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-28552

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the General Teaching Council for Scotland regarding the establishment of a national standardised system for disciplinary or investigative procedures regarding teachers.

The Scottish Government has not held any discussions with the General Teaching Council for Scotland regarding the establishment of a national standardised system for disciplinary or investigative procedures regarding teachers.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), as the Independent Professional and Regulatory Body for teachers in Scotland, has a published Fitness to Teach process at https://www.gtcs.org.uk/fitness-to-teach which sets out how the GTCS will investigate serious concerns about teachers.

Question reference: S6W-28553

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the withdrawal by Microsoft of its Office 365 A1 Plus licenses for schools will have on the storage available to teachers and other school staff to store key course content.

Question reference: S6W-28554

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an equality impact assessment of the withdrawal by Microsoft of its Office 365 A1 Plus licenses for schools and, if so, whether it publish the outcome of that assessment.

Question reference: S6W-28608

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out its long-term strategy for addiction recovery services, and how will it ensure a comprehensive and effective approach to addressing both alcohol and drug misuse.

The Scottish Government remains committed to addressing the twin public health emergencies on alcohol and drugs and recognises the key role treatment and recovery services play.

Implementation of the Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards in such services is being supplemented with the implementation of UK-wide clinical treatment guidelines for alcohol services. Both MAT and the UK-wide clinical treatment guidelines will feature in the National Specification for alcohol and drugs services. We have committed to publishing the Specification and subsequent overarching guidance for treatment and recovery services, in response to recommendations made by the Drug Deaths Taskforce. The Specification and guidance, alongside MAT standard implementation and UK-wide guidelines, will help to ensure that high-quality treatment options, for those affected by addiction, will be met for years to come.

In addition, a comprehensive range of initiatives to improve alcohol and drug outcomes for people is set out in our National Mission, including investment in prevention and early intervention, improved treatment services and long-term recovery support for problematic alcohol and drug use. Investment in residential rehabilitation has increased the number of spaces for people, both now and in the future, and our work on tackling stigma aims to fundamentally break down barriers for those seeking support.

To ensure that our future strategic plans are evidence-based, they will be informed by the National Mission evaluation, with the final publication expected in 2026. In accordance with democratic processes, any future strategic plans will also take into account the outcomes of the 2026 Scottish election.

Question reference: S6W-28603

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28303 by Christina McKelvie on 9 July 2024, how it will ensure transparency and accountability in the reporting of residential rehabilitation treatment lengths once the data infrastructure is in place.

We have responded to calls for more transparency and accountability by commissioning Public Health Scotland to carry out an independent evaluation of the Residential Rehabilitation programme as part of the wider evaluation of the National Mission.

By collecting and publishing robust data, we will be able to increase the evidence base that will help us to best direct financial resource. This improved understanding means that more people will be able to access the treatment type that is right for them at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-28605

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28303 by Christina McKelvie on 9 July 2024, what action it will take if any significant discrepancies are found in the lengths of residential rehabilitation treatments across different regions or facilities.

The Residential Rehabilitation Development Working Group defines residential rehab as facilities offering programmes which aim to support individuals to attain an alcohol or drug-free lifestyle and to be re-integrated into society, provide intensive psychosocial support and a structured programme of daily activities, and which residents are required to attend over a fixed period of time.

The Scottish Government recognises that diversity of treatment options is important to empower individuals to have more choice and to meet the needs of individuals seeking different types of recovery, and this includes taking a person-centred approach to treatment length.

Question reference: S6W-28606

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the data regarding River Garden Auchincruive is absent from Public Health Scotland's Interim monitoring report on statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements, which was published on 18 June 2024.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) follows statistical disclosure control (SDC) when publishing data, including those submitted for their most recent report on statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements.

PHS applies the SDC to data due to the sensitive nature of the topic, and to reduce the risk of identifying individuals, (especially those from small geographic areas) who in this case were the number of people accessing residential rehabilitation for substance use in River Garden.

The data was therefore suppressed and an asterisk used to denote this in the published report.

Question reference: S6W-28612

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address any impact of the closure of facilities, such as Turning Point 218 in Glasgow, on the availability and accessibility of addiction recovery services for women.

The Scottish Government will address the impact of changes to service provision on access and availability to alcohol and drug recovery services by continuing to ensure that the specific needs of women are considered in the design and delivery of services, and that a gendered approach is taken in all new or developing initiatives across the National Mission to reduce deaths and improve lives.

The Scottish Government provided specific funding of around £1.5m per year to Glasgow City Council to support the 218 Service. As a result of that funding relationship, Glasgow informed the Scottish Government of its plans to re-tender the service last year and discussions took place to confirm that the funding would still be available following that exercise.

Glasgow City Council has provided assurances that it worked closely with Turning Point Scotland to support individuals in transitioning to other support arrangements and that other services, including residential placements, are available to support people with similar needs. In particular, it has confirmed that all 218 service residents had moved on from the service as of 31 January 2024 – some residents naturally came to the end of their stay, while others moved back to their own tenancy or to accommodation with support.

Question reference: S6W-28483

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many computing science teachers it expects will be recruited in 2024.

The recruitment of teachers is a matter for local authorities. Details on the number of teachers employed in Scotland’s schools will be available in the annual teacher census which is due to be published in December.

The university intake targets for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for the academic year 2024-25 are set by the Scottish Funding Council. The ITE target for Computing Science for 2024-25 is 52.

Question reference: S6W-28448

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to reducing teachers' class-contact time to 21 hours per week, and, if so, when it expects to meet this target.