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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5F-02842

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2018

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that student access to Scotland's universities is based on the principles of equity and excellence.

Question reference: S5O-02595

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent Purple Tuesday, what action it is taking to support the improvement of retail experiences for disabled people.

Question reference: S5O-02539

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers have received payments under the National Basic Payment Support Scheme since August 2018.

Question reference: S5W-19617

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many communications it has received from teachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools who have responded to the First Minister’s offer on 4 October 2018 (Official Report, c.9) to report to her any serious concerns they have about work pressures in the classroom.

Question reference: S5O-02530

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the NHS integration joint board structure.

Question reference: S5W-19121

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on “essay mills”, in light of Universities UK's comment that they should be banned in the UK in order to protect the integrity of university education.

While all universities have disciplinary procedures to tackle cheating students, any potential legislation to ban essay writing companies is a reserved matter for the UK Government.

Protecting the integrity of our higher education sector is vital and we will be working with the expert group created by the UK-wide Quality Assurance Agency to consider whether further action is needed to crack down on these so-called essay mills.

Question reference: S5O-02368

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of traffic flows on the Queensferry Crossing since it opened.

Transport Scotland will be undertaking an evaluation of the Forth Replacement Crossing Project, one, three and five years after opening in line with Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation, against both the transport planning objectives and wider evaluation criteria. In addition, Transport Scotland is undertaking an evaluation of performance one month after motorway regulations came into effect and will undertake additional evaluation once the Intelligent Transport Systems measures are in operation. These evaluations will consider pre-opening and post-opening traffic data.

Question reference: S5F-02581

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 September 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 September 2018

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to improve the implementation of the 1+2 modern languages policy in broad general education.

Question reference: S5W-18382

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether parents of P1 pupils are entitled, in law, to withdraw their children from standardised national tests.

As set out in the joint statement with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, the SNSAs, in common with virtually all aspects of the Scottish curriculum and its delivery, are not provided for in legislation. This means that they cannot be seen as compulsory, but also that there cannot be a legal right for parents to withdraw their children from the assessments, or indeed any other part of the school curriculum (with the exception of some parts of religious observance and instruction). In practice however, if parents or carers have any particular concerns about their child’s participation in the SNSAs, they should discuss this with their school with a view to reaching agreement on whether the child will undertake the assessments, as they would for any other aspect of learning, teaching or assessment.

Question reference: S5W-18164

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 August 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 August 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the analysis by Professor Jim Scott, which states that the narrowing of subject choice options in the senior phase of many schools is partly responsible for the weaker trends in attainment in National 4 and National 5 qualifications.

During the Senior Phase (from S4 to S6), young people will look to acquire a range of qualifications and awards over that 3 year period. The freedom and flexibility that schools have in the design of their senior phase is entirely in keeping with the Scottish Government’s empowering schools agenda. The precise number and range of qualifications on offer, as well as when they are taken, will be a decision for schools to take in consultation with learners and parents. The guiding principle is that qualifications are taken at the appropriate stage for the individual young person over the three years of the senior phase, with the aim of allowing learners to achieve the highest possible level of attainment.

In analysing attainment in national qualifications, the focus should, therefore, be on the range of qualifications and awards that young people leave school with. So, whilst we may see fewer entries for qualifications at lower levels, the proportion of young people leaving school with qualifications at these levels has increased in recent years. For example, the proportion of leavers with at least one pass at SCQF level 5 or better has increased from 77.1% in 2009-10 to 86.1% in 2016-17.

In keeping with the focus on supporting young people to achieve the highest possible level of qualification, there are more Highers entries and passes under the current Senior Phase model than under the pre-Curriculum for Excellence arrangements. For example, the proportion of leavers with at least one pass at SCQF level 6 or better has increased from 50.4% in 2009-10 to 61.2% in 2016-17.

At the same time, we are also seeing young people attaining a broader range of qualifications and awards. Over 50,000 skills-based qualifications, awards and certificates have been achieved this year, more than double the figure attained in 2012.