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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: S6O-04491

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met with the City of Edinburgh Council to discuss the reported financial pressures facing the capital.

Question reference: S6W-35537

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on restoring (a) primary and (b) secondary schools as a result of damage caused by deliberate fires in each year since 2004.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information because the statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining the school estate rests with local authorities.

However, through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with substantial funding support to modernise their school estate, and also includes replacements for schools which were significantly damaged by deliberate fires. For example, we will provide funding support of £25.8m for a replacement Peebles High School in the Scottish Borders, and £40.2m for the new Greenfield Academy in Dundee which will replace Braeview Academy and Craigie High School.

Question reference: S6W-35450

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open the Fairer Funding Fund, following the closure of the recent pilot.

The Scottish Government news Fairer funding for charities - gov.scot provides details of the announcement on 5 February 2025 of the new Fairer Funding multi-year funding pilot. It will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of their resources. The Pilot’s focus on grants connected to tackling child poverty and the delivery of frontline services to our communities will maximise the impact of longer term funding.

Officials are working with third sector partners to identify lessons and to evaluate the effectiveness of the Pilot in meeting their needs, as well as demonstrating value for taxpayers’ money.

In his address to third sector organisations at The Gathering, the First Minister stated that this was a small step, but one that signalled a clear direction of travel to increasing the number of multi-year funding agreements across the third sector.

The Pilot, which has been welcomed by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, is part of a wider package of policy measures under the Fairer Funding heading, which also includes improvements to the grant making process, more timely notifications of grant offers, streamlining reporting requirements and improving grant conditions.

Question reference: S6W-35272

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school closures there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

In 1999 there were 2,293 primary schools and in 2024 there were 1,978 primary schools.

In 1999 there were 389 secondary schools and in 2024 there were 360 secondary schools.

In 1999 there were 195 special schools and in 2024 there were 107 special schools. However, since 2018 special schools with no pupils on the roll have no longer been included in the figure, which at the time resulted in a reduction of 21 schools.

The latest data by local authority (and nationally) is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/.Table 5.1 shows the data overall, Table 6.1 shows the data for Primary schools, Table 7.1 shows the data for Secondary schools and Table 8.1 shows the data for Special schools.

More detailed information about school openings, closures, mergers and instances where a school has been mothballed can be found on the school contact details spreadsheet in the 'Schools opened or closed' tab: School contact details - gov.scot, but recording of this data is only available from 2007 onwards.

Question reference: S6W-35271

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much each local authority has spent on transport for (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school pupils in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-35269

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional (a) local authority- and (b) privately-run nursery places have been created in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-35273

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school nurses there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Data on school nurses by sector and local authority is available from 2019 to 2023, here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-management-information/

from 2017 to 2018, here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-statistics/

and from 2010 to 2016, here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

Data prior to 2010 is not available.

Data for 2024 will be released on 25 March 2025.

Question reference: S6W-35276

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many bursaries have been provided to students attending independent schools in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-35268

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) local authority- and (b) privately-run nurseries have closed in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-35274

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many attacks on a fellow pupil by (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school pupils have been recorded in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.