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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: S6O-02146

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding action to prevent child sexual exploitation.

Question reference: S6W-16121

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that compulsory redundancies are being implemented by colleges.

Question reference: S6T-01299

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on targeted counsellor funding for colleges and universities.

Question reference: S6W-15243

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the view expressed in a number of the responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review that the loss of single-sex services and facilities erodes female privacy and deprives women and girls from feelings of security and comfort.

Question reference: S6W-15241

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the view expressed in a number of the responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review that there is a need for single-sex services with female-only staff to be widely available to women.

Question reference: S6O-01998

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when its response to the Agriculture Bill consultation will be published.

Question reference: S6W-15238

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent UCAS Equal Consideration application deadline data for 2023, in light of reports that, for Scotland-domiciled students of all ages, there has been a 23% reduction in applicants to nursing courses and a 25% reduction in applicants to teacher training courses.

Although UCAS has confirmed that at the end of the January equal consideration date there has been a reduction in applications compared to this time last year, our higher education institutions will continue to accept, and consider, applications until the end of June and thereafter through any clearing process. Therefore, we expect application numbers to continue to increase. Scotland’s higher education institutions are working hard to recruit applicants to their nursing programmes and it is worth noting that not all funded places are applied for via UCAS(for example our Open University funded places), and these applications will also contribute to final numbers.

Alongside this, we continue to explore alternative pipelines into the nursing profession such as earn as you learn routes and apprenticeships. In addition to that work we will also address current challenges to the nursing profession in relation to workforce supply, retention and professional development as part of the new Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce. This will ensure our nurses, already the best paid in the UK, will have the best conditions and career opportunities.

We realise that recruitment to initial teacher education is challenging for various reasons and this is being seen across the UK. However, as in previous years, Scottish universities will keep their application processes open until they have met their targets in both primary and secondary by subject. We will continue to work with universities to monitor applications to all initial teacher education programmes. Typically, we have seen teacher training applicants increase by around 17% by the end of the application cycle.

Question reference: S6W-15161

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights report, Racially Motivated Bullying: Policies and Recording in Scotland's Schools, published in November 2022, which found that, in 2020-21, 61% of schools did not record any incidents of bullying using the SEEMiS Bullying and Equalities module, and 83% of schools did not record any incidents of racially motivated bullying.

Bullying or racism of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly and effectively whenever it arises. Schools need to be clear on the distinctions between bullying and other forms of prejudice such as racism.

It is for schools and local authorities to decide what action should be taken depending on the individual circumstances of challenging behaviour. We expect schools and authorities to record and monitor all incidents of bullying and racism in schools.

On 23 February 2023, HM Inspectors of Education published their report of the thematic inspection we commissioned on the national approach to recording and monitoring bullying incidents in schools.

There are positive findings in the report that we should build on. However, we acknowledge that there is also room for improvement and we are taking immediate action to ensure schools and school staff have the right support in place to prevent and respond to bullying.

We are also working with a wide range of anti-racism organisations to further strengthen resources and approaches to prevent and respond to racist incidents through the Anti-Racism in Education Programme Board.

Question reference: S6W-15205

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report presented to the West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Board's Audit and Performance Committee, which showed that, in the third financial quarter of 2022-23, only 50% of 16- and 17-year-olds had gone on to attend higher education courses or training opportunities at the point of leaving care.

This Government firmly believes that every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

We worked with Universities Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council to ensure that all of Scotland’s higher education institutions committed to guaranteeing an offer of an undergraduate place at university to care-experienced applicants who meet minimum entry requirements. This was effective from autumn 2019 for learners entering university in autumn 2020.

We also introduced the Care Experienced Bursary in higher education in 2017 and further education in 2018, replacing loans with non-income assessed, non-refundable bursaries.

Many young people leaving school may first attend college before progressing to university at a later stage. In the college sector, 3.6% of enrolments to full-time HE and 9.6% of enrolments to full-time FE courses in 2020-21 were from care-experienced students.

University remained an attractive destination for many college qualifiers in 2020-21, with 41.6% going on to university. Of those who qualified in 2019-20, 93.0% of care-experienced leavers from full-time HE college courses and 94.0% from full-time FE courses with known destinations were in work or further study 3-6 months after qualifying.

The Scottish Government remains committed to “Keeping The Promise”. The Promise was published in February 2020 and highlighted the need for robust “scaffolding” or support network to support care leavers or those with care experience.

Continuing Care and Aftercare are both components of ground breaking measures introduced in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 to improve outcomes for young people leaving care by supporting and developing positive transitions.

We are also committed to ensuring a range of positive destinations, including transition into employment and other training opportunities.

By the end of Q3 2022-23, there have been 401 new Modern Apprentice (MA) starts from individuals who self-identify as care-experienced, and 151 of these are in the 16-19 year old age bracket. Skills Development Scotland Management Information data shows that there are currently 630 care-experienced MAs in training, with 17 of these individuals in West Dunbartonshire.

Our national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), have operational responsibility for our MA programme and provide funding contributions towards the cost of training and assessing apprentices, on behalf of the Scottish Government. SDS continue to engage with training providers to support the promotion of apprenticeship opportunities to care experienced individuals.

Additionally, funded through our Developing the Young Workforce programme, MCR Pathways and Career Ready target young people from care-experienced and less advantaged socio-economic-cultural backgrounds and communities. Both are currently operating in West Dunbartonshire and help young people to progress to a positive post-school destination.

Question reference: S6O-01989

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics for the year ending December 2022.