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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: S5O-00714

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the implementation of section 179 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 regarding disabled access.

Question reference: S5W-06829

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) graduate and (b) foundation apprenticeships have been started in each of the last five years by people who self declared as disabled.

Foundation Apprenticeships have been in operation for three years

FA Starts Self-Declaring as Disabled

Age Group	Year Started 2014	Year Started 2015	Year Started 2016
No	54	239	263
Yes	2	7	19
Prefer Not To Say	6	7	0
Not Provided	1	34	68

FA Starts Self-Declaring as Disabled, by percentage

Age Group	Year Started 2014	Year Started 2015	Year Started 2016
No	86%	83%	75%
Yes	3%	2%	5%
Prefer Not To Say	9%	2%	0%
Not Provided	2%	13%	20%

Graduate level Apprenticeships have been in operation since February 2016.

Currently no Graduate Level Apprentices have disclosed a disability.

Question reference: S5W-06825

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) graduate and (b) foundation apprenticeships have been started in each of the last five years by people who were (i) 12 to 15, (ii) 16 to 19, (iii) 20 to 24 and (iv) over 25 years old.

Foundation Apprenticeships have been in operation for three years

Age Breakdown of Foundation Apprenticeship starts at time of Registration

Age Group	Year started 2014	Year started 2015	Year started 2016
12 to 15	44	157	141
16 to 19	19	130	209

Graduate level Apprenticeships have been in operation since February 2016

GLA starts by age group at time of start

Start Date	Age 16-19	Age 20-24	Age 25 and over
Feb-16	1	10	3
Sep-16	1	4	2
Jan-17	1	2	3
Total	3	16	8

Question reference: S5W-06824

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the quarterly figures were for (a) graduate and (b) foundation apprenticeship (i) starts, (ii) numbers in training, (iii) achievements and (iv) redundancies in each of the last five years.

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-06725

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 the cost was of the appointment process for the Commissioner for Fair Access.

Question reference: S5W-06723

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 budget the Commissioner for Fair Access will have, and what is expected to be delivered with this.

In line with recommendation 1 of the Commission on Widening Access’s final report, the Scottish Government will ensure an appropriate budget is available to support the Commissioner for Fair Access’s work to develop an improved evidence base. The Commissioner is currently considering the priorities for research on access in Scotland and resources made available for research will be informed by Professor Scott’s assessment of the need for new work to be carried out.

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-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.