Parliamentary questions
Pam Duncan-Glancy
1,119 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will update the Social Security Scotland IT system to address the reported issue with carer support payment being treated as income for council tax purposes.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: These issues are not caused by Social Security Scotland systems. They are being caused by the way DWP systems are sharing information about Carer’s Allowance and Carer Support Payment awards, which is impacting a small number of carers’ wider supp…
22 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making speech and language therapy a controlled subject in terms of the numbers of places in higher education.
Answer · Neil Gray: There are fourteen Allied Health Professions (AHP) across Scotland and Paramedicine is the only AHP that has a controlled intake target. There are currently no plans to extend this to any other professions within the AHP family, including Speech and Language …
13 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many students from Scotland have undertaken an exchange as part of the Scottish Education Exchange Programme in each of the last two years.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government funded Scottish Education Exchange Programme test and learn project enables Scottish colleges and universities to re-establish some of the opportunities Erasmus+ provided, which the UK Government Turing Scheme does not. In particular, …
13 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason vocational programme funding support for trainee educational psychologists is reportedly lower, at £15,000 plus tuition fees, than for trainee clinical psychologists, at £37,338 plus tuition fees.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Trainee educational psychologists enrol as students and do not have an employment contract. Students are allocated a placement in Local Authorities to gain experience and to gather evidence so that they can complete their coursework. The grant for educational…
10 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for a reintroduction of the school libraries strategy, which ended in 2023.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government funds the School Library Improvement Fund which has provided £1.72m of funding to support improvement in library provision across Scotland since 2017. The Scottish Government is working with partners and stakeholders to reconvene…
20 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to moving the accreditation function of SQA to (a) the new Inspectorate, (b) Education Scotland, (c) the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership, (d) Skills Development Scotland and (e) the Scottish Funding Council when proposing the Education …
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government assessed all of these options in reaching the conclusion to locate the accreditation functions in Qualifications Scotland. This involved seeking the views of a range of organisations and stakeholders, which included the Scottish Fundin…
17 Dec 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to taxi drivers in Glasgow to help them comply with the Low Emission Zone.
13 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who will employ the staff of the new independent inspectorate, in the event that the Education (Scotland) Bill is passed.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In line with Professor Muir’s recommendation, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland is to be staffed by civil servants.The Chief Inspector, and staff working on the inspection functions (or supporting these) will be employed by the S…
13 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Family Fund announcing that its Your Opportunity programme is temporarily closed for new applications, what support it can offer to disabled or seriously ill young adults aged 18 to 24 who are no longer able to access funding.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: There are a number of potential supports available to young disabled people living in Scotland, depending on their individual needs, circumstances and eligibility. These include: the Independent Living Fund; the Independent Living Fund Transition Fund; the In…
13 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a young person between the ages of 16 and 25 can make more than one application to the Independent Living Fund.
Answer · Maree Todd: ILF Scotland operate two funds that support disabled people: the Independent Living Fund which pays on-going weekly awards to disabled people to help them live more independently; and the Transition Fund which pays grants to disabled young people to support t…
12 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the pilot to change the measure of widening access to higher education.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government is working with partners in the North-East of Scotland on a pilot to evaluate the impact of Free School Meal data sharing on university admissions. Partner organisations leading on the work are Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Coun…
12 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals for fracture liaison services each NHS board expects in 2024-25, also broken down by how many patients for this service each board expects to deal with.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Data on Fracture Liaison Service referrals across Scotland are not centrally held by the Scottish Government.
12 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further the answer to question S6W-27968 by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024, what progress is being made towards delivering the national audit of fracture liaison services.
Answer · Jenni Minto: In July 2024, Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to deliver the Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) Audit. PHS are actively recruiting to the posts required to deliver it.
11 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of there being no planned increase to the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund in its draft Budget 2025-26, while the Care Experience - Whole Family Wellbeing budget line has increased by £49 million compared with 2024-25, whether it will provide a breakdo…
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: This years’ budget document presents the latest budget for 2024-25 (which is the position at Autumn Budget Revision as approved by the Scottish Parliament) as the comparator information. There are significant movements in portfolio budgets across the fi…
10 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31685 by Jenny Gilruth on 9 December 2024, which of its officials attended the meeting.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: As is customary when Ministers are unable to attend, senior officials represent their nations. As such, Scotland was represented at the Council by Graeme Logan, Director of Learning.
9 Dec 2024 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reported comments from the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland that “children are being let down” by an education system that needs “radical reform”.
9 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the reported cost of £180,000 to rebrand the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) as Qualifications Scotland represents value for money.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The costs associated with establishing an identity for Qualifications Scotland were set out in the Financial Memorandum that accompanied the Education (Scotland) Bill and were the best estimate available at the time.A cost relating to the creation of an ident…
4 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on subsidising teacher training in each financial year since 2010-11.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Initial Teacher Education is fully funded by the Scottish Government, for those students within the controlled subject numbers.The following table shows funding for publicly funded student places provided by the Scottish Government to providers of Initial Tea…
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when its review of non-core and discretionary support, which includes support for part-time students, will conclude.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government undertook engagement with stakeholders on issues relating to non-core and discretionary support, including support for part-time students following the response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Student Support. Furth…
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a forum for relevant stakeholders to explore and develop evidence-based strategies that could tackle the reported poorer outcomes that some disabled students and graduates, particularly those who are autistic or neurodivergent and those with mental ill health, continue t…
Answer · Graeme Dey: A number of forums exist which provide an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss disabled student and graduate outcomes.The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) have regular contact with the College Development Network’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion netw…
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish an advisory group to consider disability-related issues in further and higher education.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The member raised the issue of setting up such a forum in the Chamber during general questions on 28 November 2024.I confirmed at the time I would be happy to meet to discuss such a group, noting that I would be keen to extend any such forum to look at appren…
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage and enable universities to respond to any changes in student demographics, including in relation to disabled students.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Data shows that we have a record number of new students at university with a recorded disability or additional support need (6,765, an increase of 14.9% over the year). Additionally, the support provided to students via the Disabled Students’ Allowance …
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on developing a replacement notification process for Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) assessors that will maintain GDPR compliance.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Notifications of awards of DSA to assessors are being provided as part of the new DSA online service that Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) released in October 2024.The service is in a pilot stage where it is being trialled by 3 universities to submit new…
27 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms it uses to ensure best value for the spending of public funds on, and consistency of, support for disabled students in further and higher education.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all students with a disability, long term medical condition or additional support needs are able to access further and higher education and are fully supported throughout their studies.Further EducationThe…
21 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it had at the UK Education Ministerial Council meeting on 20 November 2024, and what representations it made on behalf of (a) pupils, (b) teachers and (c) the (i) further and (ii) higher education sector in Scotland.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government engaged directly with the other UK nations at the UK Education Ministers’ Council on a range of matters within education. This included detailed discussions on teacher professional learning and teacher recruitment and retention, …
21 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason neither digital learning nor assistive technology feature in the 43 actions of its Additional Support for Learning Review Action Plan – Update November 2024.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is developing a new digital strategy which is due for publication in early 2025, for school education in Scotland. This is being developed in partnership with COSLA and key education stakeholders and will help support the use of techno…
21 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to CALL Scotland's 2023-24 annual report.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We welcome CALL Scotland’s 2023/24 annual report and value the ongoing work they do to provide specialist expertise in support of children and young people with additional support needs who need Inclusive Digital Technology and/or Augmentative and Alter…
19 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issues to (a) its departments and (b) organisations working on its behalf regarding its (i) definition of, (ii) criteria for and (iii) expectations surrounding the process of a peer review.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Two peer review processes are overseen by the social research profession in Scottish Government.Organisations working for Scottish Government and officials may be involved in an Ethics Peer Review. The Scottish Government Ethics Guidance for Social Research (…
19 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) asked the SQA to undertake an independent review of the marking of Higher History in 2024 and (b) set the parameters for the independence of that review.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31488 on 5 December 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-co…
19 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it instructed the SQA to carry out a review of the marking of Higher History in 2024, and, if so, whether it will provide details of its instructions.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31488 on 5 December 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-co…