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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: S4W-25536

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 27 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to help town centre regeneration in (a) Perthshire and (b) Kinross-shire.

The Town Centre Action Plan (TCAP) confirms a cross-government responsibility to put in place the conditions necessary to support action at local level, encouraging the wider public, private and community sectors to help address issues faced by our town centres.

We agreed the Town Centre First Principle with COSLA in July 2014. The principle requests that all sectors put the health of town centres at the heart of proportionate and best value decision making. We continue to engage with COSLA and our wider partners to determine how the principle will work in practice.

Our Town Centre Action Plan – One Year On progress report, published in November 2014, highlights key activity that is underway.

In April 2015, we launched two new online resources: the Town Centre Toolkit, which is being hosted and actively promoted on the Scotland’s Towns Partnership website, and the Understanding Scotland’s Places data platform which was developed in conjunction with a consortium led by Carnegie UK.

These new resources form part of a growing package of support being funded during the TCAP demonstration phase, available to councils, business and local communities to allow them to identify and understand the assets in their town, and to help them revitalise their town centres.

http://www.scotlandstowns.org/resources-and-toolkits

http://www.usp.scot/

Question reference: S4F-02830

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2015

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding the concerns expressed by parents and pupils about the recent SQA Higher Mathematics paper.

Question reference: S4W-25535

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve road safety on the A92.

Over £24 million has been invested on the A92 since 2007 to ensure it is well maintained and operates safely. Our operating company BEAR Scotland has completed a Route Accident Reduction Plan report covering the A92 between Halbeath and the Tay Road Bridge. The aim of this report was to develop a prioritised list of improvements to the A92 and these will enhance road safety. Many of the safety improvements identified in this report have already been delivered and others are programmed for this financial year.

Transport Scotland continues to engage with Fife Council and Glenrothes Area Futures Group (GAFG) to discuss safety more widely on the A92. The Minister for Transport and Islands will meet with Fife Council and the GAFG on 4 June 2015 to discuss a way forward in ensuring that the A92 is fit for purpose.

Our operating company BEAR Scotland has carried out a pedestrian assessment on the A92 in Freuchie (a similar assessment was previously undertaken in 2010).The finalised assessment will be published by the end of June 2015.

We continue to assess the safety performance of the A92, alongside other trunk road routes, on an annual basis and look to improve the safety of the route to support anticipated traffic levels.

Question reference: S4W-25533

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of repairs arising from school vandalism has been in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S4W-25534

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Aileen McLeod on 21 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with local authorities to take forward flood defence projects.

Question reference: S4W-25427

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the finding of the 2014 Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy suggesting that literacy standards among schoolchildren have fallen and, in light of this, for what reason its Standing Literacy Commission has previously claimed that such standards have improved.

Tackling inequality is at the heart of this government's agenda so that every child can succeed in school and gain the skills they need for life. Literacy and numeracy are vital skills in this regard. The most recent findings from the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) found that most Scottish pupils are doing well, but the Scottish Government has already acknowledged that the results are not as good as they should be.

The independent Standing Literacy Commission considered a wider range of qualitative and quantitative data and evidence - prior to publication of the SSLN 2014 results - and concluded that many of the key indicators of literacy development in early years, school and adult literacy are moving in the right direction. The commission stated clearly that there is still progress to be made, especially in closing the gap in attainment between the most and least disadvantaged young people. They also made 13 recommendations to improve literacy levels in Scotland, across all sectors, which we are studying carefully and intend to respond to in due course.

Question reference: S4F-02788

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2015

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the concerns raised by the charity, Clan Childlaw, regarding the data-sharing aspect of the named person legislation.

Question reference: S4W-25387

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the number of disabled people enrolled in modern apprenticeships.

In December 2014 the Scottish Government published Developing the Young Workforce: Scotland's Youth Employment Strategy - Implementing the Recommendations of the Commission for Developing Scotland's Young Workforce. You can view the document via the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0046/00466386.pdf . ‘Section 5: Equality’ on page 29 details steps the Scottish Government is taking to tackle inequality for our young people.

With specific regard to the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme, our national skills body, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), published their Equality and Diversity Mainstreaming Report 2015-17 in April 2015. The report can be accessed via the following link

http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/1344738/equality_and_diversity_mainstreaming_report.pdf . Section 5.2 (pages 20 - 28) updates SDS' 2013-15 action plan; details future actions; and notes performance measures towards improved participation in the MA programme by those from BME communities and disabled people and improved gender balance in occupational participation across MA frameworks.

Question reference: S4O-04233

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will seek an extension to the deadline for the registration of single application forms for rural payments and services.

Question reference: S4W-24879

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected number is of (a) primary and (b) secondary headteachers who will hold the new professional masters qualification by (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21 and (iii) 2021-22.

These figures are not currently available. The Scottish Government is currently working with the Scottish College for Educational Leadership and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland to estimate the number of teachers that will need to be trained between now and the requirement coming into force in 2018-19. It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure they employ suitably qualified staff to lead schools.