- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 June 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the school attendance rates of (a) looked-after children who live (i) at home and (ii) elsewhere and (b) all other children in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
This data has only been available for looked after children since 2009-10 - it is published in the annual Education Outcomes for Looked After Children official statistics release.
Furthermore, there are two populations of looked after children for the purposes of this publication. We normally focus on children who were looked after for the whole year in which they left school rather than those who were looked after for only part of the year - this is the basis of the headline figures in the publication, so are presented here.
The overall attendance figures come from Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland.
Data on attendance is now published biennially.
These figures are also duplicated in the background note for clarity.
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School attendance - LAC at home and others
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2007-08
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2008-09
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2009-10
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2010-11
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2012-13
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2014-15
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LAC at home only
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-
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-
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78.6
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79.1
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81.7
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81.7
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LAC elsewhere or in multiple placements
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-
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-
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91.7
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92.1
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93.5
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93.6
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All LAC
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-
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-
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87.7
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88.6
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90.8
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91.6
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All pupils
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93.2
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93.3
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93.2
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93.1
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93.6
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93.7
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Sources:
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LAC data from 'Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2014-15'
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Overal data from 'Summary statistics for schools in Scotland - No. 6: 2015 Edition'
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- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, what its position is on whether the 2017-18 guidance issued to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science on 30 March 2017 reflects a narrowing of the focus of the SFC to prioritise on issues within the remit of the new strategic board following phase one of the Skills and Enterprise review.
Answer
This year’s letter of guidance clearly sets out Ministers’ priorities for the HE and FE sectors and the process is no different from previous years.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the 2017-18 guidance issued to the Scottish Funding Council by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science on 30 March 2017, what role it considers this will mean colleges and universities will have in delivering the national priorities set by ministers.
Answer
Education is this Government’s defining mission. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that every young person can access learning that will provide them with the skills and qualifications to succeed in life and enable them to help create and benefit from sustainable economic growth in Scotland. The role of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is critical to helping us achieve both excellence and equity in education. As set out in the SFC’s 2017-18 letter of guidance, Ministers expect the SFC to make decisions that ensure the funds provided to it by the Scottish Government are used to drive sustainable economic growth, deliver the priorities detailed in the letter and achieve the outcomes set out in the SFC’s 2015-2018 Strategic Plan.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work on 20 March 2017, (Official Report, c. 82), to whom the chair of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) will be accountable under the new enterprise and skills governance structure; what role the new strategic board will have in directing the SFC's activities with regard to (a) promoting knowledge exchanges between universities and business, (b) developing graduates' skills and capabilities, (c) promoting excellence in teaching and research, (d) promoting access to higher education and (e) overseeing the financial sustainability and good governance of higher education, and how it will ensure that the priorities of the board do not supplant those of the SFC.
Answer
The Chair of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) will remain accountable to Scottish Ministers. The Ministerial Letter of Guidance to the SFC sets out the SG’s priorities for the SFC and the SFC will continue to be held to account against this framework. Following the creation of a Strategic Board for enterprise and skills, the new board will have responsibility for the development of a Strategic Plan for the enterprise and skills bodies, which will be approved by Ministers.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what projection Skills Development Scotland has made of labour market needs in (a) 2022, (b) 2027 and (c) 2037, broken down by sector.
Answer
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) base projections of future labour market needs through a range of routes including direct engagement with employers, engagement with industry bodies and Industry Leadership Groups, and joint work with other partner agencies including Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council.
SDS is responsible for contributing to the Skills Planning model and we work closely with employers, industry, trade unions and others, to develop Skills Investment Plans (SIPs), Regional Skills Investment Plans (RSIPs), and Regional Skills Assessments (RSAs).
In 2016 SDS commissioned Oxford Economics to prepare a range of economic and labour forecasts up until 2024. The forecasts provide detailed information to support the decisions making sound investment in skills.
These forecasts can be found on the SDS website at https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/publications/?page=1&topic[]=5-8&order=date-desc
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on removing unit assessments from Advanced Highers.
Answer
The Deputy First Minister’s announcement of 21 September included the removal of mandatory unit assessments from Advanced Highers.
The removal of the mandatory unit assessments will significantly reduce workload and liberate teachers to focus on teaching their pupils.
The decision was discussed with the Assessment and National Qualifications Group. The group includes a range of education stakeholders, including teacher unions, head teachers, the National Parent Forum of Scotland, COSLA, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, college and higher education representatives, and national education bodies. Members of the Teacher Panel were also consulted prior to the announcement.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 26 April 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given to support inter-faith groups in each year since 1999, and how much it will provide in 2017-18.
Answer
Since 2002, the Scottish Government (and formerly the Executive) has provided a total of £2,565,693 to interfaith organisations in Scotland. We do not hold information on funding prior to 2002.
Applications received seeking funds from the Scottish Government’s Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund 2017-20 are being assessed and decisions will be released in June 2017.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 April 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to provide schools with evidence-based information on the interventions that will most effectively reduce the attainment gap.
Answer
Online materials have been published this year through Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub to give teachers and school leaders access to effective interventions to help close the poverty related attainment gap which are based on practice examples from around Scotland. We continue to work with partners to ensure this suite of materials is continuously updated and refreshed with examples of successful approaches. This includes working with the Education Endowment Foundation to provide a dedicated Scottish specific version of its toolkit data and application interface. An initial version was launched on 15 February 2017. Additionally on 18 April 2017 A Research Strategy for Scottish Education was published which sets a framework for activity on how the most relevant evidence can be made available to all levels of the school system.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 25 April 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given to the Voluntary Action Fund in each year since 1999, and how much it will provide in 2017-18.
Answer
The following table sets out how much funding the Voluntary Action Fund (VAF) has received from the Scottish Government since 2001-02; and how much it has received to date in 2017-18. We cannot comment on any on-going funding applications at this stage.
We are unable to provide data for financial years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 as our electronic records do not go back this far.
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Financial Year
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Total
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2001-02
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£289,543.00
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2002-03
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£1,605,858.00
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2003-04
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£1,627,064.00
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2004-05
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£1,658,600.00
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2005-06
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£1,455,053.66
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2006-07
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£2,712,488.76
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2007-08
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£2,620,702.87
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2008-09
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£4,390,395.62
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2009-10
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£5,311,415.25
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2010-11
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£5,386,558.00
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2011-12
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£6,165,329.63
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2012-13
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£7,838,589.03
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2013-14
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£22,889,692.49
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2014-15
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£16,898,943.82
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2015-16
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£17,522,212.55
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2016-17
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£16,248,617.76
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2017-18 (to date)*
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£2,402,888.69
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*this is the amount awarded to date and further awards may be made during the year. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a tendering exercise for the management of grants previously contracted to VAF. A total figure for funding provided to VAF in 2017-18 cannot be provided until financial year end.
This resource has supported the delivery of the following funds on behalf of the Scottish Government:
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Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund
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International Year of Volunteering 2001
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Ethnic Minorities Grants Scheme
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Valuing Volunteers
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Volunteering Scotland Grants Scheme
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Go4Volunteering
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Race Equality Integration and Community Support Fund
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Scottish Refugee Integration Fund
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Community Chest
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Equality Grants Programme
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European Year of Volunteering
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Equality Fund
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Community Safety Core Grants
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Community Grants
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Children’s Services Fund
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Rape Crisis Specific Fund
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VAW National Orgs
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Tackling Sectarianism Grants
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Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund
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Violence Against Women and Girls
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Volunteering Support Fund
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Fairer Scotland Engagement Fund
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Healthier Scotland Engagement Fund
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Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund
