- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding any potential risk to the environment of excessive removal of peat during excavation projects.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
- Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it measures literacy rates among school pupils.
Answer
The Scottish Government uses a range of data and evidence to measure literacy rates among school pupils.
Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL), data, which is based on teacher judgement, provides information on the proportion of P1, P4, P7 and S3 pupils achieving the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels in Reading, Writing, Listening and Talking. The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2022-23 data was published in December 2023.
Data on the reading skills of 15 year olds is also collected every 3 years as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Scotland’s results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022) were published in December 2023.
Annual Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations also contains data on the percentage of school leavers who attained literacy at each SCQF level. Scotland’s Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations, no. 6: 2024 was published in February 2024.
From 2026 onwards, Scotland will join the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) to gather evidence on the progress in students’ reading achievement of pupils aged 9 to 10 years.
- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that feedback from pupils and parents regarding the quality of primary school meals is taken into account when developing or improving meal provision.
Answer
Local authorities are under a statutory duty to comply with the standards set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020 when designing menus. How they do this is a matter for local decision making taking into account local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government provides advice via ‘Better Eating, Better Learning’ guidance and encourages local authorities to involve pupils, parents and carers in menu development in order to take account of local preferences and feedback as they design new menus and encourage uptake.
- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reduce the amount of saturated fat in primary school meals, and how compliance with these measures is assessed.
Answer
All local authority and grant aided schools in Scotland are under a statutory duty to comply with the standards set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The standards in the Regulations are based in scientific evidence and dietary advice designed to provide children and young people with an appropriate amount of energy and nutrients to support their healthy growth and development. The standards specify the maximum amount of saturated fat that can be contained in school meals and other food provided across the school day. Education Scotland Health and Nutrition Inspectors evaluate evidence of compliance by local authorities with the standards in the Regulations. This includes assessing saturated fat content of menus and other foods across the school day.
- Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in developing a national integrated ticketing system for the public transport network, and when it will publish the smart ticketing delivery strategy.
Answer
The Smart, Digital, Integrated Ticketing and Payments Delivery Strategy 2024 was published in August and is available on the Transport Scotland website.
The strategy outlines how the Scottish Government will progress smart and integrated ticketing, including improvements to our national concessionary schemes, such as smart vouchers for ferry concessionary travel and a new Traveline Scotland journey planning service, which launched in September. It also outlines the steps and dependencies required to deliver a national integrated ticketing system.
A new national integrated ticketing system for Scotland is part of the wider work to advance the future of public transport in Scotland, and is being progressed to the timeline as laid out in the strategy roadmap. Delivery of the strategy is supported by the work undertaken by the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) which was established in 2023 to advise Scottish Ministers on the strategic direction of smart ticketing in Scotland, including a technological standard. Timescales for delivery are set out in the NSTAB workplan published on the Transport Scotland website.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £28 million that it has spent on the National Care Service.
Answer
The National Care Service is an ongoing programme of work with funding allocated as set out in last year’s Budget.
The reported £28 million reflects the amount of funding allocated to developing the National Care Service proposals since August 2021. The majority of funding allocated to the programme is funding for existing Scottish Government staff and therefore business as usual spend.
Other areas of funding allocation include co-design and engagement work ensuring people with lived experience of accessing and delivering social care services, social work and community health are partners in developing the National Care Service proposals. We further provide grant support to lived experience groups to ensure they remain at the forefront in the design of a National Care Service. Whilst the majority of development work is carried out by Scottish Government staff, the Scottish Government occasionally requires external professional advice on complex issues, as previously set out.
The breakdown of spend on the NCS since August 2021 is as follows;
- Staff - £24.4 million
- Staff Related - £0.3 million
- NCS Programme Development – Non-Staff - £4.1million
- Total Spend - £28.7 million.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31099 by Neil Gray on 15 November 2024, which states that activity levels at Woodend Hospital will increase over the coming months, how long it anticipates it will take for the waiting list for elective surgery at the hospital to clear.
Answer
Approximately £1.36 million was initially allocated to NHS Grampian to support 980 additional orthopaedic joint procedures at Woodend Hospital over a 9 month period. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, NHS Grampian were unable to commence activity in the timeline originally anticipated and currently expect to deliver 95 additional joints at Woodend by end of March 2025.
The remainder of the funding from the £1.36 million will be redirected to other priority areas, including orthopaedic capacity at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital.
We are working with Health Boards, including NHS Grampian, to develop detailed annual delivery plans for 2025/26 to support waiting list reductions and improve productivity, and orthopaedics will be a key priority area.
