Parliamentary questions

Tavish Scott

2,683 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

22 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02456 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 September 2016, whether it will provide the number of applications for dyslexia support received by the Student Awards Agency Scotland.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) administer the Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) which is a needs led funding award based on demand. DSA helps support equality of access to higher education for individual students. The following table shows the numbe…

20 Sep 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that there will be a legacy arising from the success of the Scottish competitors at the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

20 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the figures published by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland in the document, ADES Report on Headteacher Recruitment, which record that the proportion of promoted posts in primary, secondary and special schools decreased from 27.3…

Answer · John Swinney: The decline in the number of promoted posts in Scotland’s schools since 2010 is primarily a result of local authorities moving to create faculties within the secondary sector thereby reducing the need for as many principal teachers.

20 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the figures published by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland in the document, ADES Report on Headteacher Recruitment, which record that 411 teachers with Standard for Headship status were not working as headteachers in 2015, and w…

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has invited partners, including ADES and teachers’ representatives, to form a Working Group tasked with taking shared action on the Report’s recommendations. Holding the Standard for Headship is not, in itself, a ticket to promotion …

20 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises in Shetland do not have access to superfast broadband under the existing or planned infrastructure programmes and will be dependent on the winner of the bid for the contract for the superfast broadband programme that was published on 9 September 2016.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme will deliver 95% fibre broadband access by the end of 2017. Following completion of DSSB deployment, 76% of premises in Shetland will have access to fibre broadband. Only 21% coverage would have been d…

16 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recording mechanisms it has for the number of children who are at risk of child sexual exploitation.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government currently capture information on the causes for concern identified for children on the child protection register. The data is returned by local authorities on an annual basis and is published as part of the Children’s Social Work Stati…

16 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to provide secondary schools with discretionary measures to develop employability projects that best reflect their local needs and opportunities.

Answer · John Swinney: The Youth Employment Strategy: Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) sets out our ambitions for reducing youth unemployment in Scotland. This includes a range of milestones around strengthening links between schools and employers; improving the quality of care…

16 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has published for military recruitment visits to schools.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not have the responsibility for visits by external parties to schools in Scotland. This responsibility lies with local authorities who have the statutory responsibility to deliver education in their locality.

15 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02361 by Fergus Ewing on 15 September 2016, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what discussions it has had with the Crofting Commission regarding grazing committees maintaining their VAT status.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Further to my response to question S5W-02361, I would reiterate that the Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Crofting Commission about crofting policy and regulatory matters in general, including matters relating to common grazings regulation. …

15 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the vacancy for the Commissioner for Widening Access has been advertised, and, if (a) so, where and (b) not, how it will be filled.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Given the necessity for rapid progress and the level of priority we attach to this agenda, in the first instance the Commissioner for Fair Access will be appointed by Ministers for a fixed term. Following the expiry of this term we will consider reviewing ho…

14 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02163 by Fergus Ewing on 8 September 2016, on what dates BT is required to submit its quarterly contractual reports.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government receive quarterly reports from BT providing detailed information on number of premises connected to fibre, structures built, marketing activity and broadband speed of properties connected to the fibre. The due dates for these reports…

14 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02163 by Fergus Ewing on 8 September 2016, for what reason BT is not required to make cabinet locations public in its quarterly reports.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In common with other broadband projects across the UK that used the UK Government’s contract framework, the Digital Scotland contracts do not require BT to make cabinet location information public ahead of the build phase. This is to minimise the potential fo…

14 Sep 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact changes to the structure of NHS boards will have on the recruitment of GPs.

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many students in further education institutions have changed their programmes of study from full-time to part-time in each year since 2010-11.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Funding Council publishes annual statistics on colleges in Scotland, however they do not collect information on changes in students’ mode of study during the academic year.

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the completion rate was for students on part-time recognised (a) higher and (b) further education qualifications in each year since 2010-11.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The information requested is published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in its annual publication College Performance Indicators. Data for 2014-15 is available in the most recent edition of the publication: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/communications/Statistic…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01955 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 September 2016, whether it considers that a 71.3% successful completion rate for students on full-time recognised higher education qualifications is satisfactory, and what it is doing to increase this rate.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The 71.3% successful completion rate for college students on full-time recognised Higher Education (HE) qualifications in 2014-15 is relatively unchanged from the record high of 71.4% in 2013-14. It represents a 7.4 percentage point increase from 2008-09. Mo…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) applications have been received and (b) grants have been awarded by the Student Award Agency for Scotland in respect of support to students with dyslexia in each year since 2010-11, broken down by (i) further and (ii) higher education institutions.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) administer the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) which is a needs led funding based on demand. DSA helps support equality for individual students. The following table shows the number of DSA awards provided by the S…

8 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average grant awarded by the Student Award Agency for Scotland was for support to students with dyslexia in (a) further and (b) higher education institutions in each year since 2010-11.

7 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to (a) raise awareness among and (b) the possibility of 14 to 19-year-olds entering a career outside traditional industries.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: As outlined in our recently published Labour Market Strategy, Sectoral and Regional Skills Investment Plans provide important careers intelligence for our all age careers service which is delivered by Skills Development Scotland. Through our Youth Employment…

7 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the survey by City & Guilds, which showed that 14 to 19-year-olds in Scotland were considering 67 out of 369 jobs listed by the UK Government, the lowest among UK countries.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: We welcome the report’s findings that Scots children are optimistic about their future, and we want to build upon this to support them in raising and meeting their aspirations. In implementing our Youth Employment Strategy ‘Developing the Young Workforce’, …

7 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many workers who provide early childcare there have been in each year since 2010-11, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The following table sets out the number of workers who provided Early Childcare in each year since 2010-11, broken down by local authority. This information covers those registered with the Scottish Social Services Council, including Childminders. Not all of…

7 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many families have been eligible for free childcare in each year since 2010-11, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Mark McDonald: Between August 2007 and July 2014 all three and four year olds were entitled to 475 hours a year of funded early learning and childcare. This increased to 600 hours a year in August 2014 through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act). In…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on grazing committees being VAT registered.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: VAT is a reserved matter and as such, any issues with regards to VAT are between HMRC and the respective grazing committees.

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Crofting Commission regarding grazing committees maintaining their VAT status.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Crofting Commission about crofting policy and regulatory matters in general, including matters relating to common grazings regulation.

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with HMRC regarding grazings committees continuing to remain eligible to register for VAT.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: VAT is a reserved matter and as such, matters relating to VAT are between HMRC and the respective grazing committees. The Scottish Government has regular meetings with HMRC but we have not had any discussions regarding the VAT status of common grazing committ…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by Audit Scotland in its report Scotland's colleges 2016, whether it and the Scottish Funding Council will announce how they will measure and publicly report progress in delivering all of the benefits that were expected from college regionalisation and mer…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council’s overarching report ‘Impact & Success of Programme of College Mergers in Scotland’ was published on 22 August 2016. It evaluates the impact of mergers and their success in delivering intended benefits and outcomes. It further con…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by Audit Scotland in its report Scotland's colleges 2016, whether it and the Scottish Funding Council will publish information on the (a) costs that were incurred and (b) savings achieved through the college merger process.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council’s overarching report Impact and Success of Programme of College Mergers in Scotland was published on 22 August 2016. It reports that the costs of mergers are £69.9 million, off-set by savings of £52.2 million each year.

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with universities to widen access to higher education for those in the bottom 40% of the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Ministers and officials engage regularly with the university sector on widening access to higher education for students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Over the summer we have had a number of positive discussions with both principals and Universities…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to implement the recommendations in the final report of the Commission on Widening Access.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We immediately accepted the Commission’s proposed targets and are working closely with the Scottish Funding Council on how wider progress can be driven through outcome agreements with higher education institutions. Officials are also liaising with SAAS on the…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of Scotland domiciled students at Scottish universities has come from the bottom (a) decile and (b) quantile of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation in each year since 2010-11.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Percentage of Scottish domiciled full-time first degree entrants at Scottish universities from the 10% and 20% most deprived areas of Scotland (SIMD10 and SIMD 20), 2010-11 to 2014-15 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 SIMD 10 5.5% 6.0…