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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-19152

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost of administering the Skills for Growth programme has been in each year of its operation, including staffing and any direct business support.

Question reference: S6O-02452

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what post-diagnostic clinical support is available for autistic children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-18678

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will update its target to grow Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure to £1.75 billion by 2025, in order to account for the change in methodology used by the Office for National Statistics.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have recently changed their measurement of Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure which has led to significant uplift revisions to BERD expenditure estimates. Work is currently underway between the Scottish Government and the ONS to further quality assure the new methodology; once this work is complete the Scottish Government will consider target setting options. The Scottish Government's recently published National Innovation Strategy will monitor a range of metrics to track progress over the next decade through its Innovation Scorecard, including tracking Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD), Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) spend and BERD spend.

Question reference: S6W-18634

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the updated Stroke Improvement Plan, and whether there will be the required resource provided to allow its implementation.

We will publish our Stroke Improvement Plan on 14 June 2023. Funding to drive forward the actions in the plan has been confirmed for 2023-24 with some of the implementation work already underway.

Delivery of the actions contained within this plan will enable us to minimise preventable strokes and to ensure timely and equitable access to life-saving treatment and a person centred, holistic approach to care that supports rehabilitation.

Question reference: S6O-02392

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-18532

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what Barnett consequential funding it received as a result of the UK Government’s £63 million Swimming Pool Support Fund, and how much of this has been used to support swimming pools in Scotland, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government places great importance on swimming pools. They are crucial to the wellbeing of all our country and most importantly, for our children and young people to be healthy and active.

The financial package announced by the UK Government to support swimming pools in England has resulted in consequentials being added to the overall Scottish block.

We will continue to work with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming and local government partners to consider what additional support can be provided to swimming pools and the wider sport and leisure sector in Scotland. At present, no additional funding has been provided to local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-18368

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which apprenticeship providers have delivered (a) Modern, (b) Foundation and (c) Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland in each year since 2018-19, also broken down by occupational grouping.

Question reference: S6W-18288

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
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.

Question reference: S6W-18100

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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.

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
Sex	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
Age	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
Ethnicity	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
Disability status	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
Deprivation status	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.

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.

Question reference: S6O-02346

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
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.