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-10382

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 9 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) places, (b) applicants, (c) starts and (d) successful completions there have been for the Childhood Practice (BA) course in each year since 2007-08.

Question reference: S5W-10384

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 9 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many new childcare workers will be in place in each year to 2020 to meet the increased number of workers set out in its publication, A Blueprint for 2020: Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland.

Local authorities are currently developing early learning and childcare expansion plans, which include anticipated workforce requirements each year, and which are due to be submitted to the Scottish Government by 29 September 2017. We are working with local authorities and other partners to profile the recruitment of new entrants to the workforce ahead of the expanded entitlement coming into effect in 2020.

Question reference: S5W-10386

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 9 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its publication, A Blueprint for 2020: Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, whether the commitment to training and introducing new workers will continue beyond 2017-18 and, if so, how many workers will be recruited and over what period.

We are committed to ensuring that an appropriately skilled workforce is in place to deliver the expanded entitlement to early learning and childcare. We will continue to build capacity in the workforce up to 2020 through a variety of pathways including apprenticeships and further and higher education courses to ensure that adequate training and education provision is in place to meet the demands of the expansion.

Question reference: S5W-10385

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 9 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the new childcare workers set out in its publication, A Blueprint for 2020: Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, will be in place.

Question reference: S5W-10176

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 27 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how individuals, including parents and young people, will be able to contribute to the 15-24 Learner Journey Review, if they are not specifically invited to engage.

The Scottish Government is engaging with stakeholders and users extensively around the Learner Journey Review including representatives drawn from public bodies and agencies, the third sector and private organisations with expertise of the learning system, as well as organisations representing the interests of parents, young people and employers. In addition, we have run a series of engagement events with colleges and their partners across Scotland to gather perspectives at a regional level.

The Review will consider what improvements can be made to the learner journey from the perspective of young people, and we are engaging with young people directly to enable this. We have commissioned research, undertaken by SQW Consultancy in partnership with Young Scot, into young people’s experience of the education and training system in Scotland. Stage 1 of the Learner Journey Review will report in the autumn, and will set out proposals for improvements. The Scottish Government will continue to engage closely with stakeholders and delivery partners on the implementation of the Review, and will undertake formal consultation on outputs from Stage 1 should that be appropriate.

Question reference: S5W-09930

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for its proposed zero-rate income tax band, and what the financial implications of this band would be.

To protect those on the lowest incomes from cost of living increases, the Scottish Government will ensure that from 2021 the first of £12,750 of the non-saving and non-dividend income of a Scottish taxpayer is tax free. If necessary, in 2021 the Scottish Government will create a zero rate band above the Personal Allowance to ensure that this protection for low income taxpayers is delivered. Detailed income tax proposals for the financial year ahead, including the financial implications will be set out each year by the Scottish Government at the Draft Budget.

Question reference: S5W-10164

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it and Skills Development Scotland will publish a report detailing progress of the Equalities action plan For Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland, and on what date further annual reports will be published.

Question reference: S5W-09773

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a legal requirement for (a) a clerk of works to oversee the construction and (b) architects or other design professionals to verify the safety, of public buildings.

Question reference: S5W-09772

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 July 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings have been constructed under hub procurement contracts by each local authority in each of the last 10 years.

Information on completed projects within the hub programme between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2017 is as follows:

Council	2011-12	2012-13-	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Aberdeen City		1	1	3	1
Aberdeenshire			1		1
Angus					1	2
City of Edinburgh	1	1	5	3	6	10
Clackmannanshire				3	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway				2
Dundee City				1		2
East Dunbartonshire		1		1	2	1
East Lothian		1	1	1	1	1
East Renfrewshire						2
Falkirk				1	1
Fife			1	2	1	4
Glasgow City				1	1
Highland				1
Inverclyde						1
Midlothian			1
North Ayrshire				3	1
North Lanarkshire					3	2
Perth and Kinross					2
Renfrewshire					2
Scottish Borders			1	1	1
South Ayrshire					2
South Lanarkshire					1
Stirling						1
West Dunbartonshire			2		1	2
West Lothian					1	1
Total	1	4	13	23	30	30

Further information on the projects included in the table is available from the following link www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/publications/vital-signs-march-2017/

Question reference: S5W-09876

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many pupils have been excluded from school (a) once, (b) two to four times and (c) five or more times in each of the last 10 years.

Statistics on pupils being excluded multiple times for the period since 2009-10 are published in Table 7 of the exclusion statistics supplementary data, available on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/exclusiondatasets

statistics on pupils being excluded multiple times for the period 2008-09 are published on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/11/03094708/9

statistics on pupils being excluded multiple times for the period 2007-08 are published on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/11/03095204/11

statistics on pupils being excluded multiple times for the period 2006-07 are published on the Scottish Government website here:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/11/03092252/10

Since 2010-11 the Scottish Government has collected data on exclusions biennially. Statistics on exclusions covering academic year 2016-17 will be published as part of the 2017 edition of the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland bulletin.