part of its Covid Recovery Strategy to help them resume normal services and manage staff absences.

Question reference: S6O-01174

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy for Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01066

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on implementing the delivery of its National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Question reference: S6F-01057

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2022

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government plans to mark Deaf Awareness Week 2022.