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-31231

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many student educational psychologists have joined the workforce in each year since 2018.

Educational Psychologists are employed directly by education authorities. In fulfilling their statutory duty to deliver an Educational Psychology service, it is for them to make the decisions regarding how their service will be managed, the numbers of psychologists they require, and how many psychologists they employ.

The number of student Educational Psychologists that have joined the workforce in each year since 2018 is not collected by Scottish Government as part of the annual staff census.

However, to ensure that there is a sustainable supply of Educational Psychologists to meet needs, the Scottish Government and COSLA jointly invest in the Educational Psychologist training programme, and I can confirm that the number of students completing the programme since 2018 is as follows -

Year Number of Students

2018 17

2019 12

2020 28

2021 31

2022 29

2023 25

2024 26

Question reference: S6W-31214

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25762 by Natalie Don on 13 March 2024, whether it will provide an update on what the average length of time has been between a disclosure check application being received by Disclosure Scotland and the provision of disclosure information in each year since 2016.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Table: The average number of days to process disclosure applications, by application type, calendar year 2016 to October 2024

Application Type	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024 YTD
Basic disclosure	4.0	3.9	2.9	5.5	7.2	6.0	3.4	5.9	4.0
Standard and Enhanced disclosure	5.6	5.3	4.8	7.7	8.1	7.2	5.1	7.4	8.3
PVG scheme record	5.1	4.7	4.5	9.2	9.0	7.1	6.3	8.4	7.2
PVG Scheme Record Update	2.7	2.1	2.3	6.9	8.5	6.9	6.4	8.5	7.2
PVG Scheme Membership Statement	5.3	4.9	4.8	9.4	5.9	3.9	2.2	2.9	3.6
PVG Scheme Membership Statement (Countersigned)	4.2	3.4	3.8	7.8	6.8	4.6	3.8	4.2	4.3
All application types	4.0	3.8	3.2	6.9	7.9	6.5	4.9	7.3	5.9

Question reference: S6W-31218

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the issue highlighted in the SQA Higher History Review 2024 that "recruitment and retention of sufficient markers has become increasingly challenging over recent years".

The recruitment and retention of markers is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) in its independent role as an examination body.

SQA works closely with the wider education system to promote and source markers, who are all experienced teachers and lecturers. There are established contingencies in place, should this be required, to ensure marking is completed on time.

Question reference: S6W-31237

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many buildings have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Question reference: S6W-31342

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the UK Government discussion paper, Transforming business rates, which proposes a permanently lower business rate for the retail sector from 2026-27, and whether it is considering a similar approach.

Question reference: S6W-31226

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that pupils from lower-income families can take part in school trips, including curriculum-related trips and activities, and P6 and P7 residentials.

Statutory responsibility for the delivery of school education, including any school trips, rests with local authorities and they can utilise a range of funding sources to remove or minimise costs to lower-income families.

The Scottish Government is investing up to £1 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge this parliamentary term to tackle the poverty related attainment gap, including £520 million of Pupil Equity Funding which goes directly to schools.

Headteachers are empowered to use this funding to take school-level approaches to supporting children and young people from lower income families. Some choose to contribute to or cover costs such as residential trips, theatre trips and outdoor learning experiences in order make access to such learning opportunities as equitable as possible.

A new national working group is also considering how to further promote inclusive and impactful outdoor learning in all its forms, including but not exclusive to residential outdoor education.

Question reference: S6W-31229

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the literature review that it committed to carry out to ascertain the current knowledge on masking for children and young people with additional support needs (ASN).

As part of the Scottish Government's response to the Education, Children and Young People Committee's Inquiry on Additional Support for Learning, I committed to undertaking a literature review to ascertain the current knowledge on masking for children and young people with additional support needs.

The scope of the literature review is currently being considered by my officials and I will up-date the Education, Children and Young People Committee on progress of this work as soon as I have received a substantive update.

Question reference: S6W-31163

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of its work on the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME-CFS, in light of the updated statement published in February 2023 stating that “This represents a first step in updating the Scottish Good Practice Statement", and that "Further work will be undertaken to more comprehensively review the guidance”.

We continue to explore how best to bring together cross-sector ME/CFS stakeholders, to ensure effective collaboration and engagement from all parties is considered in driving forward developments and recommendations regarding ME/CFS in Scotland.

The Health and Social Care Standards set out the expectation that care should be provided by health and social care professionals based on the most relevant evidence, guidance and best practice, as is appropriate to their profession and patient group. In July 2022 we wrote to health boards and GPs to raise awareness of the NICE guidelines and highlight key changes in practice, and these remain the most current national guidelines on the management of ME/CFS.

We are considering the potential to seek further clarity around the status and continued applicability of the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/CFS and its relationship to the existing NICE guideline.

In terms of our wider strategic work, a joined-up policy approach to long-term conditions is now being explored as the outcomes we seek are broadly the same regardless of condition including early identification and prevention, effective, safe and person-centred care and improved service delivery.

We are currently engaging with clinicians, patients, those who care for them and the third sector organisations who provide services to find out what matters to them. From this we will then have a full public consultation commencing in January 2025, following which a strategy will be developed and published later in 2025.

Question reference: S6T-02209

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is preparing for winter, in light of widespread weather-related disruption over the weekend due to Storm Bert.

Question reference: S6T-02208

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on fuel poverty in Scotland, what its response is to the reported announcement that the energy price cap will increase by 1.2% for the period covering January to March 2025.