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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-29642

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when the 2019-20 child poverty report will be published.

As I outlined in response to S5W-29680 on 8 June 2020; due to the unprecedented impact of Coronavirus we have made the difficult decision to delay preparation and publication of the 2019-20 Progress Report on Child Poverty, which was required by end June 2020.

This has allowed officials to focus efforts on protecting communities from the impacts of the virus in line with the powers provided by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020.

We will consult with the Poverty and Inequality Commission in relation to progress made and the further progress required, ensuring they have the time they need to consider this request.

Tackling child poverty remains an absolute priority and we are committed to publishing the report as soon as reasonably practicable in the circumstances.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5O-04454

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting older people to keep connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S5W-29016

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26932 by Paul Wheelhouse on 22 January 2020, whether it will provide an update regarding by what date section 14 of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 will come into force.

Activity on Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) had, regrettably, to be put on hold to enable Scottish Government officials, across a number of portfolios of relevance, to focus on delivering the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including specific, targeted engagement with islands communities with resilience matters and drawing in resources from across Government and our partners on their behalf.

However, as communicated at a recent meeting with the Chief Executives and Leaders of the Islands Authorities at the Islands Strategic Group on 26 May 2020, we had been exploring how to recommence this work, given that civil service resources are gradually being released back to portfolio teams. The development of regulation for ICIAs has now been re-activated and prioritised, and a timetable for the implementation of ICIAs has been finalised.

Owing to the reduction in sitting time that the Scottish Parliament currently is operating, and the need to strictly prioritise urgent COVID 19 legislation, it is difficult to give a firm timescale for the coming into force of the provisions relating to ICIAs. However, the current aim is that the necessary regulations will be laid later this year, and we will seek to do as early as possible within the context of the Parliamentary constraints outlined, in recognition of the importance of this to our islands communities.

Question reference: S5O-04416

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Brexit negotiations.

Question reference: S5W-29482

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will meet its commitment to ensure that every secondary school has counselling services by September 2020.

It is expected that the commitment to ensure access to a counsellor in every secondary school from September 2020 will be met. The mental health and wellbeing support being put in place by local authorities, including providing access to counsellors, is a crucial aspect for supporting children and young people’s mental health, both in the current period of closures and as we seek to recover from COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-29484

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will meet its commitment to ensure that, by the end of academic year 2019-20, every local authority will be offered training for teachers in mental health first aid.

The 2018-19 Programme for Government, included a commitment to enhancing support and professional learning materials for teachers on good mental health, including, ensuring that by the end of academic year 2019-20, every local authority will be offered training for teachers in Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid (SMHFA) Training using a ‘train the trainer’ model to enable dissemination to all schools.

All 32 local authorities have been offered the Scottish Mental Health First Aid training .

Question reference: S5W-29485

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of teachers have received mental health first aid training.

Since 2014, the Scottish Government and Education Scotland have supported local authority staff, including staff from school settings, to attend Mental Health First Aid Training. School staff could include teachers, teaching assistants and additional support needs staff. We do not hold the information on which school staff have received the training. Local authorities and schools were encouraged to identify members of the school community who were best placed to identify pupils who may be struggling with mental health issues.

Following the training, practitioners can then attend an additional element of the programme called ‘Training for Trainers’. This allows the practitioners to train local staff to deliver the training in their schools. Education Scotland produce annual reports on delivery of Mental Health First Aid Training. The reports for years 1-4 of the are available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/wellbeing-in-schools/ .

In addition, we have established a working group to enhance existing materials and develop a new professional learning resource which will equip all school staff to support children and young people. This will enhance the strategies already available to schools and will be published towards the end of 2020.

Question reference: S5W-29481

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the qualification pathways required to meet the national professional standard for school counsellors funded through its 2018-19 Programme for Government have been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, in particular for (a) the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and (b) Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA).

The Scottish Funding Council does not normally monitor the delivery of qualifications in real time or get involved in the detail of the assessment process at institution or subject level. However, the Scottish Funding Council has been surveying institutions on COVID impact and all have assured that they are working hard to put in place alternative arrangements to ensure that students can complete their studies and be fairly assessed.

In terms of assessment and registration for particular professions, each Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body will have a slightly different approach to what it requires from providers at this time. However, we understand that training courses that support accreditation towards a professional body have continued online with many student counsellors given the opportunity to work towards becoming competent in them delivering therapy online with support provided via placement providers and via college/university teaching.

Additionally, SQA has been providing advice and support to centres to ensure that disruption to the delivery of counselling training within our approved centres is minimised and mitigated as much as possible. The Centres involved have been able to adapt delivery and assessment models to facilitate remote learning and assessment including, where appropriate, evidence of competence from online and telephone counselling sessions.

Question reference: S5W-29483

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in its 2018-19 Programme for Government, how many additional counsellors will be in place in secondary schools by September 2020.

Question reference: S5W-29486

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many school nurses are currently in place, and how many new school nursing posts have been filled in each of the last three academic years.

NHSScotland Workforce statistics, including school nurses, are published on a quarterly basis and can be found on the NHS Education for Scotland Nursing and Midwifery dashboard here: https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/workforce-official-statistics/nhsscotland-workforce/publications/02-june-2020/dashboards/nursing-and-midwifery/

Information on school nursing posts filled is not held centrally, but by individual NHS Boards. The quarterly workforce publication includes vacancy information.