- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 6 September 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) Higher and (b) Advanced Higher examination markers the SQA employed in each year between 2010 and 2016, broken down by subject.
Answer
This is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked the Chief Executive of SQA to write to you.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 22 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers took advice on the potential for their plans to break data protection laws and, if so, whether it will be made public.
Answer
The information sharing provisions in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 do not break the Data Protection Act 1998. The Supreme Court judgment released on the 28 July 2016, ruled that the information-sharing provisions of the 2014 Act are incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that changes are needed to make those provisions compatible with Article 8. It is standard practice for the Scottish Government not to state whether legal advice has been sought or received or to reveal the content of that advice.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 22 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether it took legal advice regarding the information sharing proposals in the named person legislation and, if so, who gave the advice and when it was received.
Answer
It is standard practice for the Scottish Government not to state whether legal advice has been sought or received or to reveal the content of that advice. On introduction, the Presiding Officer stated that the Children and Young People Bill would, in her opinion, be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Mark McDonald on 22 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what feedback from the Information Commissioner’s Office in relation to sections 26 and 27 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill the Minister for Children and Young People was referring to in evidence to the Education and Culture Committee on 7 January 2014 (Official Report, c. 3247).
Answer
On 16 December 2013, Ken Macdonald, Assistant Commissioner (Scotland & Northern Ireland) at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), wrote to the Education and Culture Committee, setting out the ICOs feedback on the proposed Scottish Government amendments to the information sharing sections of the Children and Young People Bill. The Scottish Government’s amendments on information sharing were discussed at the Education and Culture Committee on the 7 January 2014, where the Minister referred to the ICO feedback of 16 December 2013.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 18 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the self-certification system used to approve school building works and ensure that all school buildings are compliant with the relevant building standards.
Answer
The Building (Self-Certification of Structural Design) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 which permitted the self-certification of the structural design of buildings under building regulations were revoked with the introduction of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.
There are no current plans to change the system of building standards certification under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, which includes certification of the design of building structures.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many sniffer dogs have been in active service for police services across Scotland since 2007.
Answer
This information is not held by the Scottish Government.
The deployment of police dogs is an operational matter for Police Scotland.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have been fully trained in the handling of sniffer dogs since 2007.
Answer
This information is not held by the Scottish Government.
The training of police dog handlers is an operational matter for Police Scotland.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities to ensure that required school building inspection standards are met.
Answer
The Government has regular discussions with local authorities on a range of matters relating to their school estate. However, the responsibility for issues relating to health and safety and the structural condition of schools, along with all their other buildings, rests with local authorities. National Guidance is provided to assist local authorities in assessing the condition of their school buildings.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 14 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 August 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the remit of Education Scotland to include, in school inspections, the quality condition of school buildings.
Answer
The responsibility for assessing the state of school buildings lies with local authorities. Any robust quality assurance and scrutiny needs to come from examination by technical specialists in building standards and health and safety. Education Scotland is not staffed, and nor was HMIE in the past, with specialists with the skills to give that sort of assurance either through direct inspection or through examining any technical documents schools might provide.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 July 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 28 July 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Education Scotland regarding the frequency of inspections in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answer
The frequency of both primary and secondary school inspection will form part of the Government publication Standards and Evaluation Framework in June 2017 as signalled within Delivering Excellence and Equity in Scottish Education: A Delivery Plan for Scotland.
It is anticipated that the frequency of school inspection will increase over coming years as signalled by Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Executive of Education Scotland, in his article within the Herald newspaper on 21 January 2016.