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

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Question reference: S5W-13077

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Scotland’s future participation in the European Higher Education Area after the UK has left the EU.

Membership of the European Union is not a prerequisite for membership of the European Higher Education Area. In addition to the European Commission and the EU Member States, a further twenty countries from across Europe participate, including Norway, Switzerland and the Russian Federation.

As such, should the UK leave the EU, the Scottish Government expects that there will be no change to the current arrangement whereby Scotland has distinct representation as part of the UK at official and ministerial level in the European Higher Education Area and the associated Bologna Process.

However, the Scottish Government remains concerned that the ability of the higher education sector to fully exploit opportunities for collaboration with partners across Europe may in practice be impeded if the UK Government does not secure ongoing participation in programmes such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and their successors, underpinned by freedom of movement of persons, should it pursue its policy of leaving the EU.

Question reference: S5W-13114

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will issue its formal response to the findings of the Student Support Review.

This Government is committed to ensuring that all students, especially those in our most deprived communities, are provided with the financial support they need to succeed. That is why we commissioned the independent review of student support, chaired by Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money UK.

The report sets out a number of recommendations that would fundamentally change the way students are supported. It is only right that we now take the time to consider these recommendations in detail. We will set out our next steps in due course.

Question reference: S5O-01586

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that sufficient funding is provided to local authorities to help them meet the needs of their residents.

Question reference: S5O-01564

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that devolved benefits will not lose their value relative to inflation.

We have already made a clear public commitment to annually uprate disability benefits, and have gone further by increasing the value of payments for some benefits. The rate of Carer’s Allowance will be increased to that of Job Seeker’s Allowance through the Carer’s Allowance Supplement and our new Best Start Grant will provide significantly more financial support, with the payment to the first child increasing from £500 to £600, restoring £300 payments for second and all subsequent children, and two new payments of £250 at key transitions points in the early years for the first and all subsequent children.

Question reference: S5W-12716

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 23 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the Education and Skills Committee report, Teacher Workforce Planning for Scotland's Schools, what the timescale is of its proposal to work with the General Teaching Council of Scotland to address additional support needs in initial teacher education, and what analysis it has carried out regarding how this could impact on continuing professional development.

I have invited Education Scotland to develop a new self-evaluation framework to support the universities that provide Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to evaluate their work. It will be designed to support teacher education universities in identifying what is working well, including highlighting features of their own highly-effective practice. The framework is being developed in partnership with teacher education universities and the General Teaching for Scotland (GTCS). It will focus on the quality of learning and teaching within ITE and key priorities, including literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and Additional Support Needs. The framework will be available in time for universities to start this work during academic year 2017-18.

The GTCS has instigated a review of their Professional Standards which will take into consideration developing education policy and thinking and which will include Additional Support Needs. The revised Standards will be published by January 2019.

Question reference: S5O-01497

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what areas will be prioritised for improvement when assessing the school inspection regime.

Question reference: S5O-01413

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on schools being required to deliver specific LGBTI-inclusive sex and relationship education.

Relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the curriculum in Scotland.

We are clear about the need for children and young people to gain knowledge appropriate to their age and stage of education and this includes issues relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people or children with LGBTI parents.

We published guidance on RSHP education in 2014 and the LGBTI Inclusive Education Working Group are currently looking at what else can be done to improve the delivery of specific LGBTI-inclusive RSHP education.

Scotland does not have a statutory curriculum, learning is tailored to meet the needs of individual children and young people.

Question reference: S5W-12081

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how its office in Washington DC supports the development of links between the film and television sectors in Scotland and the United States.

Promoting and supporting the growth and reach of Scotland’s screen sector is the responsibility of Creative Scotland. In financial year 16-17, Creative Scotland invested £10.9m to support the screen sector in Scotland.

Representatives of Creative Scotland recently attended the UK Film and TV Week held in New York this year. Arranged by the British Film Commission, the purpose of the week is for agencies from the UK nations and regions, including Scotland, to meet and pitch to a variety of US-based studios, production companies, cable providers and broadcasters and attend industry networking events. Creative Scotland will follow up the direct links made at these events to further promote the Scottish screen sector.

Question reference: S5O-01370

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the school inspection regime.

A new Standards and Evaluation Framework will be published in December 2017, which will set out the focus and frequency of school inspection.

Education Scotland has also recently announced a number of steps to improve school inspections as part of its new suite of approaches to support and drive improvement in schools. This includes increasing the number of school inspections significantly and extending their team of associate assessors to include aspiring headteachers.

In addition, from April 2018, Education Scotland will set out and publish an annual programme of inspection activity across different sectors of education, including schools. These actions will strengthen the role of inspection as a crucial tool to support improvement.

Question reference: S5W-11910

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed £20,000 career-change bursary to attract teachers in STEM subjects will be available only to people in specific industries or jobs and, if so, (a) which and (b) how long a graduate would have to have been employed in that sector to qualify.

Bursaries will be available to career changers wishing to undertake an initial teacher education course in Scotland that leads to the award of registered teacher status in one of the specified subjects, Maths, Physics, Technical Education and Computing Science.

We do not envisage that the bursary will be made available only to people from specific industries. We are currently working on the precise detail of the eligibility criteria and a delivery model. Further details will be made available shortly.

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