Parliamentary questions
Martin Whitfield
543 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the cross-government co-ordination on islands, what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding action to ensure that island communities are protected through an effective flood resilience strategy, in light of Audit Scotland’s …
27 Aug 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will deliver on its commitments in The Promise, in light of the publication, Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2023/24, showing a decline in most key educational outcomes.
8 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last met with Rail Action Group, East of Scotland.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: I have yet to meet with Rail Action Group, East of Scotland, who have recently shown particular interest in transport connectivity in and around Haddington.
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent any staff at the Victoria Quay nursery from being made redundant.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Nursery staff are employed by North Edinburgh Childcare Limited who retain responsibility for leading the consultation exercise with staff affected and, as part of this, exploring alternative employment opportunities.
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that its employees do not need to leave their jobs as a result of the closure of the Victoria Quay nursery.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: A transition period is supporting continued provision at the Victoria Quay (VQ) nursery until 10 October 2025. This period will support parents to source alternative childcare provision.The current operator of the VQ nursery, North Edinburgh Childcare Enterpr…
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Public and Commercial Services Union regarding the closure of the Victoria Quay nursery.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Scottish Government officials informed the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Prospect and FDA unions on the morning of 12 June 2025 that a provider to operate the VQ nursery had not been secured and outlined the support being made available to the c…
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it became aware that the Victoria Quay nursery may be at risk of closure, and when this was communicated to parents.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: A full tender exercise was conducted and during the final stages of consideration, the only bidder, North Edinburgh Childcare Enterprise Ltd (NECEL) informed us on 9 May 2025 of their decision to withdraw from the tender process following their review of the …
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it consulted with parents prior to the decision to close the Victoria Quay nursery.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government did not take the decision to close the nursery – its closure is as a result of an unsuccessful procurement due to no bidders. Parents were informed of this on 13 June 2025. There was no formal consultation by Scottish Government …
17 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it decided to initiate a retendering process for the Victoria Quay nursery.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The nursery at Victoria Quay is a commercial entity and operates under a concession contract and is not subsidised by the Scottish Government. Procurement of the nursery contract has taken place routinely since the nursery was first established. The previous …
7 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how support staff were consulted in the development of the guidance, Fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment, published in June 2025.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment guidance was developed with a range of key stakeholders, including headteachers and teaching unions.Support staff views were captured through the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, which inf…
10 Jun 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Armed Forces Covenant obligation on NHS boards to have due regard for the unique challenges faced by service children, what discussions the veterans minister has had with ministerial colleagues in relation to ensuring that relocations for military postings do not lead to s…
Answer · Graeme Dey: Access to NHS treatment is based on clinical need, however we recognise that service children should not be disadvantaged when accessing the NHS as a result of their parent’s service in the Armed Forces.We regularly communicate the Covenant legal duty a…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "very good" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a respo…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "excellent" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a respo…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "good" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a respo…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "weak" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38451 on 20 June 2025.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a resp…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "unsatisfactory" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Care Inspectorate is the independent scrutiny body and regulator for care services in Scotland. It regulates and provides scrutiny of the quality of care in Scotland (including in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings) to ensure it meets high standa…
4 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37806 by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 June 2025, how many early learning and childcare settings have been evaluated as "adequate" by the Care Inspectorate, in each year from 2015 to 2024, also expressed as a percentage.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: This information is not held by the Scottish Government.The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a response.
4 Jun 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent EY assessment of the Scottish economy.
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many early years settings currently operate from buildings classified as being in “poor” or “unsuitable” condition, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data about the condition of early learning and childcare (ELC) settings. Owners and managers are responsible for building management and for ensuring the safety …
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on how many early learning and childcare settings have withdrawn from the funded provider scheme since 2022, and what analysis it has conducted of the reasons for any such withdrawals.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many providers have withdrawn from offering funded early learning and childcare (ELC), or their reasons for doing so.Information on the number of private, and third sector childcare services delivering …
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken or commissioned any national reviews or audits of youth centre provision since 2019, and, if so, whether it will publish the findings.
Answer · Graeme Dey: An independent review of the Community Learning and Development (CLD) landscape was commissioned in December 2023.Following the review, the Learning: For All. For Life. report was published in July 2024 which set out 20 recommendations varying in complexity a…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Higher and Further Education has held any meetings with youth organisations since May 2021, and, if so, whether it will provide a breakdown of any such meetings by (a) date and (b) topic.
Answer · Graeme Dey: I regularly meet with youth organisations such as Youth Scotland, YouthLink Scotland and Scottish Youth Parliament.The First Minister of Scotland and other Scottish Minister’s also regularly meet with youth organisations. This includes a summit on 12 Ju…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any reports from local authorities or representative bodies regarding financial distress, debt accumulation or insolvency risk among early years providers in the past three years.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published financial sustainability health checks and the Sustainable Rates Review, which…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds any national benchmarking or audit data regarding the accessibility and quality of youth centres.
Answer · Graeme Dey: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38244 on 17 June 2025 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-committees/q…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any financial stress-testing that it has conducted in relation to the early years sector.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published financial sustainability health checks and the Sustainable Rates Review, which…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many early years settings have closed in each year since 2021, also broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) provider type.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Care Inspectorate collects and publishes data on service cancellations and registrations (available here: Statistics and analysis).Figure 8 of the Care Inspectorate’s 2023_Early_learning_and_Childcare_Statistics.pdf shows service cancellations for c…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recorded data it holds on the number of youth centres that have closed, merged, or been repurposed in each year since 2015.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the financial sustainability of early learning and childcare providers delivering funded hours, and what steps it is taking to address any identified risks to the long-term viability of that provision.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published financial sustainability health checks and the Sustainable Rates Review, which…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of qualified youth workers that are currently employed in Scotland.
Answer · Graeme Dey: Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their…
29 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of public funding levels on the long-term viability of (a) private and (b) third sector early years settings.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Many parts of the childcare sector operate under a mixed economy model where they receive income from different sources, including directly from their local authority to support the delivery of funded early learning and childcare (ELC). For example, the 2023 …