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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-02711

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress on reducing teachers’ class contact time.

I have commissioned an external research exercise to consider how best to progress the commitment to reduce class contact time by 90 minutes per week. Any reduction in class contact time will, additionally, require the agreement of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

The research exercise will inform decisions on education workforce planning for future years, bringing together a range of factors, including current teacher numbers and pupil teacher ratios. The research is due to report by the end of December.

Question reference: S6W-22757

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans' Recognition Scheme.

In May 2021 the Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans Joint Group – Strategic Oversight Group set a priority to develop a Veteran aware GP accreditation programme, now called the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme (“the Scheme”). The aim of the scheme is to raise awareness among General Practice of some of the health challenges that veterans and Armed Forces Families face as a result of military service and improve person centred outcomes and care for the armed forces community.

Following the incorporation of feedback from practices who agreed to be part of an initial pilot, I can confirm that the Scheme will be open to all General Practices in Scotland on 6 November 2023.

General Practices who wish to sign up to the Scheme, should contact gp-afv@gov.scot for more information.

Question reference: S6W-22542

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 October 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 October 2023

To ask Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on phase 3 of the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

I am pleased to announce that the successful Learning Estate Investment Programme Phase 3 projects are as follows:

1. Hazlehead Academy (Aberdeen City)

2. Mull Campus (Argyll and Bute)

3. Lochies ASN School (Clackmannanshire)

4. Lenzie Academy (East Dunbartonshire)

5. Carrongrange ASN School extension (Falkirk)

6. Forres Academy (Moray)

7. Chryston High School extension (North Lanarkshire)

8. Kirkwall ASN Centre (Orkney)

9. Brae Campus (Shetland)

10. Riverside and Letham Primary School (West Lothian)

I am grateful for all the bids that local authorities submitted. This newest phase of investment through our Learning Estate Investment Programme will continue to support local authorities, who maintain statutory responsibility for the school estate, to build modern, state of the art, learning environments.

The decision will mean that every local authority which has submitted a bid through the Learning Estate Investment Programme has now received funding for a project in Phases 1, 2 or 3.

The £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme follows on from the successful £1.8 billion Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme, which delivered 117 new or refurbished learning facilities across Scotland.

As a direct result of Scottish Government investment, the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition has increased from 61% in April 2007 to 90.7% in April 2023.

We will now take forward further engagement and collaboration with COSLA to explore how we can address the remaining sub-standard condition schools, and schools required due to population growth, which remain a priority for local authorities across the country.

Question reference: S6O-02593

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps are being taken to re-open the Independent Living Fund.

Question reference: S6O-02566

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose a parliamentary debate on the removal of nuclear weapons from Scotland, as proposed in its paper, Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02547

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water has completed any remedial works to prevent future flooding in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency, following reports of widespread flooding in the area earlier this year.

Question reference: S6W-19905

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of education spending per person in Scotland, and on how this compares to levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Estimates of education spending per person for the 2021-22 financial year were published in HM Treasury’s 2022 Country and Regional Analysis. Education spending (including school and higher and further education) per head of population across Scotland, England and Wales is shown in the following table.

	Scotland	England	Wales
Education spending per person	£1,758	£1,439	£1,680

Source: Country and regional analysis 2022 , table A.15, HM Treasury, November 2022

More recently, April 2023 research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that in 2022-23 school spending per pupil was around £1,300, or 18% higher in Scotland than in England and Wales. A side-by-side comparison of this spending is shown in the table below.

	Scotland	England	Wales
School spending per pupil aged 3-19	£8,500	£7,200	£7,200

Source: How does school spending per pupil differ across the UK? , Institute for Fiscal Studies, April 2023

Question reference: S6W-19907

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels for the higher education participation rate among people in the 16- to 30-year-old population in Scotland, and how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Information on the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) is published by the Scottish Funding Council in their annual publication Higher Education Students and Qualifiers, table 37.

In 2020-21, the HEIPR for 16–30-year-olds in Scotland was 60.2%

HE Students and Qualifiers at Scottish Institutions 2020-21 (sfc.ac.uk)

Methodology for England isn’t directly comparable due to the inclusion of Alternative Providers and a slightly different age range (17 to 30). However, by removing Alternative Providers this gives a figure of 55.6% for England.

Participation measures in higher education, Academic year 2020/21 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk)

No HEIPR is published for Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19906

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels for the starting salary for a qualified teacher in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19904

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of average household water bills in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.