- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an appraisal of its Innovation Centre (IC) programme, across the range of key performance indicators (KPIs) used for monitoring and reporting quarterly progress.
Answer
The Innovation Centre funding partners (Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) have commissioned an evaluation of the IC Programme led by Additional Research and in association with Context Economic and Social Research, ADD Specialists, Open Cities Ltd and IBP Strategy and Research. The report will be published shortly.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a full appraisal of the Scottish Funding Council's Upskilling Fund, from its inception in 2019, including details on (a) uptake, (b) type of learner, (c) level of qualification, (d) the (i) hours and (ii) credits of learning provided and (e) any employer engagement.
Answer
All data is provided by the Scottish Funding Council. Details are as follows:
(a) Uptake
A summary of enrolments for all courses in each of the academic years (AY) since 2019-20 is as follows:-
19-20 – 4,041 enrolments
20-21 – 7,056 enrolments
21-22 – 7,144 enrolments
(b) Type of learner
Data on type of learner is not complete due to reductions in reporting requirements during Covid for 2019-20 and due to limitations in Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) reporting which covers students studying for a qualification or credit at HE level only.
The data included below has been recorded in the HESA returns for 2020-21 and 2021-22, with the caveat that this is not a complete dataset.
The following table has been taken from HESA returns
Sex | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
Male | 2,270 | 37.4% | 3,080 | 39.5% |
Female | 3,770 | 62.1% | 4,685 | 60.0% |
Other | 30 | 0.5% | 40 | 0.5% |
Total | 6,065 | 100% | 7,805 | 100% |
Age | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
20 and under | 145 | 2.4% | 270 | 3.4% |
21 to 29 yrs | 1,640 | 27.0% | 1,665 | 21.3% |
30 and above | 4,280 | 70.6% | 5,870 | 75.2% |
Total | 6,065 | 100% | 7,805 | 100% |
Ethnicity | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
White | 5,020 | 82.7% | 6,405 | 82.1% |
BME | 675 | 11.1% | 860 | 11.0% |
Ethnicity Not Known | 375 | 6.2% | 540 | 6.9% |
Total | 6,065 | 100% | 7,805 | 100% |
Disability status | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
Has a Disability | 645 | 10.6% | 890 | 11.4% |
No Known Disability | 5,425 | 89.4% | 6,915 | 88.6% |
Total | 6,065 | 100% | 7,805 | 100% |
Deprivation status | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
MD20 | 580 | 10.0% | 720 | 9.7% |
Other | 5,170 | 89.2% | 6,620 | 89.3% |
Not Known | 50 | 0.9% | 70 | 1.0% |
Total | 5,800 | 100% | 7,410 | 100% |
Level of qualification or credit obtained on Upskilling course | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
Enrolments | % | Enrolments | % |
SCQF L11 | 295 | 29.9% | 2,635 | 77.3% |
SCQF L10 | 500 | 50.6% | 325 | 9.6% |
SCQF L9 | 155 | 15.6% | 245 | 7.2% |
SCQF L8 | 5 | 0.7% | 95 | 2.8% |
SCQF L7 | 30 | 3.1% | 110 | 3.2% |
Total | 985 | 100% | 3,410 | 100% |
For the purposes of data protection the figures for enrolments and qualifications have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.The percentages are based on unrounded figures.
(c) Level of qualification or credit
The Upskilling Fund supports SCQF levels 7-11
(d) The (i) hours The University Upskilling Fund Guidance stipulates that provision should be shorter in duration – usually significantly shorter – than a full AY.
And (ii) credits of learning provided.
Guidance states that courses/provision should normally be credit-bearing and have some form of appropriate assessment built-in. However, this is not a necessary eligibility criterion and is at the university’s discretion, based on the nature of the particular course/ provision and the needs of students.
(e) Any employer engagement
Universities are strengthening their relationships with employers as they use their employer groups and networks and trade body partnerships in the design of programmes and in the recruitment of learners.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprentices working in construction, from the 2017 and 2018 cohorts, are still in training.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have participated in Skills Development Scotland's Skills for Growth programme in each year of its operation, and what analysis has been conducted of the impact of the programme on participating businesses.
Answer
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has delivered Skills for Growth to the following number of employers:
Financial Year | Number of Employers |
2012-13 | 25 |
2013-14 | 79 |
2014-15 | 121 |
2015-16 | 238 |
2016-17 | 222 |
2017-18 | 126 |
2018-19 | 149 |
2019-20 | 170 |
2020-21 | 120 |
2021-22 | 154 |
2022-23 | 75 |
SDS evaluates the Skills for Growth service every 2 years, with the next one planned for June 2023. For further information about the evaluation, please contact SDS on corporate.affairs@sds.co.uk
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the longest delay has been, between the point of application and receipt of the first payment, for the processing of a Child Disability Payment claim to date.
Answer
I refer the member to the question S6W-17628 on 25 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is, between the point of application and receipt of the first payment, for Social Security Scotland to process a Child Disability Payment claim.
Answer
Official statistics covering processing times for Child Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Child Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 16 May 2023. Information on the average processing time by month is included in table 9. This publication is available from https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance .
Processing time is the number of working days from part 2 of the application being received to a decision being made or the application being withdrawn. It does not include time to make payments. We would normally advise to allow up to 5 days to reach a bank account once a payment is authorised.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on increasing Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure to £1.75 billion by 2025, as outlined in its strategy for innovation, and what additional funding it has put in place to support this aim.
Answer
Provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure estimate for Scotland in 2021 was £3.12bn. Note that the ONS has recently changed their measurement of BERD. The BERD statistics methodology has been improved to better capture data from smaller businesses, which has led to significant uplift revisions to BERD expenditure estimates. More work is required to further quality assure the new methodology and we will continue to work with the ONS on that. The Scottish Government and its agencies invested an additional £45m to support the increase of BERD between 2018 and 2021.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a regional breakdown of collaborations enabled by the Interface programme, also broken down by the estimated Gross Value Added (GVA) for each project.
Answer
Since August 2005, when Interface was established, it has played a role in facilitating 3,410 collaborative projects with 2,144 unique businesses. Between August 2018 and April 2023, Interface brokered 1,528 collaborations with universities, research institutes and colleges in Scotland. The regional breakdown of collaborative projects is 331 for Highlands and Islands, 353 for Glasgow City Region, 107 for South of Scotland, 359 for Edinburgh and the Lothians, 90 for Central and 288 for the North East. In 2021, an independent evaluation of Interface activity showed that the contribution to the Scottish economy from research and development projects between businesses and academics enabled by Interface was £88.9m GVA (gross value added) supporting 1,595 jobs, with expectations to reach £222.3m GVA and 3,193 jobs.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeship learning providers there have been in each year since 2018-19.
Answer
There are a range of training providers across Scotland delivering training for apprenticeships including Independent Training Providers, Colleges, Universities and Third Sector Organisations.
The number of Modern Apprenticeship contracts by year are as follows:
- 2018-19 – 268
- 2019-20 – 256
- 2020-21 – 255
- 2021-22 – 243
- 2022-23 – 228
The number of Foundation Apprenticeship providers were as follows:
- 2018 – 17
- 2019 – 39
- 2020 – 39
- 2021 – 40
- 2022 – 39
The number of Graduate Apprenticeship providers were as follows:
- 2018-19 – 13
- 2019-20 – 15
- 2020-21 – 14
- 2021-22 – 12
- 2022-23 – 12
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 23 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its "blueprint" for Entrepreneurial Campuses, as set out in Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been engaging with tertiary education providers, and other relevant stakeholders, on how to implement a structure to best support entrepreneurialism in colleges and universities and intends to publish its blueprint on entrepreneurial campuses prior to Summer recess.
