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: S6W-22989

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22204 by Jenny Gilruth on 13 November 2023, whether it has given local authorities any extra funding to facilitate (a) the purchase of, (b) the replacement of and (c) training in the use and procurement of the free laptops and other digital devices.

As reported by the Deputy First Minister on 21 st November, the £13 million originally allocated for 2023-24 has been announced as part of the savings required to reach a balanced budget. We are now considering all options for the device commitment, including a range of delivery options. Ultimately, local authorities have responsibility for the procurement and management of their own digital assets.

Question reference: S6W-22888

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has carried out and (b) is undertaking any progress reports on the development of a national digital academy, and, if so, where they are published.

Question reference: S6W-22885

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22502 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what the total cost has been to date of its development of a national digital academy, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Further to the response to question S6W-22502 on 8 November 2023, I would clarify that there have been no costs incurred to date on the development of a National Digital Academy.

As set out, Scottish Government are currently developing options for a National Digital Academy. Once developed, these will include an estimate of future potential costs.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-22889

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are currently working on the development of a national digital academy.

Question reference: S6W-22884

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which bodies have been contacted or consulted regarding the development of a national digital academy.

Scottish Government are currently developing options for a National Digital Academy.

Initial conversations have been held within the National e-Learning Offer Working Group (which includes representatives from the RICs, EIS, e-Sgoil, WestOS and Education Scotland). In addition, a Discovery process has been undertaken with all 32 local authorities regarding the future of Glow – the National Learning and Teaching Platform which will inform considerations. Further engagement with these parties and others (including direct user research with teachers and learners where required) will take place during the development of the options.

Question reference: S6W-22776

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22060 by Jenny Gilruth on 6 November 2023, whether it has measured the impact and outcomes of the 2016 Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy prior to considering revising it; if so, how it measured this, and where the results of any measurements have been published, and, if no such measurements of outcomes have been undertaken, for what reason it decided not to do this, and whether it will set out its rationale for revising a strategy for which the impact has not been measured.

The 2016 Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy set out a series of national actions and local expectations to support local authorities in the development of their local digital learning and teaching offer. As set out in the strategy Education Scotland have ongoing engagement with local authorities, providing advice, support and professional learning and we know that many local authorities have made significant improvements in their use of technology in education in recent years.

Since publication of the 2016 strategy, both the technology and level of system maturity have moved on significantly, particularly following the pandemic. With a range of new and emerging technologies available, it is crucial that we continue to work with local authorities to ensure digital learning and teaching remains of a high standard now and in the future.

The refreshed digital strategy for education will build on existing practice and learning from the pandemic to support the ongoing evolution of the role of technology in Scotland’s education system.

Question reference: S6W-22886

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22203 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how much of the £140 million to support the roll-out of digital devices in the Capital Spending Review has been allocated to date; for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer, and, if it has not allocated any of the £140 million to date, whether it will confirm that.

Question reference: S6W-22887

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22202 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how much of the £13 million allocated in its Budget 2023-24 has been allocated to date; which local authorities have received funding; what proportion of the allocated funding each local authority received, and whether there is any remaining funding to allocate; for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer, and, if it has not allocated any of the £13 million to date, whether it will confirm that.

Question reference: S6W-22550

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21959 by Jenny Gilruth on 27 October 2023, for what reason the answer did not address the explicit point in both the original question and the follow-up question regarding what consequences there are for local authorities that do not meet its commitment to provide every school pupil with their own laptop or other digital device; what its position is on whether not addressing this point in both the previous answers meets the commitment set out in paragraph 1.3 (d) of the Scottish Ministerial Code, which states that "Ministers should be as open as possible with the Parliament and the public, reflecting the aspirations set out in the Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament [...and] should refuse to provide information only in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and other relevant statutes"; whether it will confirm whether (a) there are, or will be, any consequences for local authorities that do not meet its commitment to provide every school pupil with their own laptop or other digital device and (b) any consequences will be retrospectively imposed; for what reason it is still in the process of developing delivery plans for this scheme, in light of it committing to it nearly three years ago, and by what date any such delivery plans will be finalised and published.

As stated in the original answer, we continue to work to develop plans on the provision of digital devices, which includes ensuring appropriate consideration of funding, monitoring and reporting. Given the extremely challenging financial climate, it is important that this is fully considered to ensure best value.

As set out in the Programme for Government, we will publish a digital strategy to support the broader aims of the education system and further details on this strategy will be provided in due course.

Question reference: S6W-22204

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 13 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21418 by Jenny Gilruth on 9 October 2023, what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding (a) whether pupils who have received a free laptop or other digital device will receive a replacement device should theirs break, (b) how swiftly any such replacement will be made available and (c) whether it or the local authority meets the cost of any such replacement.