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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: S5W-07328

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider establishing a national database of available supply teachers.

To support the availability of supply teachers for schools in Scotland the Scottish Government recently increased the Primary supply assumption in the teacher workforce planning model from 8% to 12%, while increasing overall teacher student intake targets for the sixth year in a row.

We are currently working with local authority and teacher organisation partners on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) to develop a national supply booking system where those teachers seeking supply opportunities will be able to register their availability, making it easier for local authorities to identify and access available supply teachers. This system is currently being piloted.

Question reference: S5O-00672

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle livestock worrying.

Question reference: S5W-06735

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06335 by John Swinney on 30 January 2017, whether it will provide an answer to the question that was asked on what discussions it has had with the board of the Scottish Funding Council regarding the Scottish Government's plan to abolish the board, and what response it received

Question reference: S5W-06613

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish correspondence between ministers and the Scottish Funding Council between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2016, which related to the purpose of the £50 million in additional funding that the Scottish Government clawed back in 2015-16.

Question reference: S5W-06550

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what financial resources will be made available to the Commissioner for Fair Access in order to commission the research data that needs to be compiled to inform his work.

Question reference: S5W-06611

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some of the additional £50 million funds allocated to the Scottish Funding Council in 2011 was not passed on to higher education institutions as originally intended.

Question reference: S5W-06612

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) was engaged in discussions with higher education institutions about how to spend £50 million on campus development projects after the SFC had been notified in the Financial Report to its board in February 2014 that the Scottish Government would claw back this money.

Question reference: S5W-06335

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the board of the Scottish Funding Council regarding the Scottish Government's plan to abolish the board, and what response it received.

Question reference: S5W-06107

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Funding Council returned to it the £50 million underspend that it reported for 2015-16.

Question reference: S5W-06106

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Funding Council reported a £50 million underspend for 2015-16.

The £50m reported by the SFC in its reserves for 2015-16 came about because the allocation of funding to the body by the Scottish Government is made on a financial year basis, whereas the body’s spending is on an academic year basis. For this reason the SFC needs the flexibility to manage its cash flow between financial years to ensure all of its academic year funding obligations are met.

Following the award of additional funding to the SFC in the 2011 Spending Review, it rolled forward larger than normal financial year reserves. Being assured that every financial commitment to every institution had been met in full it was decided by the Scottish Government that the £50 million should come back to the government’s consolidated budget and be available to be deployed against agreed priorities.

This process was concluded as part of the Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts for 2015-16 as lodged with the Parliament in September.