Iain Gray

7 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the building of a new rail station at East Linton, and what the projected completion date is.

Answer · Michael Matheson: This Government remains committed to the delivery of East Linton station as early as practicable within Control Period 6 (2019 -2024). Network Rail are currently progressing with the station designs. A holistic approach is being taken to the design of the st…

6 Jan 2020 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that 14,000 applicants missed out on a place at university last year.

13 Nov 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to align the Care Experienced Students Bursary with the national minimum hourly rate of £9.30 that has been announced by the Living Wage Foundation.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government provided additional investment of over £5 million in 2018-19 to increase the care-experienced bursary across Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) to £8,100 per year. This additional investment funded an increase from the pr…

22 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many parents will cease to receive the Scottish Child Payment each year for a child who reaches 16 while still in full-time education.

1 Oct 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is developing relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

18 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the economies of small towns.

9 Sep 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the planned improvements to the Sheriffhall roundabout on the A720.

5 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many roads in residential developments remain unadopted by local authorities.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of unadopted local authority roads within Scotland. It would be for each local authority to detail their understanding of what roads remain unadopted within their areas. Unadopted or private roa…

4 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure the restoration of the throughcare service for people leaving prison.

2 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the cost of hospice provision is funded by public money.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: This information is not centrally held. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 makes clear that it is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to plan and commission services for their area, using the integrated budget under their…

2 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provides to each hospice.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 makes clear that it is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to plan and commission services for their area, using the integrated budget under their control, to meet the specific needs of t…

2 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reinstate the recording of crime data by the sex of the offender.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has not made any changes to the recording of sex or gender within data on police recorded crime or criminal proceedings. The National Statistics on crimes recorded by the police do not include any demographic information on perpetrato…

2 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether in any case its funding conditions under the Equality Act 2010 exclude women’s groups that use single-sex exceptions.

2 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to consult on new guidance for schools with regard to their obligations under the Equality Act 2010; when it will do so, and how this will be tested with parents.

Answer · John Swinney: Guidance for schools on their obligations under the Equality Act has been in place since 1 April 2014, and remains in place. The guidance on the Act was published by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and is available from https://www.equalityhuman…

20 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23577 by John Swinney on 13 June 2019, what specific financial investment has been made to date to ensure that "every school in Scotland has access to a home school link worker by the end of 2019", and whether explicit funding has been or will be ma…

Answer · John Swinney: Official statistics gathered through the ‘school support staff’ categories of the Annual Teacher Census and data provided by local authorities through a targeted questionnaire on home-school link provision run in late 2018/early 2019 indicate a significant in…

1 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of looked-after children achieved three or more qualifications at SCQF (i) 5 and (ii) 6 in the most recent educational outcomes statistics.

Answer · Maree Todd: Of 999 looked after school leavers in 2017-18 in the most recent educational outcomes statistics, (i) 184 (18.4%) achieved three or more qualifications at SCQF 5 or better (ii) 42 (4.2%) achieved three or more qualifications at SCQF 6 or better Data for 20…

18 Jun 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the third sector regarding the impact on it of the findings of the report, Handing Back Contracts, and its ability to contract a range of public services from local authorities.

18 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many looked-after young school leavers went on to higher education in (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19, and what proportion did so at university.

Answer · Maree Todd: Of a total 999 looked after school leavers in 2017-18, 47 were in higher education 3 months after leaving school. This includes 22 looked after for the full year and 25 looked after for part of the year. Information on the proportion in higher education at un…

11 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18576 by Mairi Gougeon on 20 September 2018, by what date it will bring forward the legislation for Finn's Law.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Proposals for a Scottish "Finn's Law" were consulted on as part of the Scottish Government's commitment to amend the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. The results of that consultation, which closed 26 April 2019, are currently being analysed. Th…

11 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what national policy guidelines there are regarding the provision of key worker housing for social care workers, including for older people's services.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23726 on 25 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…

11 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what national policy guidelines there are regarding key worker housing for older people.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Local authorities as the statutory housing authority for their area are responsible for assessing housing need and demand based on the findings from their Housing Need and Demand Assessment and setting out how the requirement for housing will be met thought t…

3 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what policies it has introduced to ensure that every school has access to a home-to-school link worker; what progress is being made with this work, including what proportion of schools have such access, and what the timeline is for its completion.

Answer · John Swinney: A range of policies are contributing towards an increase in the provision of home-school link worker access in Scotland including via the Attainment Scotland Fund and the ‘Learning Together’ National Action Plan on parental engagement. In addition, in order t…

28 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of looked-after children from each local authority area have entered a positive destination, according to its most recent statistics.

Answer · Maree Todd: The requested information is published in Table 2.4 of the Education Outcomes for Looked After Children: 2016 to 2017 publication available here: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2018/06/education-outcomes-scotl…

28 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of young people from each local authority area have entered a positive destination, according to its most recent statistics.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on positive initial (three months after leaving school) destinations of school leavers in 2017-18 broken down by Local Authority is available in the statistical report supplementary tables online in Table L2.1: https://www.gov.scot/publications/s…

24 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring the Care Experienced Students Bursary into line with the Living Wage, as recommended by the 2017 Student Support Review.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government provided additional investment of over £5 million in 2018-19 to increase the care-experienced bursary across Further (FE) and Higher Education (HE) to £8,100 per year. This additional investment funded an increase from the previous lev…

20 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that more young people and their families managing long-term health conditions can access art therapy.

20 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how any new guidance regarding the school estate and the schools for the future strategies will support small rural schools.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has made, and will continue to make a significant investment in the school estate in Scotland. The £1.8bn Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme will deliver 117 newly built or refurbished schools by March 2020. These projects wer…

28 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what direct or indirect subsidy and support independent schools receive from the public sector.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not provide direct or indirect funding to independent schools as a matter of course, with a limited number of exceptions. These are St Mary’s Music School and, in 2017-18 and 2018-19, Newlands Junior College. Local authorities ma…

28 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the online training for teachers that has been developed as part of supporting pupils with additional support needs includes specific modules on autism.

Answer · John Swinney: We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people to receive the support they need to reach their full learning potential. The inclusion module is a free professional learning resource for educational practitioners and local authorities. It has…

26 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of kinship carers are in receipt of a financial allowance.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government collects information on the number of looked after children in kinship care placements. It does not collect information on the number of kinship carers who are in receipt of a financial allowance. Legislation supports the payment of al…