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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-02207

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how its cross-portfolio work on tackling adverse childhood experiences is contributing to closing the attainment gap.

Question reference: S5O-02200

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its role is in maintaining the school estate.

Question reference: S5W-16540

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 10 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with its review of the 15 to 24 Learner Journey.

The Learner Journey Review has concluded its work and the report is published today. The Review has highlighted that Scotland is rightly proud of its education and skills system, which continues to deliver excellence and equity for so many of our young people. But there is more to do - we need all of our young people to get as much as possible from that system.

This Review provides a real opportunity to be absolutely clear about how we best align our system to deliver more choices; and to ensure that we value those choices equally - be they academic or vocational.

The publication of the report starts a new phase of further engagement and in taking the Review recommendations forward, we are committed to improving the experience for the learner and setting a clear expectation for more purposeful collaboration in partnership with schools, colleges, universities and employers.

Taking all this work forward together will require strong joint leadership, supported by the right evidence base, to ensure we continue to invest in the right qualifications and right types of learning to deliver the best outcomes for our young people and for the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S5O-02087

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress in delivering the new Scottish social security system.

Question reference: S5O-02045

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to assess schools for inclusion in the Scotland's Schools for the Future programme.

Question reference: S5W-16245

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 April 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Maree Todd on 27 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a progress update on the agreement of a multi-year funding package to support the expansion of early learning and childcare entitlement.

Scottish Ministers and COSLA Leaders reached agreement on a multi-year revenue and capital funding package for the expansion of early learning and childcare today, Friday 27 April. This agreement represents a shared understanding of the costs required to deliver the expansion in entitlement to funded early learning and childcare to 1140 hours from August 2020.

Under this agreement, Scottish Government will provide local authorities with additional recurring revenue funding of £567 million per year by 2021-22, the first full financial year of the expansion.

In addition, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with capital funding of £476 million over four financial years (2017-18 to 2020-21 inclusive).

Annual funding allocations for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22 are summarised in the following table.

Table: Local authority funding for ELC expansion by financial year (£m)

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Revenue	33	96	307	508	567
Capital	30	150	175	121	-

Question reference: S5W-15736

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Maree Todd on 29 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the details of the Funding Follows the Child approach and the supporting National Standard for the delivery of the expanded early learning and childcare entitlement.

In March 2017 the Scottish Government published ‘A Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland: 2017-18 Action Plan’ which made clear that in order to deliver our policy vision for the expansion, a more progressive service model would be introduced from 2020.

The Action Plan committed us to a series of actions, to be delivered by the end of March 2018 to ensure that the expansion of ELC is rooted in a high quality experience for our children, and to support our delivery partners in building additional capacity.

The 2017-18 Action Plan committed us, by the end of March 2018, to establishing a Service Models Working Group in partnership with local authorities to:

develop the details of the new Funding Follows the Child model; and
produce a National Standard for a more open process to becoming a funded provider.

Today Early Learning and Childcare Service Model for 2020: Consultation Paper will be published. This joint consultation with COSLA sets out the Funding Follows the Child approach and seeks views on the proposed National Standard that will underpin it. The National Standard sets out the clear and consistent criteria that all providers who wish to deliver the funded entitlement will have to meet from 2020.

The Early Learning and Childcare Service Model for 2020 is the output of the intensive work that the joint Scottish Government and local government Service Models Working Group has taken forward since its first meeting in June 2017. This has included extensive engagement with providers and key stakeholders to ensure that this new model works for everyone in the sector and helps to improve the early learning and childcare experience for our young children.

The introduction of this new approach represents a substantial change for the early learning and childcare sector in Scotland.

We want to ensure that everyone in the sector, including families, can provide their views on the new model. We want to hear these views and that is why we are now consulting jointly with COSLA on the proposed National Standard.

The paper can be accessed at: https://consult.gov.scot/children-and-families/service-model-for-2020 .

Question reference: S5O-01865

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-14532

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers transport acts as a driver for inclusive growth.

The Scottish Government considers transport a vital driver of inclusive growth. This is evidenced in the range of transport innovations we have made, from the construction of the new Forth Crossing to the opening of the Borders Railway to the introduction of RET on Ferries. The review of the National Transport Strategy currently in progress is also looking at how economic growth can be inclusive and sustainable over the next twenty years.

Question reference: S5W-14531

Asked by: Jenny Gilruth, MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 28 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what inclusive growth projects it is supporting in Fife.

The Scottish Government is committed to achieving inclusive growth in all parts of Scotland. Inclusive growth is assisted by our significant investment in areas such as local government, housing, education and skills, transport and health. This investment combined with a clear focus on addressing inequalities can boost inclusive growth in all Scotland's communities, including those in Fife – a point I have discussed with the Fife Economic Partnership.

Additionally, Fife will benefit from specific investment aimed at accelerating inclusive growth through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, which offers an opportunity for fresh investment in Fife's economic, transport and housing infrastructure, as well as its skills development programmes. Fife is also one of four local authorities involved in the developing Tay Cities Region Deal and we look to all of the participant local authorities to prioritise the proposals being developed and focus on those with the most potential to deliver inclusive growth.

As part of the Fife Task Force Action Plan, developed in response to the closure of the Tullis Russell paper mill, we have also invested £6 million in skills development, business support, regeneration and infrastructure in the mid- Fife area. In addition, a further r£2.7 million has been invested in small business units and support services to help foster economic resilience and benefits to communities (including Kincardine) impacted by the early closure of Longannet Power Station.

Also relevant to the achievement of strong inclusive growth is support for Fife Council’s £17 million Energy Park Fife project, which is being taken forward as a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) Pilot. The project is designed to facilitate the availability of developable large scale sites with quayside access, attracting major investment to the Energy Park site. Fife Council is working with the Scottish Futures Trust on finalising agreement by Scottish Ministers of a further TIF pilot at Fife Interchange distribution and business park, which will help to make available an additional 22 hectares of development land for commercial use