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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: S5W-06874

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S5W-06400 and S5W-06391 by Mark McDonald on 1 February 2017, where it will list each of the nurseries, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S5W-06722

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government where the Commissioner for Fair Access will work, and what the cost of this will be.

The Commissioner for Fair Access is based in London and much of his work in Scotland will involve engagement with stakeholders across the education sector at a variety of locations. The Commissioner will have access to Scottish Government meeting rooms should he require meeting space in Scotland and is likely to undertake some work from London. There are therefore no direct accommodation costs associated with this role.

Question reference: S5W-06719

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff the Commissioner for Fair Access has and, of these, how many are (a) full-time equivalent and (b) secondments from the Scottish Government or its agencies, broken down by salary range.

At the current time, the Commissioner for Fair Access has the following staff available to him to support his work:

1 x full time SG Statistician (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x full time Implementation Adviser/Researcher who is seconded from the university sector (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x 0.5 full time equivalent SG Policy Team Leader (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x 0.25 full time equivalent SG Policy Officer (salary range: £23,383 to £26,448)

This support complement will be further expanded if and as required and will be informed by the Commissioner’s assessment of his needs for staffing support.

Question reference: S5W-06721

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what staffing support it will make available to the Commissioner for Fair Access.

At the current time, the Commissioner for Fair Access has the following staff available to him to support his work:

1 x full time SG Statistician (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x full time Implementation Adviser/Researcher who is seconded from the university sector (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x 0.5 full time equivalent SG Policy Team Leader (salary range £46,424 to £55,275)

1 x 0.25 full time equivalent SG Policy Officer (salary range: £23,383 to £26,448)

This support complement will be further expanded if and as required and will be informed by the Commissioner’s assessment of his needs for staffing support.

Question reference: S5W-06724

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how each of the recommendations of the Commission on Widening Access has been implemented and, for those that have not been implemented, when they will be.

The Commission made 34 recommendations for different parts of the education system, a number of which were for the Scottish Government to take forward. In line with dates set by the Commission, the Government has appointed a Commissioner for Fair Access and has also made arrangements for the provision of a care experience bursary for those studying in 2017-18. The Government immediately accepted the targets proposed by the Commission and officials have liaised with the Scottish Funding Council to ensure that these are reflected in the latest outcome agreement guidance.

The Government will publish a formal report on progress against the Commission’s recommendations in Spring 2017.

Question reference: S5W-06713

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the University of Glasgow and West of Scotland Local Authority partners report, How to engage with MD40 pupils in higher progression schools; whether it will fulfil the recommendations in the report, and how it will communicate the recommendations to other relevant stakeholders.

The Scottish Government welcomes this report and notes that many of the recommendations reinforce those made by the Commission on Widening Access. The research provides new evidence on how best to target access programmes and identify individuals when supporting learners in the west of Scotland and this will be considered by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) as part of its planned review of SFC funded programmes. The findings will also inform work to develop more individualised measures to support access, as recommended by the Commission on Widening Access.

The Scottish Funding Council will consider the recommendations within the report as part of its work to support access and will engage with relevant stakeholders as necessary.

Question reference: S5W-06463

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 20 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in each (a) local authority area and (b) sector in each of the last 10 years had rateable values (i) on or below £10,000, (ii) between £10,001 and £12,000, (iii) between £12,001 and £15,000, (iv) between £15,001 and £18,000, (v) between £18,001 and £31,000, (vii) between £31,001 and £51,000 and (viii) over £51,000, and how many will have this value in 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-05854

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five years on (a) modern apprenticeships, (b) national occupation standards, (c) graduate level apprenticeships, (d) foundation apprenticeships, (e) workforce development and (f) pre-employment support.

(a) Modern Apprenticeships,

SG spent the following on modern apprenticeships in the last five years

Programme

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

Projected Figures

£'000

Modern Apprenticeships

74,988

74,536

73,714

75,394

76,271

(b) National Occupation Standards,

SG spent the following on National Occupational Standards in the last five years

	Programme	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17 Projected Figures
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
b	National Occupational Standards	500	500	500	500	500

SG spent the following on Graduate Level Apprenticeships in the last five years

	Programme	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17 Projected Figures
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
c	Graduate Level Apprenticeships	n/a	n/a	n/a	200	1,372

(d) Foundation Apprenticeships,

SG spent the following on Foundation apprenticeships in the last five years

	Programme	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17 Projected Figures
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
d	Foundation Apprenticeships	n/a	n/a	294	1,528	1,926

e) Workforce Development

SG spent the following on Workforce Development in the last five years

	Programme	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17 Projected Figures
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
e	Workforce Development	23,414*	26,000*	23,964*	34,932*	30,360*

* Employment focussed College provision figures are not available as they are not held centrally within SG.

(f) Pre-employment support

SG spent the following on pre -employment support in the last five years

	Programme	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17 Projected Figures
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
f	pre-Employment support	42,408	41,496	34,384	33,890	24,113

Question reference: S5W-06715

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all schools are prepared for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Data Protection is a reserved matter which is regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) across the UK. Local authorities do not fall under the Scottish Government ICO registration therefore it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to answer for these bodies. The preparations and implications of the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation within schools is a matter for each local authority.

The right to privacy is a right which the Scottish Government takes very seriously. We will continue to promote good practice to all public bodies when handling personal information.

Question reference: S5W-06717

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that appropriate staff are in place to prepare schools and other public sector bodies for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation.