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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.

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Question reference: S6W-22871

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) strategy and (b) funding is in place to (i) recruit BSL teachers and (ii) train practising teachers in BSL.

Under The Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that teachers employed to teach pupils who are deaf or deafblind hold an appropriate qualification. Local Authorities are supported in implementing these duties through our national guidance . We are working with partners to update this guidance to ensure staff have the latest advice on routes to professional qualification.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Sensory Centre to provide advice and training to school staff on support for children and young people with specific communication and sensory needs, including BSL users. Education Scotland has also developed a professional learning resource which seeks to support practitioners to engage more effectively with BSL users.

On 6 November, we published the BSL National Plan 2023 to 2029, which includes an action focussed on increasing the opportunities for Teachers of the Deaf to gain the highest possible qualification in BSL. Progress will be overseen by the BSL National Plan Implementation Advisory Group. An update report will be published in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-22850

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make BSL a core subject in primary schools.

Modern Languages is one of the eight core curricular areas within Curriculum for Excellence, and British Sign Language (BSL) is one of the languages that can be provided within a school’s language offer to their pupils. While it is the responsibility of local authorities and schools to choose the specific languages covered within their language curriculum, the Scottish Government is taking a range of steps to promote and support BSL learning.

Since 2013, Scottish Government has provided more than £50 million in funding to local authorities and partners to support the teaching of additional languages in schools. For example, in relation to BSL specifically, a digital resource pack to support the delivery of BSL learning inschools was developed by Highland Council and was adopted by many local authorities. In addition, the Scottish Government funding to the University of Strathclyde and the Scottish National Centre for Languages supported a programme of online BSL lessons for primary pupils.

Surveys of local authorities asking which languages are offered by their schools showed that the number of primary schools offering BSL has more than tripled between 2019 and 2021.

Question reference: S6W-22853

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government who will sit on the BSL National Plan Implementation Advisory Group.

Question reference: S6W-22851

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total number is of BSL teachers currently working in primary schools.

This information is not held centrally.

The 2022 pupil census records 3740 pupils in Scotland in receipt of additional support as a result of hearing impairments and a further 69 recorded as deafblind. The level of support from a qualified Teacher of the Deaf depends upon the individual needs of each pupil. Under the Additional Support for Learning Act all teachers have a role in meeting the additional support needs of pupils with hearing impairments and those who are deafblind.

Question reference: S6O-02808

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support children with long COVID.

Question reference: S6W-22870

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support will be made available to encourage the learning of BSL as a second language for (a) people who are hard of hearing, (b) deafened people and (c) people at risk of a second sensory loss.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting children and adults who have deafness, sight loss and dual sensory loss to access the support and social care they need through its See Hear Strategy, published in 2014.

The Scottish Government provides Section 10 funding for Deafblind Scotland’s BSL Café Project. This project supports people who are at risk of a second sensory loss to acquire further communication skills by teaching them BSL. We will encourage Deafblind Scotland to share the learning from this project.

A refreshed See Hear Strategy is due to be published in February 2025 and will incorporate the views of people with lived experience. Communication will of course be an important theme of the new See Hear strategy. An action on encouraging learning BSL as a second language will be included in the first draft of the strategy, to be considered by stakeholders.

Scottish Ministers have allocated almost £6.2M of funding since 2014 to support the local implementation of the Strategy and help drive progress.

Question reference: S6W-22869

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to SMEs to help and encourage them to employ BSL users.

In November 2023 the Scottish Government launched the British Sign Language National Plan which contains 45 actions focused on addressing the barriers faced by BSL users in their daily lives.

The Scottish Government has since 2020 provided around £1,000,000 funding to Apt-PSP to enable employers to better attract, recruit, and retain disabled people. Since the outset, Apt-PSP has included representation from organisations that focus on British Sign Language users, and this has included support for employers, including micro, small and medium sized employers assist them in supporting them in BSL related issues.

Question reference: S6W-22752

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is considering to better support parents and families facing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder during pregnancy and early years.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that Scotland’s babies have the best possible start in life. Before birth, midwives, maternity and other professionals can apply the values and principles of ‘Getting it right for every child’ to support parents in considering their wellbeing, and that of their baby.

As part of their booking process, all women are asked a variety of wellbeing questions, including on alcohol consumption, to assess for additional care needs which may assist them, and their families, to prepare for parenthood and facilitate positive maternal health.

All of Scotland’s young families are entitled to the support of a Health Visitor until a child starts school through the Universal Health Visiting Pathway. Where additional input is required, the pathway provides a gateway to other levels of Health Visiting provision and referrals to more specialised healthcare services.

Additionally we have established The Family Nurse Partnership programme which provides intensive, tailored support to eligible first-time mothers aged 19 and under across Scotland. An expansion of this programme will see an additional 500 families supported per year by the end of 2025.

Question reference: S6W-22751

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a collaborative approach with its counterparts across the UK to increase knowledge and awareness of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Scottish Government officials have made contact with Northern Ireland and have met with counterparts in England and Wales regarding fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) policy. We will continue to share learning and consider how these discussions will inform FASD policy in Scotland.

In addition to the links through policy officials relating to FASD, our funded FASD delivery partners are also linked in nationally with other third sector organisations as well as universities and researchers.

Question reference: S6W-22749

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the adequacy of support and services available for people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing the harm caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy and to supporting those impacted by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

We recognise there is more that needs to be done to support people with FASD, that is why we provide funding to the Fetal Alcohol Advisory Support and Training Team (FAASTT) to allow the delivery of training to improve knowledge, attitudes and confidence in professionals working with individuals with FASD.

We also provide funding to the FASD Hub in Scotland with the aim of providing support, training and advice to families, carers and professionals supporting children affected by FASD as well as a new project supporting adults with FASD. This was the first FASD Hub of its kind in the UK.