Chamber and committees

Scotland participates in the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA), which is an assessment of 15 year olds' skills in maths, science and reading. It is carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and includes over 80 countries. The assessments take place every three years across all OECD members and variety of partner countries. Scotland has participated in all eight surveys since the first wave of testing in 2000

The most recent PISA assessments took place in Scotland in October and November 2022, with over 3,000 15 year olds and nearly 120 schools participating. Scotland's results will be published alongside the international results in December 2023. The Scottish Government will publish a statistical report looking specifically at Scotland's results, with comparisons to OECD and UK countries, as well as time series results. The data will include internationally comparable data on maths, science and reading performance, alongside results of a background questionnaire answered by learners and headteachers.

The Scottish Government indicated in the Equality, Opportunity, Community: New leadership – a Fresh Start publication on 18 April 2023 that Scotland would seek to re-join the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) studies. The next PIRLS assessments will take place in 2026, with data published in 2027; with TIMSS assessments taking place in 2027 and published in 2028.

The Scottish Government also provides data on the education system in Scotland for the OECDs annual Education at a Glance publication, which is the authoritative source of data on the state of education around the world. The publication provides information on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies. This includes internationally comparable data on financial resources in education, teacher pay, working hours, professional development and organisation of schools.

I met with the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce on 6 April. Members include NHS employers, recognised nursing and midwifery workforce experts, professional organisations and academics.

Members discussed wellbeing and agreed that it will be one of five key workstreams, in building a sustainable, attractive, fair, flexible, respected and empowered workforce for the future. I am due to attend the next taskforce meeting on 28 August.

This data is not held by the Scottish Government. Local authority kerbside collections of glass are mixed with glass from various other sources like recycling centres and commercial collections for reprocessing. This is then aggregated through transfer stations, sold to various brokers and split between reprocessing plants. At each stage there will be process losses which lead to glass going to aggregate rather than remelt. It is therefore not possible to trace the origin or eventual destination of recycled glass specifically from kerbside collections.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is categorised into 3 stages. Generally, if a patient has stage A, the condition is monitored and treatment is not recommended. This is because there is no benefit in receiving treatment at this stage, and it can cause significant side effects.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, however, it may be available from local Health Boards.

The Scottish Government has made available £3 million of funding to the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted in NHS Golden Jubilee, to support implementation of the optimal lung cancer diagnostic pathway. CfSD is responsible for supporting the design and delivery of optimal cancer diagnostic pathways in NHS Scotland, and has been working with Boards across Scotland to enhance current services and direct investment to the areas with greatest need.

Employment law, including the minimum and national living wage rates, remains reserved to the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government will continue to use our Fair Work policy to encourage and promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland, including through conditionality in public sector funding. As such, there are no current plans to legislate in this area.

Payment of at least the real Living Wage is a clear way that an employer can demonstrate a commitment to their workforce, alongside other Fair Work First criteria.

Public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions. Despite that, we are continuing to engage with relevant sectors to encourage and promote fair work practices, including the real Living Wage, across the whole of the public sector in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers have not met with (a) UK ministers, (b) the Welsh Ministers or (c) representatives of international governments to discuss period dignity and the provision of free period products.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18425 on 14 June 2023. I confirm there was no crossover with the Implementation Assurance Group and Ministerial Strategic Assurance Group. The Implementation Assurance Group was disbanded in 2020 with the Ministerial Strategy Assurance Group forming in May 2023.

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

In January 2022 the Scottish Government published its draft vision for Scotland’s future public electric vehicle charging network that meets the needs of the people of Scotland and which supports a just transition and the delivery of our climate commitments. It recognises the need to attract private sector capital, skills and resources to grow the public charging network at scale and pace. A range of public bodies and other organisations, including COSLA, have been engaged over the past year as part of our work to finalise the Vision.

COSLA have also been engaged throughout the development of the EV Infrastructure Fund through which Transport Scotland is supporting Local Authorities to develop public electric vehicle charging strategies and expansion plans. These plans will help to identify future public charging needs, investment requirements and operating models for existing and new local authority owned public charging points.