Parliamentary questions

Tavish Scott

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

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many university places the Scottish Funding Council has funded in each year since 2010-11.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following table shows the breakdown of full-time equivalent (FTE) funded places supported by the Scottish Funding Council on behalf of the Scottish Government since 2010-11. Academic Year FTE Places 2010-11 129,733.3 2011-12 120,018.3 2012-13 125,…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to increase funding for university places through the Scottish Funding Council.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that investment in the higher education sector supports the excellence of our world-class universities and enables greater equity in access to a university education. Through the Scottish Funding Council, we ha…

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase funding to the Scottish Funding Council.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Funding Council’s future budget will be determined as part of the forthcoming spending review.

6 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided for each university place in each year since 2010-11 in (a) cash and (b) real terms.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The answer provided in response to Scottish Parliamentary Question S5W-02349 on 20 September 2016 sets out the number of university places supported by the Scottish Funding Council on behalf of the Scottish Government in each year since 2010-11. A funded plac…

5 Sep 2016 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to the findings of the Audit Scotland report, Scotland’s colleges 2016.

29 Aug 2016 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in implementing the recommendations in the Commission for Developing Scotland's Young Workforce final report.

25 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) BT and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise regarding the (i) location and (ii) timetable for installation of new cabinets to provide superfast broadband.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government regularly liaises with BT and Highlands and Islands Enterprise regarding delivery of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband projects. Recent discussions have focussed on the modelling of Gainshare resources – additional funding gen…

25 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings in the Audit Scotland report, Scotland's colleges 2016, whether it will conduct an assessment of the impact that its college reform policies have had on women and over-25s who have been mostly affected by these.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Learners over 25 years old are well represented in our colleges. In 2014-15, 27% of all learning hours were delivered to such learners, representing an investment of £104 million. Moreover, full-time students aged 25 and over at colleges have increased by 31%…

25 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings in the Audit Scotland report, Scotland's colleges 2016, whether it will conduct an assessment into college reform impacts on student populations to take account of the 48% reduction in the number of part-time students at colleges.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Over the last Parliament, we maintained 116,000 Full-time Equivalent college places. We shall continue this commitment, focused on purposeful, job-focused learning. We shall also continue to support a range of part-time and full-time provision: short courses …

24 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the feedback to its consultation on international development policy, Meeting Global Challenges & Making a Difference - Aligning our International Development Policy with the Global Goals, was not published on the expected date of 31 July 2016, and on what date this will …

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government’s public consultation on future shape of its International Development Policy (Meeting Global Challenges & Making a Difference - Aligning Our International Development Policy with the Global Goals) ran from 24th February 2016 until 20 …

19 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason current and former councillors are excluded from applying for roles in the Scottish Land Commission.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Section 12 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 sets out those groups of people who are disqualified from being appointed as a member of the Scottish Land Commission. The list comprises those who are, or have been in the previous 12 months, elected represen…

17 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under the Basic Payment Scheme, any field parcel that is judged to contain 50% rough grazing and 50% permanent grassland (classified as PGRS) has received a region 1 payment.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Officials in Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID), using objective criteria, assessed land parcels with either 40% or more Single Farm Payment Scheme (SFPS) eligible arable crops and rotational grass (excluding permanent grass) or 50% or more perman…

17 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01210 by Fergus Ewing on 14 July 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of the payments made under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme in region (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 for Shetland producers.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The total 2015 Basic Payment Scheme payments made to Shetland producers as at 2 September 2015 was 3,275,396.92, broken down to region as follows: Region 1 1,175,271.18 Region 2 1,651,314.64 Region 3 448,811.10 Total direct payments made to Shetland produ…

17 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date Scottish agriculture producers will receive a communication detailing their final 2015 Basic Payment Scheme details including eligible field parcels, and whether there will be an appeal mechanism available to producers on the contents of this letter and the length of that ap…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government issued letters to all Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claimants in Scotland detailing their initial allocation of BPS entitlements. All claimants can view their definitive BPS entitlements by Payment Region on the Rural Payments and Inspect…

17 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the guidance letter to be issued to all schools for the first day of the new academic year on curriculum for excellence was not delivered as scheduled and when schools will receive this guidance.

Answer · John Swinney: The new teacher guidance provides an emphatic statement of priorities for Scotland's schools that addresses all of the relevant issues and provides the clarity that teachers need. We consulted widely across the teaching profession to ensure that it would be …

16 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Fair Funding for our Kids report, Where's my Nursery Place?, which recorded that (a) 65% of all nursery places were half days only, (b) 89% of all council nursery places for 3 to 5-year-olds were half days only and (c) local authorities are underfunding places…

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Minister for Childcare and Early Years met with Fair Funding for our Kids on 30 August 2016 to discuss their report and welcomed their interest. There is evidence of local authorities such as Edinburgh City and Fife offering a wider range of choice includ…

16 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its current approach to funding and support to local authorities is sufficient to maintain its commitment to improving and increasing high quality, flexible early learning and childcare for free and has no negative impact on this pledge.

Answer · Mark McDonald: Recent engagement with local authorities indicates that the majority have already increased flexibility, including full days and year round provision. There is a therefore a significant shift in the range of choice and flexible models that parents now have ac…

16 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that around quarter of college students are not completing their programmes, and what it believes the reasons for this are.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Compared with 2008-09, in 2014-15 almost 11,000 more college students across Further Education (FE) and Higher Education successfully completed full-time courses that lead to recognised qualifications – an increase of 24%. Our FE college students are support…

15 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Funding Council report, Learning for All: Measures of Success, which recorded that the proportion of students completing higher education courses at college fell from 84.2% in 2013-14 to 82.7% in 2014-15; what it believes the reasons are for the reduc…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Successful completion rates for students on full-time recognised Higher Education (HE) qualifications remained stable at 71.3% in 2014-15 compared to a record high of 71.4% in 2013-14. In addition, 2014-15 saw the highest number of full-time HE students succe…

15 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on concerns that there is a connection between the funding reductions to colleges and the reduction in students completing their studies.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Our 2016-17 budget protected college resource funding at £530 million. Since 2007, we have provided over £5 billion of resource investment to the college sector to deliver job-focused learning to our current, and future workforce. In 2014-15 almost 11,000 mo…

15 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Funding Council report, Learning for All: Measures of Success, which recorded that the proportion of students completing further education courses at college fell from 77.3% in 2013-14 to 74.6% in 2014-15; what it believes the reasons are for the redu…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The figures in the question show continuing high standards when compared to 2008-09, the first year with which we can compare the current statistics. In 2014-15 almost 11,000 more college students across Further Education and Higher Education successfully com…

15 Aug 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its current approach to funding and support to colleges is sufficient and has no negative impact on the existing college programmes.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Over the last Parliament we maintained the commitment we made in 2011 – to deliver 116,000 Full-time Equivalent college places. We will continue this commitment, focused on purposeful, job-focused learning. In 2014-15, our colleges delivered 97% of learning …