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-18182

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some local authorities are rolling out Maths Recovery training for teachers to address learning gaps caused by interrupted learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Education Scotland National Numeracy and Maths Team continue to support local authorities and schools in delivering Maths Recovery training for teachers.

Education Scotland has led the Early Career Teacher (ECT) maths programme for two years and will do so again in academic session 2023-24. The programme was originally aimed at those who were unable to participate in normal school placements due to the pandemic and is designed to build confidence in teaching maths and numeracy. ECT has been accessed by over 1,000 practitioners this academic year and has been expanded to include teachers returning to the profession and those wishing to refresh their skills. In addition, Education Scotland has supported local authorities in Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, and Aberdeenshire in response to COVID-19 through a Maths Recovery Pilot; the outcome of which has yet to be evaluated.

Scottish Government is aware that some local authorities offer extensive Maths Recovery training which is not specifically related to the impacts of COVID-19. For example, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire have been offering Maths Recovery for some considerable time.

Question reference: S6W-18311

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of courts fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and what funding has been made available to fix any such buildings.

Question reference: S6W-18267

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on how many of the domestic electric vehicle chargers funded through the Energy Saving Trust's domestic chargepoint funding scheme are (a) currently reported as faulty and (b) no longer in use.

Question reference: S6W-18364

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP surgeries there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in GP surgeries have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in GP surgeries, as of 1 May 2023.

There were 905 general practices in Scotland at 1 April 2023( General practice list size and demographics information - General practice data - General practice - Our areas of work - Public Health Scotland ).

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of general practices with dedicated mental health professionals; or on the total number of mental health professionals based in GP surgeries.

However, at 31 st March 2022, nearly 80% of GP practices across Scotland had access to a Mental Health Worker under either the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) and/or Action 15. Under Action 15, an additional 958.9 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health roles had been filled by the end of the commitment in March 2022, including 356.1 WTE posts in GP practices. The final Action 15 figures up to 01 April 2022, were published on 12 July 2022 ( Mental health workers: quarterly performance reports - gov.scot(www.gov.scot).

We have allocated over £107 million since 2018-19 to enable recruitment to these posts and will continue to provide the necessary funding to ensure that these posts are protected in 2022-23 and beyond.

Under the PCIF, a total of 259.9 WTE mental health workers had been recruited at March 2022 ( Primary Care Improvement Plans: Summary of Implementation Progress at March 2022 ). PCIF data to March 2023 will be published in summer 2023.

There are also mental health professionals directly employed by general practices in addition to those employed under the PCIF and Action 15. These professionals are not separately identifiable within the published GP in-hours workforce survey results . We expect numbers to be relatively small.

Question reference: S6W-18338

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is measuring the impact of the Scottish AI Playbook.

The Scottish AI Playbook is a “one stop shop” for anyone in Scotland embarking on a journey involving AI whether it’s learning, using, developing, deploying or just exploring. It is a shared and living asset, embodying Scotland’s AI Strategy ethos of openness, transparency and collaboration. With this in mind, the Scottish Government has focused on the development of meaningful partnerships within the Playbook to support and demonstrate wider impact.

To date, the Playbook has established partnerships with CyberScotland, Fintech Scotland, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Jisc National Centre for AI in Tertiary Education and Scotland’s Futures Forum. A further five partnerships are currently in the development phase.

Further collaborative opportunities are in development, namely through the creation of Playbook hubs. The first of these hubs currently in development is focused on Data and AI in the Healthcare space. As part of the development of this hub, a quantitative approach to measuring impact will be initiated, through namely through Google Analytics integration into the Scottish AI Playbook MediaWiki platform.

The Scottish Government also understands that impact can be both felt and measured qualitatively, in the feedback and experiences of Playbook users. With this in mind, the next phase of Playbook development also includes a period of user consultation and feedback in order to measure experiential impact. This will be subject to resourcing and budgetary considerations, as it is recognised that measuring impact in this way, while highly valuable and beneficial, is resource intensive.

While the impact of the Scottish AI Playbook either is or will be measured in several different ways, it is noted that an overarching approach to impact and impact measurement is currently in development by the Scottish AI Alliance. Once this impact measurement approach and associated framework is in hand, it is likely to have an effect on the way in which the impact of the Scottish AI Playbook is measured.

Question reference: S6W-19068

Asked by: Ivan McKee, MSP for Glasgow Provan, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the National Innovation Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-18551

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last evaluated the pathway into educational psychology.

The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed a joint funding model in 2018 to support the training of new Educational Psychologists. This model was agreed and developed by the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP). The NSSGEP is chaired by the Scottish Government and includes representation from professional bodies, ADES, COSLA and EIS.

The training programme is evaluated by Dundee University in several ways. A six-yearly cycle of periodic programme review is undertaken and was last completed in September 2021. This review concluded with a very positive evaluation of the training programme. The British Psychological Society re-accredits the programme every three years, and provided a positive evaluation in September 2021. The University also conducts an annual programme evaluation to ensure the training programme is meeting the needs of students and to make small improvements as required.

The Scottish Government and COSLA engage and work closely with our training and delivery partners to ensure that the training programme remains robust and sustainable.

Question reference: S6W-18569

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals of cases to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have been made by Marine Scotland in each year since 2009.

Question reference: S6W-17581

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make additional Humanitarian Emergency Fund spending available for Sudan, in response to the reported impact of escalating violence and conflict.

The Scottish Government stands with the international community in deep concern over the spiralling violence in Sudan.

The Scottish Government maintains a £1 million per year Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF). Decisions on which crises to respond to are made by the Scottish Ministers based on recommendations from the HEF Panel. This expert Panel is made up of eight representatives from leading humanitarian aid organisations in Scotland.

We are in contact with the Panel regarding the situation in Sudan and expect to provide further information on this in due course.

Question reference: S6W-18334

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Scottish AI Alliance has received, broken down by (a) public and (b) any non-public funding.

The Scottish AI Alliance is a partnership between The Data Lab and the Scottish Government and is led by a Minister-appointed Chair and overseen by Senior Responsible Officers from The Data Lab (CEO) and the Scottish Government (CDO).

The team consists of 4 Scottish Government Civil Servants and five individuals who are based at the Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, which is administratively hosted by the University of Edinburgh.

An annual grant is paid to the University to cover the cost of staffing and activities carried out by the Data Lab team, including the delivery of the annual Scottish AI Summit, – the cost of this is as follows –

2021-22 - £265,000.00 – Grant awarded via Scottish Funding Council

2022-23 - £505,593.15 – Grant awarded directly by Scottish Government Digital Directorate

This is therefore all public funding and there is no private funding of the Alliance.

Year	Cases referred to COPFS
2009	No Data
2010	15
2011	18
2012	1
2013	10
2014	9
2015	17
2016	13
2017	27
2018	4
2019	11
2020	4
2021	1
2022	15
2023 to 7 June 23	3