Pam Duncan-Glancy

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to promoting the Young Person's Guarantee among employability staff since it was launched.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Between November 2020 and March 2023, awareness of the Young Person’s Guarantee among employability staff was achieved using existing networks and communication channels. There was no funding allocated to the specific promotion of the Young Person’s Guarantee…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported claims from the Educational Institute of Scotland that there is a lack of job security in the teaching workforce.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the recruitment of teachers. It is for this reason we are providing local authorities with £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers. Where this is not being delivered by a local authori…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address reported concerns that its communications on the Young Person's Guarantee and No One Left Behind programme are not sufficiently integrated.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Young Person’s Guarantee was introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic as a measure to prevent long-term adverse impacts for young people in the labour market. It contained a number of aspects, covering skills, education, and employability. Employab…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18146 by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023, when it expects to receive formal responses from all partners in the collective bargaining progress in relation to the recommendations of the lessons learned report.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government expects the outstanding responses by the end of the year.

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to carry out a process evaluation of the (a) No One Left Behind and (b) Young Person's Guarantee programme.

Answer · Neil Gray: An implementation evaluation of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee was published in August 2023. This evaluation considered progress in implementation and delivery of No One Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee, the experiences of service…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that record numbers of parents are relying on back to school banks in 2023.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We are committed to reducing the cost of school uniform and supporting families so that every child in Scotland can attend school feeling comfortable, confident, and ready to learn. The Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, has already …

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it provides to local authorities on the promotion of employability services.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government continues to work closely with local government partners in each local authority to promote and drive an increase in the reach of our services across all of Scotland. The Scottish Government set out the policy approach to Employabilit…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to promote the Young Person's Guarantee among employability staff since it was launched.

Answer · Neil Gray: Awareness and promotion of the Young Person’s Guarantee among employability staff was achieved using existing networks and communication channels.

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support universities with any accommodation shortages.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government has no role in the provision of student accommodation, whether in purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) and university and college halls of residence or the private rented. However, we are determined to improve accessibility, affo…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities on offering temporary contracts to newly qualified teachers (NQTs).

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not provide guidance to local authorities on offering temporary contracts to newly qualified teachers, as the recruitment and employment of teachers including recruitment practices are matters for individual councils. All newly q…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it plans to publish its new guidance on school uniforms.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is working with partners to develop national guidance on school uniform. It is anticipated that non-statutory guidance will be published by spring 2024. The guidance will be reintroduced as statutory guidance before the end of the Par…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and guidance it provides to universities on preventing cyberattacks.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Although cyber security matters are reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government is determined to do whatever it can within its powers to build Scotland’s cyber resilience and to reduce the impact of cyber incidents. The Scottish Government works w…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what long-term planning it is carrying out with local authorities on the stability and sufficiency of the teaching workforce.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) considerations are based on an annual statistical model which estimates the number of ITE students required to achieve particular pupil teacher ratios. TWPAG includes representatives from local authority e…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported claims that it has not done enough to assess and understand any impacts of COVID-19 disruption on learners, in relation to the 2023 exam results. 

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I fully recognise that young people continue to be impacted by the disruption arising from COVID-19. The package of support in place has rightly evolved to reflect the latest circumstances, with decisions being matched to the assessment approaches taken each …

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21008 by Jenny Gilruth on 19 September 2023, what assessment it has made of the phonics approach in improving literacy. 

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Teachers require a broad professional knowledge of early reading as a complex interplay of skills and background factors in order to improve children's literacy. Phonics approaches form one aspect of an overall pedagogy for early reading. Education Scotland…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it gathers data on the length of time that pupils wait to access school counselling services, and, if so, what the average waiting time for access to school counselling services has been in each local authority in each of the last five years.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Individual local authorities may gather this data. The Scottish Government commissions six-monthly reports from local authorities on school counselling services which asks for number of young people acc…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the promotion of employability services in rural areas.

Answer · Neil Gray: No One Left Behind is a place-based approach which sees decisions about services taken locally. Design and delivery of employability services that meet the needs of users and local labour markets is the responsibility of the Local Employability Partnership (…

26 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Colleges Scotland and the College Development Network will improve the capture of students' withdrawal data by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) are currently working with the sector to better identify those who leave college, including those who move on to work opportunities or other positive destinations. This work is ongoing and the information will be made availa…

14 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out any modelling of free breakfast provision in schools.

Answer · Natalie Don: There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have conducted provisional modelling of breakfast provision and have begun work with local authoritie…

14 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) COSLA and (b) local authorities regarding free breakfast provision in schools.

Answer · Natalie Don: Discussions with both COSLA and individual local authorities about breakfast provision have taken place over the last eighteen months. These have covered issues such as existing delivery, and the range of possible delivery models and costs. The Scottish Gover…

14 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a delivery planning strategy for free breakfast provision in schools.

Answer · Natalie Don: There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map that provisi…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it anticipates that the next iteration of the longitudinal Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research will report.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The current iteration of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research was undertaken with schools in Spring 2023, and will be published in in advance of the relationships and behaviour summit event currently scheduled for 28 November. This will allow participan…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to expanding counselling services for school pupils to those under 10 years old.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Prior to establishing the framework for delivering counselling services, officials engaged with professional counselling bodies who advised that therapeutic counselling is not appropriate for younger pupils. In light of this advice, our commitment is specific…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many transition plans for young disabled people have been issued in each of the 10 local authorities that are involved in the Principles into Practice pilots, in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of transition plans that local authorities have in place for children and young people as this is a matter for individual authorities. Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, when a …

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20688 by Jenny Gilruth on 12 September 2023, in the event that a trainee makes "every reasonable effort to secure employment as an Educational Psychologist with a local authority to begin as soon as possible after the completion of the Training Prog…

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Whilst there is an expectation that Educational Psychologist trainees make every reasonable effort to secure employment within a Scottish educational psychology service, this does not preclude seeking other employment if it is not possible to secure local aut…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to work with the Scottish Funding Council to support colleges in planning for change and how to make best use of their funding.

Answer · Graeme Dey: A Tripartite Alignment Group has been established to foster close, partnership working between the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council and Colleges Scotland. The purpose of this group is to focus on urgent pressures facing colleges and put in p…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Audit Scotland's report, Scotland's colleges 2023.

Answer · Graeme Dey: We welcome Audit Scotland’s report on Scotland’s colleges. It recognises the opportunities coming from reform of post-school education, as signalled in the Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills published on 28 June 2023, which …

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any consideration it has given to changes to college funding arrangements.

Answer · Graeme Dey: On 28 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the Purpose and Principles for post-school education, research and skills setting out our long-term vision for the system and the outcomes that we want to achieve. This includes our focus on delivering a sy…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has offered to local authorities to expand children's access to outdoor play and learning within the childcare sector.

Answer · Natalie Don: In line with the National Standard for providers of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC), it is a requirement that “children have daily access to outdoor play and they regularly experience outdoor play in a natural environment as part of their funded E…

13 Sep 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the difference in the Preference Waiver Payment between primary and secondary probationer teachers, and whether it plans to revisit this.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government continues to keep Preference Waiver Payments (PWP) under review through the Teacher Induction Scheme Ongoing Review Group, and the Strategic Board for Teacher Education will also consider this issue as part of its wider work on teacher…