- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, how many interim vouchers worth up to £400 had been granted by the date applications closed; what the total value of vouchers awarded in this part of the scheme is; how many vouchers worth up to £5,000 have been granted, and what the total value of vouchers awarded in this part of the scheme is.
Answer
As of 1 July 2022, a total of 1,031 installations have been delivered using interim vouchers at a value of £399,468. A further 204 interim vouchers have been issued at a potential value of £73,847. In addition, 1,237 installations have been delivered using main vouchers at a value of £3,104,256, with a further 762 main vouchers issued at a potential value of £2,631,657.
It is worth noting that vouchers issued do not always lead to installations being completed and, therefore, may not lead to actual spend – this can be for a number of reasons, such as the beneficiary deciding they no longer wish to proceed.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects a decision to be reached on a railway station for Newburgh in Fife following the publication of the Newburgh and Area Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance appraisal.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2022
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government in which academic year it plans for a new Scottish Education Exchange Programme to be operational for the two-way international exchange of students.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working towards the development of a Scottish Education Exchange Programme fit for Scotland. We will provide more details in due course.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the increase in funding in the Advanced Learning and Science budget for 2026-27, as set out in table 5 of the Resource Spending Review, is to fund a new Scottish Education Exchange Programme.
Answer
The Resource Spending Review provides the financial parameters for Scottish Government portfolios to collaborate with delivery partners and stakeholders to develop more detailed financial and organisational planning ahead of the next Budget in Winter 2022.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to run a formal consultation exercise on the development of a new strategy for international education, and, if so, when.
Answer
The Scottish Government has had and continues to have discussions with key stakeholders to understand their priorities and requirements for an International Education Strategy which works for Scotland.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many officials worked on international further and higher education policy within the Advanced Learning and Science team in 2021-22.
Answer
We had on average seven full-time equivalent Scottish Government Officials working on international further and higher education policy within the Advanced Learning and Science Directorate during the 2021-22 financial year.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish a new strategy for international education, as set out in its Programme for Government 2021-22.
Answer
The Scottish Government is currently engaging with stakeholders taking into consideration their ambitions and priorities to develop an International Education Strategy which works for Scotland.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take, in light of recent reports that nearly £2 million in Pupil Equity Funding has been spent on police officers in schools since 2018.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2022
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is for the currency of an independent Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-36131 by Maree Todd on 23 March 2021, what percentage of the 435 equity and excellence leads are in post; how many of the posts are vacant, and on what date all posts were filled, including where the post-holder has since moved on.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities to recruit Equity and Excellence lead posts across all 32 local authorities, but does not monitor the movement of specific staff.
Scottish Government publishes snapshot figures of graduate level posts in ELC annually in ‘Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland’. The latest figures were collected in the week commencing 13 September 2021 and published on 14 December 2021, in the ‘Additional early learning and childcare tables’: Supporting documents - Summary Statistics For Schools In Scotland 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
This showed that 356 Equity and Excellence Leads were in post at that point in time, 327 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). This was an increase from 2020 when there were 350 (316 FTE).