Questions and answers

Question reference: S6T-00112

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the joint statement by the World Health Organization and UNICEF on the need to prioritise in-person classroom-based learning as efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic continue.

Question reference: S6W-01463

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 30 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to minimise the loss of farming opportunities for new entrants to farming that might arise as a result of plans to increase forestry cover.

All applicants to Scottish Forestry for woodland creation grants are expected to undertake pre-application due diligence to identify significant issues from the proposal.

Depending upon the agricultural land classification as defined by the James Hutton Institute, the applicant may be required to consult with Scottish Government Rural Payment and Inspectorate Division (SGRPID) to obtain feedback upon the likelihood of the proposal having a negative impact upon the agricultural sector and jobs in particular and then act on any issues identified with appropriate mitigation.

In addition, to support the development of increase woodland cover on existing farmland, Scottish Forestry has developed a Forestry Grant Scheme option called “Sheep and Trees”. This option was developed in partnership with the National Sheep Association Scotland, National Farmers Union Scotland and SGRPID, to better integrate forestry and farming practices, and provide new opportunities for farm enterprises; it is available to new tenant farmers with landlord or leasehold approval.

Scottish Government is also working on the “integrating trees on your land – farming for a better climate” 2 initiative. This initiative involves showcasing opportunities, through case studies, for farmers to integrate trees planting in the wider farm enterprise with a view to helping new entrant farmers to adopt a more holistic and diverse approach to their enterprise.

Question reference: S6W-02048

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reopen Thornhill railway station.

As concluded in the South West Scotland Transport Study, a new station at Thornhill was one of the interventions recommended for the next stage of appraisal. This option is one of 58 potential new stations across Scotland that are being appraised as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

The appraisal process for STPR2 is considering the performance of all options against the transport outcomes we are seeking, the Transport Planning Objectives, which are aligned to our National Transport Strategy priorities and outcomes. The interventions will seek to contribute to our vision of a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

Therefore, we need to consider the social and economic benefits and impacts based on performance against these objectives and the five Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance criteria, to determine the overall Value for Money. This also takes into account risks, uncertainties and other factors such as affordability, deliverability and the wider acceptability of options. This will be an important consideration given pressures on current and future public finances.

Also underpinning STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy where we will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan. STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Until the appraisal process is completed, it is not possible to make individual decisions on potential new stations such as Thornhill.

Question reference: S6W-02049

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated average salary is for its staff, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) Scottish Parliament constituency.

At 31 March 2021 there were 7816 directly employed staff within the core Scottish Government, however all staff continued to work from home where possible during this time.

The average salary for staff normally based in each Local Authority is in the following table.

Local Authority	Headcount	Average ‎ Salary
Aberdeen City	278	£ 37,518.99
Aberdeenshire	89	£ 29,497.37
Angus	5	£ 31,542.20
Argyll & Bute	49	£ 28,444.88
City of Edinburgh	5411	£ 43,835.82
Dumfries & Galloway	31	£ 30,666.03
Dundee City	28	£ 37,955.21
Eilean Siar	29	£ 29,163.10
Falkirk	52	£ 48,274.67
Fife	4	*
Glasgow City	1361	£ 43,161.44
Highland	126	£ 31,775.75
Moray	14	£ 29,768.79
North Ayrshire	1	*
Orkney Islands	24	£ 31,828.25
Outwith Scotland **	34	£ 55,697.65
Perth & Kinross	121	£ 34,091.55
Scottish Borders	49	£ 30,957.90
Shetland Isles	14	£ 30,456.57
South Ayrshire	51	£ 31,775.73
South Lanarkshire	19	£ 32,761.84
Stirling	1	*
West Lothian	25	£ 46,160.20

The average salary for staff normally based in each Scottish Parliamentary constituency is in the following table.

Constituency	Headcount	Average ‎ Salary
Aberdeen Central	6	£ 43,586.33
Aberdeen South and North Kincardine	272	£ 37,385.15
Aberdeenshire West	57	£ 29,599.46
Almond Valley	25	£ 46,160.20
Angus North and Mearns	5	£ 31,542.20
Argyll and Bute	42	£ 29,468.24
Ayr	51	£ 31,775.73
Banffshire and Buchan Coast	32	£ 29,315.53
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	40	£ 29,011.55
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane	1	*
Cunninghame South	1	*
Dumfriesshire	31	£ 30,666.03
Dundee City West	28	£ 37,955.21
Edinburgh Central	1888	£ 44,868.71
Edinburgh Northern and Leith	2464	£ 45,659.40
Edinburgh Pentlands	917	£ 38,123.78
Edinburgh Western	142	£ 35,346.78
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	2	*
Falkirk East	2	*
Falkirk West	50	£ 48,502.86
Glasgow Kelvin	1345	£ 43,280.75
Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn	8	£ 29,027.00
Glasgow Shettleston	6	£ 39,682.67
Glasgow Southside	2	*
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	11	£ 28,439.27
Inverness and Nairn	72	£ 33,688.06
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	47	£ 31,066.60
Moray	14	£ 29,768.79
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	29	£ 29,163.10
North East Fife	4	*
Orkney Islands	17	£ 33,563.12
Outwith Scotland **	34	£ 55,697.65
Perthshire North	40	£ 37,885.68
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire	81	£ 32,217.90
Shetland Islands	14	£ 30,456.57
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	28	£ 27,399.32
Uddingston and Bellshill	8	£ 38,705.38

* To protect personal information, salaries for groups of 4 or less employees have been suppressed.

** Scottish Government manages 2 locations outside of Scotland (London and Brussels). Some staff work from offices which are managed under different arrangements: i.e. buildings may be shared with other organisations.

Question reference: S6W-01941

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its staff are normally based in each (a) local authority area and (b) Scottish Parliament constituency.

At 31 March 2021 there were 7816 directly employed staff within the core Scottish Government, however all staff continued to work from home where possible during this time.

The headcount of staff normally based in each Local Authority is in the table below.

Local Authority	Headcount
Aberdeen City	278
Aberdeenshire	89
Angus	5
Argyll & Bute	49
City of Edinburgh	5411
Dumfries & Galloway	31
Dundee City	28
Eilean Siar	29
Falkirk	52
Fife	4
Glasgow City	1361
Highland	126
Moray	14
North Ayrshire	1
Orkney Islands	24
Outwith Scotland *	34
Perth & Kinross	121
Scottish Borders	49
Shetland Isles	14
South Ayrshire	51
South Lanarkshire	19
Stirling	1
West Lothian	25

The headcount of staff normally based in each Scottish Parliamentary constituency is in the following table.

Constituency	Headcount
Aberdeen Central	6
Aberdeen South and North Kincardine	272
Aberdeenshire West	57
Almond Valley	25
Angus North and Mearns	5
Argyll and Bute	42
Ayr	51
Banffshire and Buchan Coast	32
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	40
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane	1
Cunninghame South	1
Dumfriesshire	31
Dundee City West	28
Edinburgh Central	1888
Edinburgh Northern and Leith	2464
Edinburgh Pentlands	917
Edinburgh Western	142
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	2
Falkirk East	2
Falkirk West	50
Glasgow Kelvin	1345
Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn	8
Glasgow Shettleston	6
Glasgow Southside	2
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	11
Inverness and Nairn	72
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	47
Moray	14
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	29
North East Fife	4
Orkney Islands	17
Outwith Scotland *	34
Perthshire North	40
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire	81
Shetland Islands	14
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	28
Uddingston and Bellshill	8

* Scottish Government manages 2 locations outside of Scotland (London and Brussels). Some staff work from offices which are managed under different arrangements: i.e. buildings may be shared with other organisations.

Question reference: S6O-00088

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will protect the interests of farmers under the draft cooperation agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

Question reference: S6W-02180

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01931 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 August 2021, who identified which schools would receive virtual school visits by the OECD, and who determined focus group attendees.

I refer Mr Mundell to the answer to S6W-01932 on 25 August 2021.

The OECD’s Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was conducted using their Implementing Policies: Supporting Change in Education Framework.

The OECD had responsibility for its programme of virtual school visits and the arrangement of focus groups, and was supported by both Scottish Government officials and the Scottish Practitioner Forum.

Details of how the OECD conducted their independent review can be accessed at Independent+Review+of+Curriculum+for+Excellence+-+Remit.pdf (www.gov.scot)

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-01943

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-01932

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the correspondence of 8 April 2020 that it received from the OECD regarding the review of the Curriculum for Excellence, whether it will provide a list of the non-governmental academics who were suggested as potential contacts during its subsequent discussions on 9 April 2020.

The OECD had responsibility for stakeholder engagement.

The OECD’s Independent Review of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was conducted using their Implementing Policies: Supporting Change in Education Framework.

Details of how the OECD conducted their independent review can be accessed at Independent+Review+of+Curriculum+for+Excellence+-+Remit.pdf (www.gov.scot)

You may also wish to note that the name of stakeholders who participated in engagement interviews are credited in the OECD’s final report.

Question reference: S6W-01882

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 24 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all children at pre-school and early years settings who currently receive free milk through the UK Government Nursery Milk Scheme will continue to receive free milk when the existing scheme is replaced by the new Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme on 1 August 2021.

The Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme replaced the UK Nursery Milk Scheme (UK NMS) in Scotland from 1 August 2021 following further devolution.

3,079 Scottish settings were registered to the UK NMS and claimed from that scheme in the 12 months to 1 August 2021. Initial data shows that 3,101 childcare settings and 116,293 eligible children are registered to the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme (out of around 8,395 total childcare settings in Scotland).

The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with local government and eligible childcare settings to increase registrations to the new scheme during the course of its first year.

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