Pam Gosal

28 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the current support that is offered to women-led businesses.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The independent Pathways review and recommendations were developed through extensive consultation and engagement with entrepreneurs and analysis of data on women in entrepreneurship.Activity within the South of Scotland Enterprise Pilot pre-start programme an…

28 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to implement more personalised support that gives women the choice of women-specific business advice and support programmes.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government is fully committed to implementing the recommendations of the Pathways Review: Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Record levels of funding have been allocated to support women’s ente…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken with young people's representative organisations to provide effective practice resources for schools and local authorities on how to engage with young people on anti-racism and racist bullying approaches.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme continues to consider the best ways in which the voices of young people, particularly those with lived experience, are centred within the programme. Since 2021, we have provided funding to a r…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review what anti-racism learning is currently available to all school staff.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Education Leadership and Professional Learning workstream of the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme includes a wide range of stakeholders who bring their expertise and experience to inform strategic actions. Facilitated by Educ…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has investigated successful models of parental engagement, and what work it has undertaken with key local partners to deliver materials for parents and carers on how they can support anti-racist education.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has provided funding to Connect for this financial year to establish and host the Scottish Assembly of Parents and Carers. This new model will enhance the diversity of parental voices to help inform policy and provide advice and challe…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued effective practice guidance for schools on how to engage young people, including young people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, in the development and delivery of anti-racist education in Personal and Social Education (PSE) and health and wellbeing lessons.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Children and young people should feel happy, safe, respected and included in the learning environment and all staff should be proactive in promoting positive relationships and behaviour in the classroom, playground, and wider learning community.It is for teac…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of age and stage appropriate lesson plans that enable the delivery of anti-racist education and racist bullying education and learning, drawing on Scottish and UK examples of good practice.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has been progressing a number of areas of work in relation to articulating and embedding anti-racism in the curriculum. This has included the introduction of anti-racism curriculum principles Breaking the Mould, published in June 2023 …

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed successful models of parental engagement in relation to approaches to prevent and respond to racism and racist bullying in Personal and Social Education (PSE) or Health and Wellbeing Education.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: As part of Education Scotland’s Anti-Racism Mentors project, selected alumni from the Building Racial Literacy programme are working to take forward anti-racist action at local and national levels, with some of their activities exploring models of paren…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed a universal national approach for recording and monitoring racist incidents in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Schools and education authorities should ensure any allegations of racism are investigated fully and any necessary action taken.A consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools was introduced in 2019. The Bullying…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed its national approach for recording and monitoring bullying in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We expect schools and local authorities to record all incidents of bullying and violence in schools.In 2019 we introduced a consistent national approach to recording and monitoring bullying incidents in schools. HMIe carried out a thematic review of approache…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue any new guidance to support schools to respond to incidents of racism.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: As part of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot), the Scottish Government has established the Racism and Racist Incidents (RRI) workstream. This workstream is focussed on developing support for schools and school staff to improve un…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out a review of the recording of racist incidents in schools by local authorities and/or schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In February 2023, Education Scotland published the report of its thematic review on approaches to recording and monitoring of bullying incidents in schools. This report can be accessed at: Approaches to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in school…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed a whole-school approach to embedding anti-racism into the school environment, including providing practical measures, approaches and professional learning opportunities for leaders and school staff.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for racism in our schools. Discrimination or prejudice of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly whenever it arises. All staff are expected to be proactive in promoting positive relations…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the collection and publication of effective practices underway in schools and local authorities that embed anti-racism practices in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: A number of approaches are being used to collect and publish effective practices underway in schools and local authorities that embed anti-racism practices in schools:Case studies are being gathered and published to illustrate Scotland's Breaking the mould: P…

25 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to further review the existing professional learning available to school leaders to respond to incidents of racism and racist bullying.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Education Scotland provides a range of professional learning opportunities for school leaders, which focus on anti-racism. These include Into Headship, Connected and Collaborative Systems Leadership, Aspiring to Middle Leadership, and Middle Leaders Leading C…

22 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has conducted on the impact of economic inactivity on the economy.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government routinely analyses labour market data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the latest Scotland's Labour Market Insights: October 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) statistical publication released on 28 October 2024.…

22 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support economically inactive people enter the job market.

Answer · Tom Arthur: To address inactivity, it is essential to support those who are currently inactive – not in paid work and not actively looking for work – through employability and other interventions that seek to support a return to the labour market, and also pr…

21 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the UK Government's proposal to end the VAT exemption for private schools on the closure of private schools in Scotland.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Officials have met with education leads in the local authorities expecting to be most affected to understand their assessment of the potential move of pupils to the state sector. We have also sought assurance from local authorities that they have the capacity…

21 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand mandatory pay gap disaggregated data collection to include reporting by parental status.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The legal powers to mandate the reporting of pay gaps is largely reserved to the UK Parliament and is currently limited to the reporting of gender pay gaps under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. There is no requirement for …

21 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the capital grant to East Dunbartonshire Council to progress projects across five schools in the local authority area, as reportedly requested by the council's chief executive.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsi…

14 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which licences to trade and permissions could potentially be in the scope of any decision to make eligibility for licences to operate conditional on payment of the real Living Wage, as set out in its Fair Work Action Plan, and how many licence holders could potentially be affected.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government is committed to using all levers at our disposal to extend Fair Work First conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence.We are c…

14 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which rate reliefs could potentially be in the scope of any decision to make eligibility for business rates reliefs conditional on payment of the real Living Wage, as set out in its Fair Work Action Plan, and how may relief recipients might be affected.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government is committed to using all levers at its disposal to extend Fair Work conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence and this matte…

14 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received from businesses and others regarding any consideration being given to making eligibility for business rates reliefs and licences to trade conditional on payment of the real Living Wage.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has received representations on the principle of making eligibility for business rates reliefs and licences to trade conditional on payment of the real Living Wage from a range of stakeholders, including retail representative bodies li…

9 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to allocate towards third sector organisations dealing with domestic abuse in the next funding round, broken down by organisation. 

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: Decisions on future funding for third sector organisations dealing with domestic abuse will be confirmed on completion of the budget process later this year.

8 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last five years, how many students who received funding to undertake paramedic courses in Scotland subsequently found employment in order to complete their one-year newly qualified paramedic programme in (a) Scotland and (b) England or Wales.

Answer · Neil Gray: This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

8 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to create a transition course for paramedics who graduate but cannot find employment in a paramedic position in Scotland due to any oversaturation of the job market.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce a transition course for paramedics unable to find employment with the Scottish Ambulance Service.The Scottish Government sets policies and frameworks at a national level, and it is the role of Health…

7 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will be designing employability programmes that consciously tackle any occupational segregation, and provide flexible opportunities for women in fair work jobs.

Answer · Tom Arthur: No One Left Behind is our national approach to devolved employability services in Scotland. This approach sees a move away from nationally contracted provision to a model which empowers Local Employability Partnerships to lead the design and delivery of servi…

7 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to design targeted skills programmes that will tackle any occupational segregation and move low-paid women into higher-quality and better-paid jobs.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Consideration of all protected characteristics, including gender, will continue to inform the design and delivery of post school education and skills reform.We will continue to build on our existing work to address barriers for women and girls, including:A ra…

7 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to develop a roadmap to delivering 50 hours of high-quality, flexible funded childcare to all children aged six months and over.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Scotland is the only part of the UK that already offers 30 hours per week, in term time, of funded ELC to all 3 and 4-year-olds regardless of whether their parents are working or not. We also make 1140 hours available to around a quarter of 2 year olds and to…

7 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to recast the National Strategy for Economic Transformation to integrate a gender analysis so that any gender barriers to the labour market can be tackled.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) is a ten-year strategy, and we stand by its vision to grow a sustainable and inclusive wellbeing economy. Two and a half years into that ten-year strategy, significant progress has already …