Chamber and committees

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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-29375

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken and (b) further plans to ensure that all teachers are trained to (i) support LGBT pupils and (ii) address LGBT issues in the curriculum.

The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination, and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or sexual orientation. We must continue, unrelentingly, to tackle prejudice and discrimination and promote equality and diversity; and we must begin this work early in schools.

It is for local authorities and schools to decide how to develop their own approaches to ensure staff have the appropriate skills to implement Curriculum for Excellence, based on local needs and circumstances. In 2015 the Scottish Government published guidance on the conduct of relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education which clearly states that RSHP education addresses diversity and reflects issues relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) young people or children with LGBTI parents. The Glow intranet site, available to all local authorities, has links to both LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland resources within the RSHP section to support LGBTI inclusion in schools.

The Standards for Registration from the General Teaching Council for Scotland requires teachers to commit to the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable policies and practices in relation to the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. Further, part 5 of the Code of Professionalism and Conduct on ‘Equality and Diversity’ requires teachers to engage and work positively with pupils, help pupils understand different views, perspectives and experiences and develop positive relationships as well as recognise that they are role models. Education Scotland continue to offer rights training based on equality and universal dignity and this is available to all local authorities.

The Scottish Government very much advocates training around RSHP education and would encourage local authorities and schools to provide training for their teachers. We encourage organisations who offer training on LGBT issues to contact schools and local authorities directly.

Education Scotland continues to improve resources for inclusion and equality within its webspace and recently offered a ‘Glow meet’ to celebrate Transgender Awareness Week. This Glow TV event aimed to raise awareness and understanding of issues relevant to trans-inclusivity within educational contexts and had a target audience of teaching and service staff.

We have established and wholly fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service. respectme is managed and delivered in partnership with LGBT Youth Scotland and the Scottish Association for Mental Health. respectme works with all adults who work with children and young people to give them the practical skills and confidence to deal with all types of bullying behaviour, wherever it occurs, and for whatever reason.

Question reference: S4W-29373

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has carried out of the use of anti-bullying guidance in schools, in particular with regard to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

We have established and wholly fund respectme, the national anti-bullying service, who work with local authorities and schools to build confidence and capacity to address all types of bullying including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic, effectively, aligned to the National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People.

respectme provide direct support to local authorities, schools, youth groups and all those working with children and young people. This includes reviewing, formulating, implementing and evaluating locally relevant anti-bullying policies on which stakeholders have been consulted and providing training, information and support with guidelines, procedures and monitoring.

The national approach makes clear that it is essential for organisations to record and monitor incidents of bullying to ensure that appropriate response and follow-up has been issued. This will also help organisations monitor the effectiveness of their anti-bullying policy and practice and can help identify a need for training.

The updated self-evaluation document, How good is our school (4^th edition), has a strong focus on inclusion and equity. The toolkit includes quality indicators on ‘Personalised Support’ and ‘Ensuring Wellbeing Inclusion and Equality’ and mentions action on prejudice-based bullying as well as considerations for all protected characteristics. Her Majesty’s Inspectors are trialling practices that include attention to safeguarding across the protected characteristics through a new quality indicator on safeguarding.

Question reference: S4W-29338

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority holds in reserves.

The following tables show the amount of revenue and capital reserves held by each local authority as at 31 March 2014.

Reserves at 31 March 2014 by Local Authority

£ thousands

Revenue Reserves

	General Fund	Housing Revenue Account	Renewal and Repairs	Insurance Fund	Other Statutory Funds	Total Revenue Reserves
Scotland	1,088,534	118,079	163,782	82,645	329,818	1,782,858
Council Total	1,069,150	118,079	163,782	82,645	329,818	1,763,474
Aberdeen City	57,147	11,091	5	2,173	364	70,780
Aberdeenshire	57,491	2,000	4,959	1,181	0	65,631
Angus	19,838	3,181	3,895	567	0	27,481
Argyll and Bute	44,042	0	1,025	0	0	45,067
Clackmannanshire	12,017	3,093	0	1,234	0	16,344
Dumfries and Galloway	58,424	0	1,210	2,599	0	62,233
Dundee City	8,070	0	6,253	700	0	15,023
East Ayrshire	28,027	6,342	6,735	0	0	41,104
East Dunbartonshire	11,313	844	1,482	0	0	13,639
East Lothian	9,187	2,056	0	1,520	0	12,763
East Renfrewshire	14,918	507	9,416	1,714	0	26,555
Edinburgh, City of	123,309	0	21,936	0	0	145,245
Eilean Siar	18,310	0	0	0	0	18,310
Falkirk	25,757	5,093	4,371	4,569	0	39,790
Fife	85,026	2,006	0	3,588	0	90,620
Glasgow City	32,789	0	15,234	15,131	36,292	99,446
Highland	40,317	7,354	1,668	2,409	0	51,748
Inverclyde	42,890	0	2,727	4,277	0	49,894
Midlothian	20,526	18,624	2,553	0	0	41,703
Moray	21,381	1,126	2,651	1,367	0	26,525
North Ayrshire	25,155	8,724	2,614	3,299	0	39,792
North Lanarkshire	75,021	9,577	1,122	11,658	0	97,378
Orkney Islands	23,768	0	2,917	0	196,784	223,469
Perth and Kinross	48,210	907	412	3,410	0	52,939
Renfrewshire	52,925	11,245	2,856	0	0	67,026
Scottish Borders	17,136	0	300	1,362	0	18,798
Shetland Islands	13,860	0	56,703	228	96,378	167,169
South Ayrshire	22,926	13,445	6,312	425	0	43,108
South Lanarkshire	13,387	6,055	2,859	6,097	0	28,398
Stirling	13,299	236	1,199	944	0	15,678
West Dunbartonshire	10,113	3,647	368	0	0	14,128
West Lothian	22,571	926	0	12,193	0	35,690
Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board (VJB)	201	0	0	0	0	201
Central VJB	764	0	0	0	0	764
Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute VJB	471	0	0	0	0	471
Grampian VJB	196	0	0	0	0	196
Highland and Western Isles VJB	133	0	0	0	0	133
Lanarkshire VJB	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lothian VJB	0	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney and Shetland VJB	0	0	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire VJB	464	0	0	0	0	464
Tayside VJB	103	0	0	0	0	103
Forth Estuary Transport	3,118	0	0	0	0	3,118
Tay Road Bridge	1,161	0	0	0	0	1,161
HITRANS	241	0	0	0	0	241
NESTRANS	6	0	0	0	0	6
SESTRAN	0	0	0	0	0	0
SWESTRANS	0	0	0	0	0	0
SPT	12,526	0	0	0	0	12,526
TACTRAN	0	0	0	0	0	0
ZetTrans	0	0	0	0	0	0

Capital Reserves

	Capital Fund	Capital Receipts	Capital Grants Unapplied	Total Capital Reserves
Scotland	443,539	30,455	85,464	559,458
Council Total	443,467	27,448	53,312	524,227
Aberdeen City	47,650	0	97	47,747
Aberdeenshire	14,028	684	2,744	17,456
Angus	414	13	18	445
Argyll and Bute	3,460	0	0	3,460
Clackmannanshire	0	3,706	0	3,706
Dumfries and Galloway	2,343	700	0	3,043
Dundee City	673	0	6,944	7,617
East Ayrshire	8,435	0	0	8,435
East Dunbartonshire	12,496	0	0	12,496
East Lothian	2,589	0	0	2,589
East Renfrewshire	26,413	0	0	26,413
Edinburgh, City of	25,836	0	1,993	27,829
Eilean Siar	156	44	285	485
Falkirk	0	5,055	4,373	9,428
Fife	0	0	0	0
Glasgow City	5,601	0	29,878	35,479
Highland	31,703	1,884	0	33,587
Inverclyde	940	0	0	940
Midlothian	10,658	0	0	10,658
Moray	0	797	68	865
North Ayrshire	15,082	0	0	15,082
North Lanarkshire	19,007	0	2,762	21,769
Orkney Islands	508	0	20	528
Perth and Kinross	15,832	1,833	102	17,767
Renfrewshire	22,543	3,208	0	25,751
Scottish Borders	6,922	0	0	6,922
Shetland Islands	71,783	0	1,920	73,703
South Ayrshire	0	0	857	857
South Lanarkshire	15,189	6,147	0	21,336
Stirling	0	3,377	946	4,323
West Dunbartonshire	4,198	0	305	4,503
West Lothian	79,008	0	0	79,008
Ayrshire VJB	0	0	3	3
Central VJB	0	0	0	0
Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute VJB	0	69	0	69
Grampian VJB	72	0	0	72
Highland and Western Isles VJB	0	0	0	0
Lanarkshire VJB	0	0	0	0
Lothian VJB	0	0	0	0
Orkney and Shetland VJB	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire VJB	0	0	0	0
Tayside VJB	0	0	0	0
Forth Estuary Transport	0	0	0	0
Tay Road Bridge	0	0	1,175	1,175
HITRANS	0	0	0	0
NESTRANS	0	0	0	0
SESTRAN	0	0	0	0
SWESTRANS	0	0	0	0
SPT	0	2,938	30,974	33,912
TACTRAN	0	0	0	0
ZetTrans	0	0	0	0

Source: Local Financial Returns 2013-14: LFR 23

Question reference: S4O-05502

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Question reference: S4O-05200

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to deal with delayed discharge in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4F-03123

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2015

To ask the First Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding the fiscal framework.

Question reference: S4O-04892

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the implementation of the Attainment Scotland Fund.

The government holds regular discussions with local authorities on the implementation of the Attainment Scotland Fund. ADES and COSLA are both represented on the Scottish Attainment Challenge Advisory Group, which meets quarterly to provide advice to support the programme achieve its aims. In addition, officials are in regular contact with senior representatives from all the local authorities which are receiving funding.

Question reference: S4W-28401

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent by the CashBack for Communities programme in each year, also broken down by project.

Question reference: S4O-04872

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with universities regarding the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S4F-03070

Asked by: Jim Eadie, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 November 2015

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to promote early HIV testing.