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-20521

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of speech and language therapists.

Over the next three years the Scottish Government will invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language for children and their families, helping to build confidence and capacity for staff working in early learning and childcare settings, and joining up efforts across other key public services, such as health visiting.

In our Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026, we outlined a commitment to invest in a new programme of work to support early intervention in speech and language. As part of that work we are recruiting six Full Time Equivalent Regional Leads for Early Years Speech and Language – in collaboration with Education Scotland.

The leads will be based in each region in Scotland, aligned to Regional Improvement Collaboratives. We anticipate that their work will improve outcomes for children’s speech and language across Scotland, by setting up new stakeholder networks, supporting frontline staff, promoting quality improvement and learning from best practice.

Question reference: S6W-20571

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many households in Scotland have received support through boiler replacement schemes in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government operated a boiler scrappage scheme from May 2010 to March 2013. Details of the number of boilers replaced through this and other historic schemes funded by the Scottish Government are published on the Energy Saving Trust website .

Since 2013 the Scottish Government has provided help with the cost of replacement heating systems as part of our wider energy efficiency schemes. These include Area Based Schemes launched in 2013 and Warmer Homes Scotland which replaced the previous Energy Assistance Scheme in September 2015.

The Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme was launched in 2016. Since December 2022, the Scottish Government only provides support towards the costs of replacement heating systems with low or zero direct emissions through the new Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme.

Table 1. Households receiving support with a replacement heating system through the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback Scheme (now HES Grant and Loan)

Local Authority	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Aberdeen City	32	35	64	26	36	26
Aberdeenshire	34	33	35	42	83	69
Angus	19	22	12	12	28	26
Argyll & Bute	9	15	14	17	34	32
City of Edinburgh	101	94	73	43	87	113
Clackmannanshire	3	6	4	8	4	8
Dumfries & Galloway	14	22	22	22	41	29
Dundee City	35	37	17	8	21	13
East Ayrshire	11	15	13	8	19	26
East Dunbartonshire	11	15	4	7	25	24
East Lothian	21	16	20	12	33	30
East Renfrewshire	15	10	3	6	18	21
Falkirk	22	22	16	14	18	31
Fife	64	74	47	38	81	73
Glasgow City	44	53	36	20	35	42
Highland	59	39	36	48	109	105
Inverclyde	4	7	5	3	16	6
Midlothian	10	12	10	4	11	25
Moray	4	6	11	14	29	33
Na h-Eileanan Siar	4	8	3	3	8	11
North Ayrshire	15	28	11	13	21	13
North Lanarkshire	28	30	10	12	14	28
Orkney Islands	4	3	10	12	31	14
Perth & Kinross	18	28	21	27	50	70
Renfrewshire	14	23	14	6	26	23
Scottish Borders	17	27	22	26	47	42
Shetland Islands	8	6	5	10	20	7
South Ayrshire	16	17	7	13	22	25
South Lanarkshire	29	42	29	22	41	55
Stirling	14	27	19	16	28	37
West Dunbartonshire	3	5	4	2	6	5
West Lothian	20	23	22	13	15	50
Total	702	800	619	527	1057	1112

Replacement heating systems have also been installed through our Warmer Homes Scotland scheme which is targeted at those in or at risk of fuel poverty.

Table 2. Households receiving support with a heating system through Warmer Homes Scotland

Local authority	15-16	16-17	17-18	18-19	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23
Aberdeen City	39	121	93	100	64	71	109	130
Aberdeenshire	56	193	144	115	98	74	146	144
Angus	29	118	87	75	54	39	90	116
Argyll & Bute	24	127	91	85	74	49	92	73
City of Edinburgh	59	259	250	201	180	159	311	334
Clackmannanshire	14	47	30	29	29	20	34	60
Dumfries & Galloway	59	178	205	145	120	79	155	129
Dundee City	55	181	193	112	87	93	146	164
East Ayrshire	36	102	85	61	84	57	120	92
East Dunbartonshire	25	75	58	55	65	55	100	69
East Lothian	20	66	43	50	49	32	60	98
East Renfrewshire	24	61	69	60	49	43	72	62
Falkirk	34	92	96	71	89	74	116	112
Fife	104	329	315	228	216	196	333	408
Glasgow City	132	408	432	388	348	347	540	467
Highland	72	435	293	199	156	109	192	160
Inverclyde	26	218	145	110	125	66	134	114
Midlothian	20	67	59	56	54	41	73	87
Moray	17	81	66	47	52	40	69	73
Na h-Eileanan Siar	5	89	144	85	82	50	50	20
North Ayrshire	45	131	92	68	81	53	123	123
North Lanarkshire	84	320	254	222	242	235	353	339
Orkney Islands	6	27	29	24	21	10	16	9
Perth & Kinross	41	118	115	83	70	58	102	117
Renfrewshire	56	154	156	115	119	80	166	163
Scottish Borders	21	95	101	62	57	42	70	81
Shetl& Islands	1	6	44	28	34	17	32	29
South Ayrshire	29	132	108	64	76	48	104	108
South Lanarkshire	81	299	284	169	224	213	340	336
Stirling	25	56	56	32	43	24	45	55
West Dunbartonshire	18	67	52	55	51	46	78	56
West Lothian	33	122	111	103	82	68	147	169
Total	1,290	4,774	4,300	3,297	3,175	2,588	4,518	4,497

Information about the number and type of measures delivered by local councils since 2013 through Area Based Schemes is published on the Scottish Government website.

Details of the number of replacement heating systems funded as part of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme since 2013 are published by the UK Government .

Question reference: S6W-20435

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has closed the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels loan scheme for applications that are not part of a package of measures.

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme offers funding for a range of zero direct emissions heating systems, energy efficiency measures and additional measures, including solar PV and energy storage systems in some circumstances.

The Scottish Government has not closed this scheme, but has changed the conditions for funding of solar PV and energy storage systems.

For the reason behind this decision, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19607 on 28 July 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website .

Question reference: S6W-20562

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the representatives of the education and lifelong learning sectors that it has discussed the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) with in the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-20537

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last undertook a review of the school estate, and what the conclusions were.

The Scottish Government collects information on the condition, suitability and capacity of all local authority schools in the annual School Estates Core Facts Survey. Information is also collected on schools that were built or substantially refurbished during the previous year. The latest School Estate Statistics were published on 5 September and are available on the Scottish Government website .

The Scottish Government’s School Estates Core Facts Survey show that we have a record number of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition in Scotland. Moreover, the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition has increased from 61% in April 2007 to 90.7% in April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-20580

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value of its investments in CodeClan were.

Question reference: S6W-20563

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which representatives of the education and lifelong learning sectors it is scheduled to engage with on the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) in the next six months.

Question reference: S6W-20549

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities provide (a) in-house school counselling services on location in secondary schools and (b) external access to counselling services for secondary school pupils.

Question reference: S6W-20583

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to help grow Scotland’s economy through the tech sector and to bridge the technical skills gap, for what reason it reportedly did not provide support to CodeClan.

Codeclan was a private sector enterprise and its financial stability was the sole responsibility of its management and board of directors.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise worked intensively with CodeClan to explore every possible option to secure a sustainable future, including commissioning the support of private sector consultants.

Ministers are legally bound by subsidy control rules which set clear thresholds on the level of public funding that can be injected into private businesses. In this case the sum required to place the business on a stable footing significantly exceeded these thresholds, with no guarantee of future viability.

Question reference: S6W-20547

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to discuss violence in schools at cabinet level.

I will lead the summit on behaviour and relationships in our schools, with the first stage of the taking place on 5 September. The views and experiences of school staff will be central to the summit process, which is focusing on practical support at classroom, school and local level to make a difference on this issue.

A multi-stage approach to the summit is planned to ensure the issues are considered in detail and to allow the later stages of the summit to benefit from the latest data following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools research. This research will provide a robust national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland’s schools when it publishes in Autumn this year.

As well as our plans for the summit, I convened a Headteacher taskforce which includes representatives from across the education sector. The taskforce met in June and we considered the issue of school exclusions and consequences. We will use these discussions to inform our approach to the summit.

I will continue to update Cabinet colleagues in the usual manner.