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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: S6W-13733

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the number of apprenticeships it has funded via Skills Development Scotland in the current academic year meets the level of demand, and, if that is not the case, how it plans to resource any shortfalls.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) allocate Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts every financial year in line with Ministerial priorities and industry demand. SDS were asked in their Letter of Guidance to deliver at least 25,000 new apprenticeship starts this financial year as part of our commitment to build back up to 30,000 starts.

SDS made an initial allocation to providers prior to the start of the year. They have kept employer demand under review during the year and in December allocated several hundred additional MA starts to providers who requested them and met eligibility criteria.

It is standard practice for SDS to review changing demand for apprenticeship starts in-year, and adjust the number of starts allocated to respond to demand as appropriate within their budget. SDS will continue to follow this process and keep under review whether any additional starts can be allocated to providers within this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-13734

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprentices have been recruited in the construction industry onto schemes funded by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in the current academic year; whether this number exceeds the number of places funded by the Scottish Government, and, if so, by how many places, and what additional support it plans to provide to SDS to cover any such shortfall.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provide funding for Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) each financial year. There were 3,231 MA starts within the Construction & Related occupational grouping up to the end of quarter 2 in 2022-23, with MA year-end statistics for 2022-23 expected to be published in May 2023.

SDS recently undertook a reallocation process for MA starts as part of their usual contract management processes and several hundred starts have now been allocated to providers who requested additional starts and met the eligibility criteria, a proportion of which have gone to construction.

It is standard practice for SDS to review changing demand for apprenticeship starts in-year and adjust the number of starts allocated to respond as appropriate within budgets available. SDS will continue to follow this process and keep under review whether any additional starts can be allocated to providers within this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-13732

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeships it has funded via Skills Development Scotland in the current academic year.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provides funding each financial year rather than academic year for Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) on behalf of the Scottish Government. Official statistics published by SDS on 8 November 2022 report there were 12,593 MA starts up to the end of Quarter 2 2022-23 with year-end statistics expected to be published in May 2023. SDS were asked in their Letter of Guidance to deliver at least 25,000 new apprenticeship starts this financial year as part of our commitment to build back up to 30,000 starts.

Question reference: S6W-13397

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 18 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent changes to the Welsh Government's Reducing Restrictive Practices Framework, what plans it has to include (a) regulations and (b) mandatory data-gathering on the restraint of children during secure transportation within the forthcoming Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill.

Following careful consideration of responses to the consultation on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government is content that there is sufficient legislative provision to enable secure transport to be utilised when necessary, and to ensure the safety of the child and others.

An overly prescriptive approach to minimising restraint practices could bring adverse consequences around escalation and criminalisation. Instead, Ministers consider that a blended framework of regulation, guidance, practice support and precise reporting is likely to best serve Scotland’s children.

Work is ongoing with partners to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of restraint in respect of children in care. This includes working with the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) to explore definitions of restraint, along with the availability of data, training and support.

A national service specification for secure transport is being developed by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group. The specification states that any use of restraint must be in line with Scotland’s Holding Safely guidance. This specification aims to bring consistency to the expectations and requirements, wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training. It also prohibits the use of mechanical restraint, handcuffs or pain-inducing techniques.

Question reference: S6O-01768

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to support young people’s mental health services, including in colleges and universities.

Question reference: S6W-13055

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement on 6 December 2022 that organisations applying for public sector grants will need to pay at least the real Living Wage and provide channels for staff to have a say in the workplace from July 2023, whether this applies to grants awarded by local authorities, and what discussions ministers have had with them on this issue.

The member is right to focus on how we are driving sustainable, inclusive economic growth in Scotland by requiring grant recipients to pay at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice. This will take further the conditionality that we have already applied to £4bn of public funding since 2019.

As long as they act lawfully it is up to each council to manages day to day business, allocate resources. Scottish Ministers have no general powers to direct a council how to use its funding. Councils are best placed to determine how Fair Work conditionality can be applied to local priorities, with delivery monitored within their normal funding and contract management arrangements.

Although local government funding is provided through grant in aid rather than direct grant, and will not be subject to Bute House conditionality, the Scottish Government asks local government to build on the shared commitment made in June 2021 by local authority Chief Officers to adopting Fair Work First. As such, we have asked COSLA and local government to consider how the new real Living Wage and effective voice conditionality can be applied to grants they award, and take action to initiate this.

Ministers have engaged regularly with COSLA, setting out the Scottish Government’s expectation that councils, alongside the wider public sector, lead the way on Fair Work. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government and Cabinet Secretary for Finance wrote to COSLA in September 2021 making clear that pay and effective voice are cornerstones of Fair Work. My officials have had regular discussions with COSLA representatives on Fair Work, and in November 2022, I met with COSLA’s resources spokesperson to discuss Fair Work and highlight this new conditionality. I also wrote to COSLA and local authority leaders on 9 December to outline the new conditionality measures being introduced to Fair Work First from July 2023, and and to reiterate the important role for the public sector in making Scotland a leading Fair Work nation.

Question reference: S6T-01060

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments by the General Secretary of School Leaders Scotland, that a reduction in budget will lead to class sizes increasing, subjects being removed from the curriculum and a reduction in the number of teachers.

Question reference: S6W-12753

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 16 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time for Social Security Scotland to process applications for Adult Disability Payment has been since it was introduced, and (a) how many and (b) what percentage of applications for Adult Disability Payment have taken more than 10 weeks to be processed.

Official Statistics on Adult Disability Payment were published on 13 December 2022 and provided information on processing times up to 31 October 2022. This publication is available from: https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance.

Information on average processing time and the profile of processing times is available in Table 9 of the accompanying Excel tables.

Question reference: S6W-12959

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12259 by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2022, on what specific dates repayments of the loan should have been made by Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd; when the last repayment was made, and what its position is regarding the length of time that long debt forbearance would usually be tolerated by a lender.

The detail requested around loan repayments made by Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd is commercially sensitive and therefore confidential.

The length of the time that long debt forbearance will be tolerated varies significantly from lender to lender and from case to case. In this instance, it is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise as the lender and therefore a matter for discussion between them and the company.

Question reference: S6O-01686

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on support for Liberty Steel Dalzell.