Parliamentary questions
Kezia Dugdale
1,684 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what training Skills Development Scotland undertakes to ensure that its staff are fully aware of the needs and rights of care-experienced young people.
Answer · John Swinney: Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is committed to ensuring staff are appropriately qualified for the roles that they undertake and receive appropriate training on the needs and rights of young people; including those with care experience. This includes, but i…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Skills Development Scotland has any staff focused solely on the needs and aspirations of looked-after young people.
Answer · John Swinney: Skill Development Scotland (SDS) Leadership and Management teams use a wide range of monitoring and performance information to track the quality and performance of the services and to support staff to improve and develop their practice, as well as sharing goo…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how care-experienced young people are informed of their options before leaving secondary school.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government is working with partners to deliver Developing the Young Workforce, a seven year programme to reduce youth unemployment, which is helping young people to have a better understanding of the world of work, and career opportunities. This…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve the chances of care-experienced young people (a) attending and (b) completing (i) college and (ii) university.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This government is committed to equality of access to further and higher education for young people regardless of their background. The government and stakeholders are taking forward a number of actions to support those with care experience into and through p…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will support care-experienced young people aged 5 to 10 with mental health issues who are not in mainstream education.
Answer · Mark McDonald: Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. An additional support need can arise for any reason and be o…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government at what age local authorities cease to track the outcomes of care-experienced young people with regard to their (a) health, (b) housing status and (c) employment status.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the age at which local authorities cease to track the outcomes of care-experienced young people. The Scottish Government collects data from local authorities on children and young people who are looked aft…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific plans are in place to support care-experienced young people out of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) status.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Tackling inequality is at the heart of this government’s agenda and we are committed to improving the lives of looked after children. Our 2015 Getting It Right For Looked After Children Strategy (GIRFEC) is focussed on ensuring the needs of looked after and …
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether current additional support policies and legislation targeted at care-experienced young people are working to improve attainment.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The vision for Scottish education is that it will deliver both excellence in terms of ensuring children and young people acquire a broad range of skills and capacities at the highest levels, whilst also delivering equity so that every child and young person s…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of SCQF Level 5 qualifications that looked-after young people attain at school.
Answer · John Swinney: The proportion of looked-after leavers with one or more qualification at SCQF level 5 or better has more than doubled from 15% to 40% since 2009-10. This is evidence that the attainment of care-experienced young people has been improving. Whilst this is a st…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the expulsion rates of looked-after young people in schools.
Answer · John Swinney: Virtually no children are expelled from Scottish schools. The Scottish Government recognises the important role of our education system and the need to provide a positive and inclusive learning experience for all school pupils. We have taken a number of step…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether care-experienced young people in secure units are able to request continuing care.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The duty to provide Continuing Care does not apply if the accommodation the person was in immediately before ceasing to be looked after was secure accommodation. Continuing Care placements are intended to entitle eligible care experienced young people to exte…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to ensure that care-experienced young people are aware and informed of their new rights regarding continuing care.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government commissioned resources for young people and promotes those developed by other organisations including the Children and Young People's Commissioner in Scotland and Who Cares? Scotland. These have been specifically developed for children…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to increase the take-up of continuing care provision.
Answer · Mark McDonald: We do not yet have detailed information on the number of young people who have requested Continuing Care. The first full year of data will be collected in 2017-18 and, depending on data quality, published from 2019 in the annual National Statistics publicatio…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in advance of the budget process, what assessment it has made of the reported financial pressures faced by local authorities in fulfilling their continuing care provision commitments.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government has paid £4.2 million to Scottish local authorities in 2015-16 to support costs of implementing Continuing Care and this funding commitment rises to £9.3 million by 2019/20. Taking into account the 2017-18 local government finance set…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the (a) capacity of and (b) resources for local authorities to improve the care and support provided to care-experienced young people.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government funds CELCIS (almost £5 million in 2017-18), to provide capacity building in the sector to improve the care and support provided to care-experienced young people on the basis of what is known about what works and how improvements can b…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors local authorities that are converting current care placements to continuing care placements.
Answer · Mark McDonald: I refer you to the answer to question S5W-11400 on 2 October 2017. We do not yet have detailed information on the number of young people who have requested Continuing Care. The first full year of data will be collected in 2017-18 and, depending on data qualit…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the continuing care funding allocation process for local authorities.
Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government has no current plans to review the funding allocation process. I refer to the answer to question S5W-11399 on 2 October 2017. The Scottish Government has paid £4.2 million to Scottish local authorities in 2015-16 to support costs of …
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors local authority spending on continuing care provision.
Answer · Mark McDonald: It is the responsibility of each local authority to use resources as efficiently as possible and deliver services effectively to ensure taxpayers get the best possible value. How this is done is a matter for each council - councils are autonomous bodies, resp…
20 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities are converting current care placements to continuing care placements.
Answer · Mark McDonald: I refer you to the answer to question S5W-11400 on 2 October 2017. We do not yet have detailed information on the number of young people who have requested Continuing Care. The first full year of data will be collected in 2017-18 and, depending on data qualit…
20 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many care-experienced and accommodated young people are eligible for continuing care, and how this compares with the number receiving it.
14 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish what steps it is taking to ensure that Scotland's Kurdish community feels safe, supported and welcome.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is clear that there is absolutely no place for discrimination and prejudice in Scotland and that any form of hate crime is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. As a nation, we have a long history of welcoming people of all n…
14 Sep 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recent police raids on the Kurdish Community Centre in Edinburgh.
Answer · Angela Constance: This is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I understand that Police Scotland held a public meeting on 5 September to discuss community concerns in relation to police searches of the Kurdish Community Centre and homes in Edinburgh. The meeting was well…
10 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is offered to help people with substance abuse problems.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: We continue to provide leadership and support in the delivery of the Scottish Government drugs strategy, Road to Recovery, which secured cross party support and have invested over £630 million since 2008 to tackle problem substance use. We have improved acces…
10 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it taking to address homelessness (a) in Edinburgh and (b) nationally.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: (a) Local authorities have the statutory duty for homelessness in Scotland and as such it is for City of Edinburgh Council to make decisions on activity to address homelessness in its area, taking account of local context and priorities. (b) More broadly, wi…
22 Jun 2017 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the week.
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what mental health support is in place for prisoners who are or have been subject to solitary confinement.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Solitary confinement does not exist in prisons in Scotland. Prisoners may be removed from association for their safety or for the safety of others but they are never held in solitary confinement. The responsibility for provision of healthcare to prisoners in …
21 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out or plans regarding the impact that solitary confinement has on the mental health of prisoners.
Answer · Maureen Watt: Solitary confinement does not exist in prisons in Scotland. Prisoners may be removed from association for their safety or for the safety of others but they are never held in solitary confinement. The Scottish Government has no plans to conduct research on the…
15 Jun 2017 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the week.
12 Jun 2017 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the week.
1 Jun 2017 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what engagements she has planned for the rest of the week.