Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-15244

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Analysis of the Call for Evidence responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review that 65% of respondents expressed a preferred funding period for women's services of at least five years.

The Scottish Government established the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of violence against women and girls services to develop a new funding model to ensure victims have access to high-quality, accessible specialist support.

The call for written evidence is one part of the overall data collection process undertaken by the Review team, which includes around 80 engagement sessions with stakeholders. The final report will be considered by Ministers once complete, and it would be premature to comment on the views expressed by those who submitted responses before the Review has analysed all data collected and made recommendations.

The final report and the evidence provided to the Review will also inform the upcoming refresh of the Equally Safe strategy.

Question reference: S6W-15240

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the views expressed in the responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review, that early education is needed to reduce violence against women and girls.

The Scottish Government established the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of violence against women and girls services to develop a new funding model to ensure victims have access to high-quality, accessible specialist support.

The call for written evidence is one part of the overall data collection process undertaken by the Review team, which includes around 80 engagement sessions with stakeholders. The final report will be considered by Ministers once complete, and it would be premature to comment on the views expressed by those who submitted responses before the Review has analysed all data collected and made recommendations.

Our Equally Safe Strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls emphasises the importance of challenging the underpinning attitudes which enable such violence to take place, including in education settings. That is why we provide over £900k per year of funding to support education-based programmes and initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence including Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Sexual Violence Prevention Programme, Equally Safe at School, and the Mentors in Violence Prevention peer education programme. Our Gender-Based Violence in Schools Working Group is also developing a framework to carry forward this work.

Question reference: S6W-15242

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 28 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Analysis of the Call for Evidence responses to the Violence Against Women and Girls Funding Review that many responses considered that first-response services, such as forensic services, urgent healthcare treatment, emotional support and other crisis support services, should be available on-site at refuges.

The Scottish Government established the independent review to develop a new funding model to ensure victims have access to high-quality, accessible specialist support. The call for written evidence is one part of the overall review process which includes around 80 engagement sessions with stakeholders.

The Call for Evidence report refers to respondents’ views that wide geographic coverage is needed for a range of services, including refuge. The necessity to take a holistic approach to the provision of services supporting people experiencing violence against women and girls, with a combination of different services working together in a coordinated way, was also flagged.

The Funding Review, as per its remit, will seek to provide recommendations on “the development of a Scotland-wide framework which establishes a definition of the minimum level of specialist service provision” and Ministers will consider it’s recommendations in due course.

Question reference: S6F-01869

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on what discussions she has had with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in relation to bullying and harassment in schools.

Question reference: S6O-01957

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle homelessness, in light of reports that the number of people classified as homeless has reached a record high.

Question reference: S6W-14515

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with relevant stakeholders regarding the risk of geopolitical shocks to Scotland’s university funding model.

The Scottish Government along with the Scottish Funding Council work with and engage on an ongoing basis with a range of stakeholders including Universities Scotland and individual institutions, to monitor and secure the long term sustainability of the sector as a whole and ensure that Scottish Universities continue to deliver world class education. These issues were discussed at a recent meeting between myself and Universities Scotland. As part of that discussion, it was recognised that as autonomous institutions Scottish universities are responsible for managing their long term institutional stability as operated through their own entry requirements, admissions policies and budgets. It was also agreed that it was vital to explore further the impact of the UK Government’s policy on immigration on Scottish Universities’ international student recruitment.

Question reference: S6W-14015

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of provisions in the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 that would allow social landlords to evict a perpetrator of domestic abuse.

We are firmly committed to implementing the social housing tenancy related provisions at Part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 (the 2021 Act).

Work on the wide range of tasks necessary to commence Part 2 of the 2021 Act is progressing as a priority. This includes secondary legislation, changes to court rules and forms, model tenancy agreements and the development of statutory guidance in consultation with stakeholders.

We aim to bring Part 2 of the 2021 Act into force by early 2024, subject to the necessary rules and forms of court also being in place.

Question reference: S6W-14520

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of student loans for people undertaking PhD study, similar to those introduced in other parts of the UK.

The Scottish Government does not have any immediate plans to directly fund PhD students through the introduction of student loans.

We do however support postgraduate research by providing universities with funding to support the training of PhD students through the core research and knowledge exchange grants from the Scottish Funding Council. One of these is specifically aimed at PhD training and support: the Research Postgraduate Grant which is £36.9m in 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-14516

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress it has made on developing its proposed replacement to the Erasmus programme.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of educational mobility.

While we remain committed to Erasmus+, in the interim, we are creating a Scottish Education Exchange Programme to support participants from across Scotland’s education system.

This is a Programme for Government commitment and will help maintain Scotland’s place as an outward looking, internationally connected destination for work and study.

We are engaging with stakeholders from across the education spectrum, including higher and further education, schools (including early years and care), vocational education and training, youth work, adult education and sports. We are listening to the sectors and the needs of their learners and staff in order to ensure we create a programme fit for Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01584

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is investing to support the economy across the West Scotland and Greater Glasgow areas.

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