Parliamentary questions
Stephen Kerr
2,595 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18198 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 June 2023, which states that it will provide a total of £205 million in 2023-24 to help meet the costs of the final March 2023 pay deal, in light of its officials stating in the Education, Children and Young People Commit…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The total cost to the Scottish Government, in the 2023-24 financial year of the teachers’ pay deal agreed in March 2023 is £205 million. The figure of £188 million quoted by officials at the Education, Children and Young People Committee meeting on 17 May 20…
9 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much money from the capital budget is being used for current spending in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answer · Shona Robison: HM Treasury budgeting rules, with which the Scottish Government must comply, are very clear that it is not possible to use capital budgets to support current spending. All the capital budget will be used to support capital spending in the 2023-24 financial ye…
5 Jun 2023 · SPCB Oral Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the newest developments are in the creation of Scottish Parliament apps to allow the public easier access to parliamentary business papers and other resources.
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering the banning of homework in schools.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not prescribe approaches to items of practice on matters such as providing homework to children and young people. In April 2023, Education Scotland published an update on ‘Engaging Parents and Families: A toolkit for practitioner…
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the employability and individual training account budgets will be confirmed and announced.
Answer · Neil Gray: The 2023-24 budgets for employability programmes, including No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland were confirmed by the Deputy First Minister on 25 May, with Grant Offer Letters issued to local authorities on 30 May for No One Left Behind. The budget for…
30 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has received the final report of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The final report of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment was submitted to me on 5 June 2023. It will be published on the Scottish Government website shortly. Scottish Government will now take the time to consider its recommendations careful…
30 May 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the outcomes will be of the proposed summit on tackling violence in schools, which was announced by the education secretary on 24 May.
22 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm what Level 3 budget line(s) funded the teacher pay settlement, agreed in March 2023, and how much funding came from each individual budget line.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Funding for the teachers’ pay deal is made through the Teacher Training budget line within the Workforce and Infrastructure level 3. In 2022-23 £33 million additional funding was paid from this line. The remaining £83 million of funding for the deal was inclu…
22 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been any cuts to the funding set out in the Level 3 budget lines that were published in the Scottish Budget 2023-24 as a result of the teacher pay settlement agreed in March 2023.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The pay offer was made at a time of extraordinary financial pressure on the Scottish Government budget. As the previous Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills made clear when the teachers’ pay deal was agreed, difficult decisions will be necessary to free…
17 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the initial amount of funding that was set aside for a provisional teacher pay settlement in December 2022, when the Scottish Budget 2023-24 was first published, and how much additional funding is required from the 2023-24 Budget to pay for the final pay settlemen…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Budget 2023-24 published in December 2022 did not include any budget provision for teachers’ pay. At that time, the Scottish Government was participating in discussions on a 2023 pay offer through the tripartite SNCT and, as always, it was for CO…
15 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many electronic messages it has sent to the National Records of Scotland to be archived, since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
Answer · George Adam: Scottish Government have not transferred any electronic messages to the National Records of Scotland for archive since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
15 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on ministerial mobile phones in each of the past five years.
Answer · George Adam: Ministers are offered a SG mobile telephone on appointment. Our records show costs per year as follows: 2018-19 - £2,210 2019-20 - £3,802 2020-21 - £1,490 2021-22 - £1,463 2022-23 - £10,957
15 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many documents it has sent to the National Records of Scotland to be archived, since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
Answer · George Adam: Scottish Government have not transferred any documents to the National Records of Scotland for archive since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, how additional demands on other local authority services, such as planning and building control, will be resourced, particularly in light of the reported national shortage of planners.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: In April 2022 increased planning fees came into effect, providing much needed additional resource to Planning Authorities. Whilst the use of this additional resource is a matter for individual authorities, some authorities have reported that the fee increase …
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, where there are any specific anticipated functions for local authorities to deliver elements of the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) delivery plans, such as communication, coordination, moni…
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) are at the heart of a place based, locally-led and tailored approach to the heat transition in Scotland. These local strategies will underpin an area-based approach to heat and energy efficiency planning and…
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, who will be responsible for managing the coordination of suppliers at local level, to ensure that they have the skills and quality marks required, in time for the roll-out of delivery plans, and what it anti…
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Ensuring that we have a suitably qualified workforce in place will be imperative for delivering a smooth rollout of energy efficiency and zero emission heating measures which will support us to achieve our net zero ambitions. We currently offer support to th…
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, whether there will be a national public communications programme to ensure that the general public understand the proposed upcoming changes to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) requirements, and what role…
Answer · Patrick Harvie: This year we will publish a Public Engagement Strategy setting out how we will raise public awareness and understanding of the changes we all need to make to our home heating to meet the net zero targets by 2045. We will need to communicate in a coordinated …
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, how households will be successfully engaged with, as part of Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) delivery plans, in order to take action to retrofit their homes with energy efficiency and lo…
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Advice and support for households is currently accessed via Home Energy Scotland or via local authority-led Area Based Schemes. It is likely that this arrangement will continue in the short term, but we are committed to working with delivery partners, includi…
10 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16779 by Patrick Harvie on 27 April 2023, how funding to pay for household measures will be (a) coordinated and (b) delivered, and, specifically, what it anticipates will be the role of local authorities in this.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: Support for households is currently accessed via Home Energy Scotland or via local authority-led Area Based Schemes. Funding for these schemes is allocated annually by the Scottish Government. It is likely that this arrangement will continue in the short ter…
24 Apr 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many pre-paid mobile phones, so-called burner phones, it has purchased in the past five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold records for all mobile phones purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas and agencies to meet their requirements. However, our central mobile voice & data contract which will be used …
24 Apr 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) models of mobile phones it has purchased and (b) networks it has used for its mobile phones in the past five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold records for all mobile phones purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas and agencies to meet their requirements. However, through our mobile voice & data contracts we have purchased …
24 Apr 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how (a) many mobile phones it has purchased and (b) much it has spent on mobile phone contracts in each of the past five years.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not hold centralised records for the number of mobile phones purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas and agencies to meet their requirements. In terms of mobile spend, the spend via the Sco…
12 Apr 2023 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many apprenticeship places it will commit to funding this financial year.
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the (a) monitoring, (b) scrutiny and (c) reporting of local authorities' scope (i) 1, (ii) 2 and (iii) 3 emissions.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Following public consultation in 2019, the Scottish Government strengthened the legislative framework for public bodies’ annual reporting on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirem…
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has undertaken into the use of small modular reactors as part of Scotland's energy mix.
Answer · Gillian Martin: Small Modular Reactors use the same nuclear fission technology as the power generating process found in larger traditional nuclear power plants and carry the same environmental concerns. As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, the S…
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken since May 2021 to develop an ongoing pipeline of private sector-ready, multi-authority packages for private funding to support the delivery of its net zero targets.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is committed to accelerating private capital investment to meet our Net Zero targets and capture the economic opportunity the Just Transition represents. To this end, our Green Investment Portfolio showcases Scotland’s investment-read…
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will communicate to the public its ambition for homes to aim to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least C from 2025.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Scottish Government published its Heat in Buildings Strategy in October 2021, which commits us, subject to legal competence, to introduce new regulations to require all buildings to reach a good level of energy efficiency by 2033, and use zero emissions h…
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the new National Public Energy Agency will work with local government on area-based delivery.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The new National Public Energy Agency – Heat and Energy Efficiency Scotland (HEES) –which is operating in virtual form in-house within the Directorate for Energy and Climate Change aims to work in partnership with a range of key stakeholders, including local …
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify what role local authorities will play in an area-based approach to heat decarbonisation, and what additional support it will offer to local authorities for the preparation and delivery of their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: All 32 local authorities in Scotland are currently working on producing their first Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and Delivery Plan, in line with their statutory duty to publish their first iteration by the end of 2023 and then update them…
30 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce planning apprenticeships, and, if so, when.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Future Planners Project, commissioned by the Scottish Government, was carried out between January – April 2022. The project focused on exploring the options available to support the growth of entrants into the planning profession in Scotland. A town plan…