Pam Duncan-Glancy

1 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21777 by Maree Todd on 24 October 2023, what analysis it has undertaken of any reduction in the number of young people participating in sport.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government and sportscotland passionately believe that sport is for everyone. We should all feel included, and able to take part and access the benefits of sport. An ongoing priority for the Scottish Government is to support participation across…

1 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many working groups it has established since October 2023, and, further to the answer to question S6W-21835 by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2023, whether all of the working groups listed in that answer are still active.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Further to question S6W-21835, I can confirm that no further working groups have been established since October 2023 within the Education and Skills portfolio. I can confirm that all of the working groups listed in that answer are still active. However pleas…

1 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21824 by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2023, what percentage of teaching posts have been (a) permanent and (b) temporary in each year since 2010.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In the information held by the Scottish Government, teaching posts are classified into three employment types: Permanent, Temporary, and Temporary-Teacher Induction Scheme. For the purposes of this response, teachers on the Teacher Induction Scheme have been …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-29691, S5W-22664 and S6W-01165 by Angela Constance on 2 March 2016, by John Swinney on 1 May 2019 and by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 July 2021 respectively, whether it will provide the figures for each year since 2020-21.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per child attending pre-school, and primary and secondary pupil alongside allocations (accounting for teaching and tuition fees funding) per college and university place. Table 1: …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the 100% non-domestic rates relief for eligible day nurseries beyond June 2023.

Answer · Tom Arthur: On 6 October 2022, the Scottish Government committed to extending the Day Nursery Rates Relief. The Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 which came into force on 1 April 2023 removed the end date for this relief.

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any plans it has to begin collecting data on how many funded early learning and childcare providers pay the Living Wage.

Answer · Natalie Don: The Scottish Government’s latest Financial Sustainability Health Check was published on 31 July 2023. It collected data at a national level through provider surveys, and reported that 81% of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) providers in the private…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21332 by Natalie Don on 29 September 2023, whether it will provide an update on when it plans to publish the strategic framework and plan for the early learning and school age childcare profession.

Answer · Natalie Don: The Scottish Government is considering the approach to publication of the strategic framework and plan for the early learning and school age childcare profession in light of the new childcare commitments included in the Programme for Government 2023-24 and wi…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its understanding is of the reason why the proportion of children with additional support needs who accessed funded early learning and childcare in 2022 was reportedly 18%, while the proportion of children with additional support needs who were in school was 34%.

Answer · Natalie Don: There could be a number of contributing factors relating to the differences of recorded Additional Support Needs (ASN) data between ELC and schools. The 34% of learners who were recorded as requiring additional support in the 2022 pupil census represents a c…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to increase uptake of funded early learning and childcare places for eligible two-year-olds.

Answer · Natalie Don: We committed in our Strategic Childcare Plan, published October 2022 Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) to work with local authorities to maximise uptake of the existing two year old of…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why 10% of children are reportedly not registered to receive 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

Answer · Natalie Don: It is not the case that 10% of children are not registered to receive their entitlement to funded early learning and childcare (ELC). The 2023 ELC Census showed an estimated uptake rate of 97% for eligible three and four year olds, and an uptake rate of 52% f…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the expansion of a virtual school headteacher network.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government continues to provide £100,000 annual funding to enable CELCIS to support the facilitation of a Virtual Head Teacher network. There are currently 18 virtual head teachers (or equivalent) who are members of the network with a standing of…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with colleges to promote good governance.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government works with the Scottish Funding Council, Colleges Scotland, and College Boards to ensure good governance. We also engage with regional strategic boards, trade unions, student associations, and the College Development network, through …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its new funding model for post-school education provision.

Answer · Graeme Dey: In my statement to Parliament on 5 December 2023, I reiterated my commitment to streamline funding for colleges, universities and apprenticeships. As a first step, this means bringing together funding for student support into one place and funding for apprent…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to inform institutions that have applied for funding from the Scottish Educational Exchange Test and Learn Project whether their application has been successful.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Institutions have been informed of the outcome of their applications for funding from the Scottish Educational Exchange Test and Learn project, with projects already underway.

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it has received for funding from the Scottish Educational Exchange Test and Learn Project, broken down by type of educational institution; of those, how many applied for (a) a one-year grant, (b) additional funds for projects involving cross-sector educational partn…

Answer · Graeme Dey: All of the test and learn projects in this phase of the Scottish Educational Exchange Test and Learn pilot were led by Scottish higher education institutions. (a) 23 applications were submitted (b) 2 projects applied for additional funding for cross sector …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its national framework on tackling gender-based violence and sexual harassment in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23510 on 19 December 2023. 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-commit…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of its learning for sustainability action plan.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The refreshed Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan was published in June 2023 with wide stakeholder support, and sets out a new vision for every 3-18 place of education in Scotland to become a Sustainable Learning Setting by 2030. The plan contains 2…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary schools have (a) applied for and (b) received a grant to date from the funding for investment in computing science hardware for schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Funding was allocated to Local Authorities on behalf of 304 secondary schools for computing science hardware on a demand-led basis. Local Authorities distributed funding on behalf of the Scottish Government, with the total claimed at approximately £730,000.

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have accessed the Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science website.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Although the number of individual Computing Science teachers visiting the website is not tracked, the STACS website is an important resource for the Computing Science community. 490 Computing Science teachers are members of the STACS website and have access t…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it anticipates that it will complete the national roll-out of the national upskilling plan for computing science teachers.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The National Upskilling Plan for Computing Science teachers is a multi-year upskilling programme to support teachers keep pace with this fast-changing subject area. As this is a core tenet of STACS aims and deliverables, the Scottish Government will continue …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has carried out of its national upskilling plan for computing science teachers.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science is responsible for developing and implementing the National Upskilling Plan for computing science teachers. The National Upskilling pilot developed over 6 hours of high-quality upskilling material with 71 teachers…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the creation of the Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science organisation.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Grant funding to support Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS) / University of Glasgow commenced in 2021 and has continued on an annual basis since that date. As a condition of the funding support the Scottish Government agreed with Scottish …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its digital strategy for education, as set out in its Programme for Government 2023-24.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We continue to work with partners on the development of a digital strategy for education. The new digital strategy will outline the role digital tools and services can play in the future of Scottish Education, and will highlight central actions being underta…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to prepare schools and infrastructure for the expansion of free school meals.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We are working with local authorities on the infrastructure required to deliver our commitment to the expansion of free school meals. The 2024-25 budget has made provision for £43m of capital funding for school infrastructure, in addition to the £10m of capi…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which core curriculum charges in schools it has removed since September 2023.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25147 on 21 February 2024. 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-commit…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of what core curriculum charges remain in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Since 2021 the Scottish Government has provided funding to local authorities for the removal of core curriculum charges for all primary and secondary pupils, with £8 million being provided for 2023-24 and another £8 million outlined in the Scottish Budget 202…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders it is engaging with on its campaign to promote teaching as a highly rewarding career, and when it anticipates that this campaign will be rolled out.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We are engaging with a range of stakeholders including local authority employers, university providers and the teaching unions to work collectively to raise the profile of teaching as a highly rewarding career. Work is ongoing and we would expect to confirm …

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its new digital service to help parents and carers find, access and pay for childcare.

Answer · Natalie Don: In the 2023-2024 Programme for Government the Scottish Government announced that we would develop and trial a digital service that will give parents and carers greater scope to manage their childcare. We know that the current childcare system can be difficul…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many childminders have been registered as active in Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Natalie Don: The Care Inspectorate publishes annual statistics on the number of childminders operating in Scotland. The following table summarises published Care Inspectorate data from the last 10 years. The figure for 2023 is expected to be published in the autumn of 202…

31 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its pilots for recruiting and retaining childminders.

Answer · Natalie Don: The Scottish Government has been supporting innovative childminder recruitment pilots within 14 Local Authorities, in partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association. To date, 69 candidates have been supported through the programme to complete their re…