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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-07628

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards and protections have been put in place for school students who may be unable to sit their examinations due to having COVID-19.

An exam exceptional circumstances service will be available for learners who miss their exam due to, for example, illness which would include being ill with Covid-19.

This service is based on SQA’s established annual process. If a candidate is eligible for exceptional circumstances, their centre will provide appropriate assessment evidence gathered during the course of the year. The SQA will review this, along with any exam script and coursework, against the national standard to award appropriate grades.

Question reference: S6W-07624

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic (a) has had and (b) is currently having on the routine vaccination programme offered to pregnant women.

The routine vaccinations for pregnant women have continued in Scotland throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage all those who are eligible to take up the offer of vaccination.

The flu vaccine has been available to pregnant women, (via their midwife) from the start of the current programme, which launched on 6 September 2021, and continued to be offered until the end of the flu season, 31 March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-07494

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase access to regular pacemaker check-ups that may have been missed due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many health and social care services, including some cardiology services, had to be suspended or reduced in scope and scale. In some instances, novel modes of delivery were adopted to maintain important services (for example, some local services implemented drive up clinics for pacemaker checks).

Evidence based caution has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of our decision making around the provision of services throughout the pandemic. To support this, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport published a national Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care across NHS Scotland on 16 November 2020, updated on 8 December 2021. The expectation is that NHS Boards will follow the principles of this Framework to ensure that the patients with the greatest need are treated quickest.

Furthermore, addressing the backlog of care while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country is a priority. We published an NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021 which sets out our plans for health and social care over the next 5 years and is backed by over £1 billion of funding,

Regular pacemaker checks typically take place in outpatient clinics and so it is relevant to note that the Recovery plan includes a focus on increasing outpatient activity through supporting sustainable improvements and new models of care.

We are also taking specific action to minimise preventable heart disease and ensure that everyone with suspected heart disease in Scotland has timely and equitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care, through the implementation of our Heart Disease Action Plan (2021).

Question reference: S6W-07497

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how long on average a young person currently has to wait for a diagnosis for additional support needs (ASN).

Additional support needs, as defined under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) arise if a child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education. An additional support need can be of short or long-term duration. Under the Act, education authorities are required to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the length of time taken to identify or diagnose a child or young person’s additional support need. Under the Act, a formal diagnosis is not required in order for support to be provided.

Question reference: S6W-07495

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional support needs (ASN) schools have been built in the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-07496

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are currently waiting for an additional support needs (ASN) diagnosis in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area.

Additional support needs, as defined under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended), arise if a child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education. An additional support need can be of short or long-term duration. Under the Act, education authorities are required to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Under the Act, a formal diagnosis is not required in order for support to be provided. The Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , published on 15 March 2022 includes the latest information and a local authority level breakdown of the reasons why additional support was provided. The data collected does not distinguish between support not being provided and a need being identified and support not being in place.

Question reference: S6W-07498

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have recently reviewed their additional support needs (ASN) policy.

The responsibility for the review of education authority policy on additional support needs rests with each individual education authority. This is in addition to the requirements of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) which requires education authorities to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Education Scotland works in partnership with the Scottish Government, ELC, schools and local authorities to improve the outcomes and educational experiences for all learners, including those who require additional support through a range of activities. These include:

Support and challenge from Education Scotland Inclusion Wellbeing and Equality Officers through the national and regional focus
Information, guidance, professional learning and reflective opportunities which include a focus on additional support needs and inclusion
The HM Inspection model of education which provides support and challenge to promote improvement for all learners through the fulfilment of statutory duties, inclusion and equality.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published our joint national response to the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning in October 2020. Angela Morgan’s report sets a clear direction in how we can continue to build on progress in this area. The joint action plan sets out the measures we will take to implement her recommendations.

Local authorities should consider these recommendations as part of implementation of additional support for learning policy locally.

We published an updated action and progress report on 1 st November 2021. The action plan and governance arrangements for this work are available from: Additional support for learning action plan: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-00936

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce the same proposals as the UK Government that will remove unsafe cladding from all medium- or high-rise buildings.

Question reference: S6O-00835

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns expressed by homeowners over the delay to help residents in homes with unsafe cladding.

Question reference: S6O-00749

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons school pupils taking examinations in some subjects, such as business or geography, will reportedly receive advance notice of what content will or will not be assessed, while those taking other subjects, such as chemistry, will receive no advance notice.