- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what plans Transport Scotland has to install a pedestrian crossing on Main Street, Kirkconnel, on the A76.
Answer
The Operating Company, Scotland TranServ, recently completed an assessment for a pedestrian crossing at this location. Their report and any recommendations are due to be finalised and submitted to Transport Scotland this month for consideration.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 16 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve broadband in Kingholm Quay, Dumfries.
Answer
The Scottish Government has committed £600 million to the Reaching 100% (R100) broadband programme, which will ensure that every home and business in Scotland can access superfast broadband.
In line with state aid rules, the R100 programme will focus exclusively on so-called ‘white’ areas (defined at postcode level) – where suppliers have told us that they won’t deliver superfast access commercially.
Areas of Kingholm Quay already have commercial coverage as well as coverage provided through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme. The remaining areas will be included in the R100 intervention area.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 19 June 2019
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the review of standardised national assessments did not ask specific questions regarding additional support needs.
Answer
The Independent Review of P1 SNSA did not specifically include questions relating to additional support needs because this was not identified as a particular issue in relation to P1 assessments when the remit for the review was being developed. Only a small number of those responding to the Review raised additional support needs as an issue. SNSA are designed to be as inclusive as possible. An Accessibility Advisory Group continues to provide valuable assistance in ensuring the SNSA are accessible to children. Teachers are empowered to exercise their professional judgment on whether it is appropriate for children with ASN to be presented with the SNSA.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 June 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported plan by Dumfries and Galloway Council to reduce funding for the region’s childminder association development officer from 21 June 2019, and how this might impact on the roll-out of national early learning and childcare policies.
Answer
Childminders are playing a vital part in achieving our ambition for Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up. They provide a nurturing setting for children to play and learn, and families value the flexible service they offer. The expansion in our funded early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement to 1140 hours from August 2020 will offer further opportunities for childminders to deliver funded ELC.
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting childminders through a range of measures. This includes a Childminding Summit held in March 2019 for local authorities which showcased positive experiences of involving childminders in the delivery of funded ELC; the work of the ELC Partnership Forum which includes childminding representatives; specific grant funding to the Scottish Childminding Association for them to support childminders; and ongoing work to recognise prior learning.
Dumfries and Galloway Council has provided assurances that the Council is committed to supporting childminders to deliver the funded ELC entitlement and that the region’s childminder association development officer’s role will be taken forward by Dumfries and Galloway’s central ELC team.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 2 May 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Edinburgh Woollen Mill and stakeholders in the area regarding the company's Langholm site.
Answer
The then-Minister for Business, Innovation & Energy contacted Edinburgh Woollen Mill immediately following the announcement of their move from Langholm to Carlisle to see what support the Scottish Government and our agencies could offer. Scottish Government officials subsequently met Edinburgh Woollen Mill in Langholm, and more recently have also been in touch with Dumfries & Galloway Council.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that levels of wild salmon in Scotland are at their lowest since records began.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 24 April 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the optimum teacher:pupil ratio in primary schools should be, and what its response is to Dumfries and Galloway Council's plan to set a 1:25 ratio across its primaries.
Answer
The maximum class size for all composite classes is 25 as determined by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) and enshrined in teacher’s contracts.
The current commitment to achieve a pupil:teacher ratio of 13.7 applies nationally and has been negotiated with COSLA, on behalf of all local authorities, as part of the package of measures included in the local government finance settlement for
2019-20.
While it will be for individual local authorities to set their own staffing requirements based on their own local needs, as part of this partnership agreement all parties are absolutely clear that the Scottish Government requires and expects local government at a national level to deliver on this commitment. Therefore all local authorities, including Dumfries and Galloway, will play an integral part in ensuring that this commitment is met.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council regarding early learning and childcare.
Answer
The Scottish Government has met, and will continue to meet, regularly with local authorities to discuss the delivery of the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) entitlement. This includes routes such as sharing information through the ELC Partnership Forum, and the expansion specific group on the Knowledge Hub.
Scottish Government officials have been in contact with Dumfries and Galloway Council following the recent ELC Partnership Forum which took place in Lockerbie. Some providers attending expressed concerns about the involvement of funded providers in the expansion of 1140 hours in Dumfries and Galloway.
The Council have since engaged constructively with funded providers and are putting in place arrangements to enhance meaningful and genuine partnership working going forward. The Scottish Government welcomes this shared commitment towards achieving the 1140 hours expansion for Dumfries and Galloway’s children.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs are due to retire in the next 12 months.
Answer
This information is not centrally held as most GP are independent contractors who were not previously obliged to share it with the Scottish Government. The new GP contract, which came into force on 1 April 2018, allows us to gather this data subject to agreement with the BMA. The Scottish Government is in the process of finalising an agreement that will allow effective national workforce planning.
We have a record number of GPs working in Scotland and are working to further increase the current numbers by at least 800 in the next 10 years. Our workforce planning takes account of the information available on those interested in re-entering or retiring from the profession and we support a number of initiatives to retain GPs who are considering leaving the profession, including support for GP appraisals, mentoring, and coaching as well as a new Stay in Practice Scheme.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients from Scotland accessed health services in England in the last 12 months.
Answer
In 2017-18, there were 6,595 finished admission episodes for patients resident in Scotland who received healthcare from the NHS in England.
Data for 2018-19 will be published by NHS Digital in England around September 2019.
A patient living in Scotland could be treated in England for a number of reasons such as they may have fallen ill whilst working in or visiting England or they may have been referred by their health board, for example if at a UK level the treatment is only available in England.
