- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve access to elective professional learning within the teaching sector.
Answer
Teachers in Scotland are required to spend 35 hours on professional learning per year and to engage in a Professional Update process every five years as a requirement for registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
As set out in the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers Handbook, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure a wide range of professional learning development opportunities and the teacher’s responsibility to undertake a programme of agreed professional learning. This should be capable of being discharged within contractual working time.
In terms of the provision of professional learning for teachers at a national level, Scotland’s national education agency will have an important role in supporting a thriving professional learning sector through a national framework for professional learning and will build on the existing and well-regarded national leadership professional learning programmes.
Establishing the new Centre for Teaching Excellence will also ensure every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching. Effective professional learning, development and dedicated time for collaboration is critical to improving performance in the classroom.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that teachers are not required to work beyond a 35-hour working week.
Answer
While employment practice is a matter for local authorities as employers, the Scottish Government values teachers and recognises concerns around teacher workload. That is why we remain which is why we remain committed to reducing class contact time by 90 minutes giving teachers more time out of the classroom.
We continue to explore with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) how we can best progress the commitment to reduce class contact time.
To help inform this discussion the WPI report which was published on 7 May contains a number of high-level future scenarios and assesses their broad compatibility with any changes to teachers’ contracted class-contact time. These scenarios will help to facilitate our discussions with SNCT partners on how we can best deliver this commitment and ensure effective and evidence-informed workforce planning.
Any changes to terms and conditions for teachers in Scotland are a matter for the SNCT.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 16 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S6W-27078 by Natalie Don on 9 May 2024, whether "the data from that exercise" was submitted to the Scottish Government in June 2024 as anticipated in order to inform the Scottish Government's approach, and, if this is not the case, for what reason, and when it anticipates that the data will be submitted.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been working with AssistFM and Improvement Service to map existing breakfast provision across Scotland, including a survey to all primary and special schools to understand the scale and uptake of provision.
A report with the findings from the mapping exercise was submitted to the Scottish Government in June 2024.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the conclusions of the UK Parliament Education Committee regarding a consultation on a total ban on smartphones for under-16s and a statutory ban on mobile phone use in schools, what its position is on the committee's conclusions and any relevance that these may have in Scotland.
Answer
The findings of the UK Parliament Education Committee are noted. It is recognised that the Committee's considerations and recommendations are rightly focussed on the interests of the UK Government and that the legalities around ‘banning’ mobile phones elsewhere in the UK differ from those in Scotland. This is because in Scotland our Local Authorities have statutory responsibility for the delivery of Education and it is consequently a decision for our Headteachers currently, whether or not they would wish to enforce a ban in their school estate.
Nonetheless, the Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward national guidance on mobile phones in schools in Scotland. The guidance has been informed by a range of research and evidence and will make clear that should Headteachers wish to do so, they are empowered to ban mobile phones within their school estate.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to tackle long ambulance turnaround times.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what the average reduction in journey times has been on each of the national train routes across Scotland in each year since 2016.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.
The Scottish Government’s High Level Output Specification (HLOS) strategy requires Network Rail to take full advantage of maintenance and renewal works and timetable development processes to enable ScotRail to achieve improved journey times. It is also a requirement of the ScotRail Policy Compendium and Grant Agreement that ScotRail works with Network Rail to deliver a high performing railway, with competitive journey times.
Office of Rail and Road's Annual Assessment of Network Rail, which is published on its website, provides information on average national journey time for year 2022-23:
Annual Assessment of Network Rail - April 2022 to March 2023 (orr.gov.uk) , which the member might find of interest.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on the (a) uptake and (b) outcomes of support from the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme in each year of its operation.
Answer
The following table shows the level of Mode Shift Revenue Support grants awarded by the Scottish Government since the introduction of the scheme plus details of the committed traffic.
Year | MSRS - Grants Awarded | Containers Moved by Rail or Water |
2010-2011 | £753,751 | 121,100 |
2011-2012 | £739,280 | 115,740 |
2012-2013 | £759,801 | 114,930 |
2013-2014 | £751,575 | 121,280 |
2014-2015 | £727,327 | 132,453 |
2015-2016 | £636,899 | 103,148 |
2016-2017 | £638,157 | 122,565 |
2017-2018 | £688,480 | 129,537 |
2018-2019 | £776,484 | 140,441 |
2019-2020 | £597,714 | 124,143 |
2020-2021 | £574,903 | 151,224 |
2021-2022 | £477,423 | 85,099 |
2022-2023 | £539,853 | 129,872 |
The Scottish Government has a range of annualised data on the uptake and outcome of the Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme including the value of Grants Awarded and the number of containers moved by rail or water. In total, between 2010-11 and 2022-23, £8,661,647 of awards were made leading to 1,591,532 containers moved by rail or water.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding it has provided to ScotRail in each year since 2016.
Answer
The information requested is available online and can be found in the Transport Scotland’s annual accounts via the ‘Publications’ section of the Transport Scotland website, Publications | Transport Scotland .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the trial in 2020 of bringing timber out of Caithness by rail has not been meaningfully followed up, in light of it reportedly being successful.
Answer
The movement of freight is a commercial matter and the Scottish Government’s leadership in support for rail freight is outlined in our 2016 rail freight strategy, and put into practice with significant investment, a freight-first approach, and through our regulatory rail freight growth targets. The 2020 timber by rail trial in the Far North of Scotland proved the concept and provided lessons for the industry on the Scottish timber market, rolling stock/wagon capability and availability, operational considerations and the finances/economics of moving timber by rail. It is for the industry to lead on any follow up activities and Network Rail remains engaged with the industry through the Scotland Freight Joint Board and works with Freight Operating Companies and Freight End Users to enable modal shift to rail.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on (a) what the outcomes were of the Lifting the Spirit trial at Elgin in 2013 and (b) whether it was operationally successful, and what it did to build on that trial.
Answer
The movement of freight is a commercial matter and the Scottish Government’s leadership in support for rail freight is outlined in our 2016 rail freight strategy, and put into practice with significant investment, a freight-first approach, and through our regulatory rail freight growth targets. The Lifting the Spirit Trial at Elgin in 2013 was led by regional transport partnership HITRANS, in partnership with the Scotch Whisky Association, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Moray Council and the EU Food Port. Their report is publicly available with lessons learnt. It is for the industry to lead on any follow up activities and Network Rail remains engaged with the industry through the Scotland Freight Joint Board and works with Freight Operating Companies and Freight End Users to enable modal shift to rail.
