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-22650

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of registered energy efficiency businesses in Scotland, and how many qualify as SMEs, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-22647

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many students who have completed energy efficiency qualifications have remained in Scotland and are currently employed within the energy efficiency sector.

The Scottish Government does not hold or have access to information on how many students have completed specific energy efficiency qualifications or where they are currently working. As energy efficiency would typically form part of a wider course syllabus for a diverse range of qualifications including engineering, technology, science and construction, the Scottish Government is unable to identify which courses include an energy efficiency component and therefore does not have the information required to answer the question accurately.

Question reference: S6W-22655

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of existing sectoral skills within recycling services for heat pumps, and what steps it is taking to ensure that the sector is prepared for future demand.

Question reference: S6W-22658

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of existing recycling services for gas boilers, and what steps it is taking to ensure that the sector is prepared for future demand.

Question reference: S6W-22302

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what weekly interactions it anticipates the Centre of Teaching Excellence will have with individual teachers and schools.

Question reference: S6W-22306

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government against what outputs the performance of the Centre of Teaching Excellence will be measured.

Question reference: S6W-22308

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation was undertaken before launching the plans for the Centre of Teaching Excellence, including (a) the specific bodies or individuals that were involved and (b) when this took place, and when any minutes of relevant discussions will be published.

The Scottish Government undertakes regular engagement and consultation with the teaching profession, Scotland’s national education bodies, professional associations and wider stakeholders.

The June 2021 report from the OECD, “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: into the future”, set out a series of recommendations which have informed education reform focused on outcomes for learners, through improved learning and teaching. Similar conclusions were reached by Professor Ken Muir in his report "Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education". Professor Muir concluded that, “An enhanced focus on ensuring high quality learning and teaching and increased collaboration among practitioners, based on the adoption of a continuous learning mindset” was essential for Scottish education to become successful in meeting the needs and ambitions of children, young people and adult learners.

In May 2023, the Scottish Government published "All Learners in Scotland Matter", the final report of Scotland’s National Discussion on education. The National Discussion undertook extensive engagement with over 38,000 people and heard that high teaching standards and the centrality of good pedagogy was the basis for effective learning. Participants also expressed an appetite to explore approaches to improve university-school partnerships to support the future generations of teachers.

In order that each child, young person and adult in Scotland has high-quality learning experiences, excellent learning and teaching must be the foundation of Scottish education. The consultation and engagement undertaken to date, including that which underpinned these independent reports, has informed a renewed focus on learning and teaching in Scotland and the creation of a Centre for Teaching Excellence.

The Centre will be co-designed with teachers and practitioners, professional associations, local government and Scotland’s national education bodies, to ensure it meets the needs of its users and stakeholders. The announcement of the Centre lays the foundation for that engagement.

Question reference: S6W-22649

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of registered heat pump installation businesses in Scotland, and how many qualify as SMEs.

Question reference: S6W-22644

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21208 by Patrick Harvie on 26 September 2023, what the (a) smallest, (b) median and (c) largest (i) grant and (ii) loan issued under the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme was in the period from September 2022 to date, broken down by (A) local authority area, (B) household income and (C) council tax band.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme is available to all domestic owner occupied households in Scotland, therefore data on household income and council tax band are not collected during the application process. In the following table, the data requested has therefore been supplied for local authority area only.

Funding issued through the scheme often comprises a combination of loan and grant funding.

	Grants Issued (£)			Loans Issued (£)
Local Authority Area	Smallest	Median	Largest	Smallest	Median	Largest
Aberdeen City	400	4,200	12,525	600	6,118	17,754
Aberdeenshire	100	6,688	13,889	70	9,257	18,000
Angus	400	7,500	19,000	499	7,759	18,541
Argyll and Bute	40	4,697	12,000	90	2,500	19,080
City of Edinburgh	234	4,000	11,500	319	8,000	23,861
Clackmannanshire	307	4,200	10,000	375	9,250	16,000
Dumfries and Galloway	300	7,500	23,000	440	6,204	20,537
Dundee City	400	6,000	10,000	520	7,682	16,300
East Ayrshire	400	4,600	11,500	500	8,845	14,780
East Dunbartonshire	269	3,000	11,362	180	5,820	17,000
East Lothian	400	5,276	17,500	500	9,075	18,696
East Renfrewshire	270	4,200	14,748	505	6,338	18,693
Falkirk	378	4,200	9,000	390	10,000	15,293
Fife	173	4,200	11,500	248	9,590	21,186
Glasgow City	136	1,477	16,500	360	4,005	20,181
Highland	300	7,500	17,832	367	5,796	26,358
Inverclyde	400	3,900	7,701	375	6,490	12,150
Midlothian	400	5,500	10,847	281	10,000	17,000
Moray	400	7,500	20,600	1,250	7,499	22,000
Na h-Eileanan Siar	345	7,500	9,000	895	2,500	13,798
North Ayrshire	750	4,200	11,500	1,406	6,000	15,847
North Lanarkshire	190	4,200	14,025	500	9,800	17,000
Orkney Islands	400	7,500	11,097	1,250	2,560	12,000
Perth and Kinross	91	6,524	11,958	547	8,500	20,100
Renfrewshire	257	3,977	13,000	308	7,050	17,000
Scottish Borders	370	7,500	12,080	644	7,350	24,870
Shetland Islands	2,233	6,788	16,500	1,250	2,500	13,206
South Ayrshire	400	7,100	10,388	361	7,012	17,000
South Lanarkshire	269	4,200	11,790	308	7,500	17,345
Stirling	400	6,600	20,000	254	7,500	17,000
West Dunbartonshire	400	4,000	8,280	500	7,500	14,099
West Lothian	139	6,900	17,500	103	9,973	19,500

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.