Miles Briggs

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have received training in brief mental health interventions in each year since 1999 in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools, also broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities may hold this information.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions ministers have had with COSLA regarding redrawing school catchment areas.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the statutory responsibility for the provision of education in Scotland rests with individual local authorities.School catchment arrangements are a matter for individual local authorities, which have the responsibility…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been recorded as moving into employment as a positive destination in each year for which data is available, also broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.1a in the supplementary tables published al…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a single passporting system of support for students in (a) further and (b) higher education to support widening access.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The final report of the Commission on Widening Access was published in 2016. A lot has changed since 2016 and we are now considering what has worked well and what we could do better.The Scottish Government recognises the need to simplify the support landscape…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had in relation to requests to deliver Hugh’s Law, which would offer financial assistance to parents when children undergo prolonged hospital treatment.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We fully recognise that this is a challenging time for families. The Young Patients Family Fund helps families of young inpatients under 18 in Scotland cover some of the costs of hospital visits, regardless of diagnosis. Families can get support to cover cost…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many exclusions of (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils have taken place in each year since 1999, broken down by (i) local authority area and (ii) pupil year group.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The number of exclusions in primary and secondary schools broken down by local authority from 2005-06 is set out in Table 1 and Table 2.Statistics on the number of exclusions in primary and secondary schools broken down by pupil stage for 2002-03-2022-23 are …

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) birth to two-, (b) three- to five- and (c) six- to 12-year-olds have been supported as part of the Childsmile campaign in each year since 2006, broken down by local authority area. 

Answer · Jenni Minto: This information is not held by Scottish Government.The University of Glasgow (UoG) is responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the Childsmile programme. Since 2013, UoG has published annual national headline reports on the Programme, which includes d…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent from Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) on mental health in schools in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Pupil Equity Funding has been a policy of the Scottish Government since 2017-18.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have received music tuition in schools in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Whilst data from 1999 is not held by Scottish Government, the Improvement Service’s annual Instrumental Music Survey of local authorities contains data on the number of pupils that participated in instrumental music lessons from academic year 2013-2014 …

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many courses have been withdrawn in each college in each year since 1999.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Information is not held centrally. Courses ran by colleges are decided by colleges, as such individual colleges would have this information.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the support provided to parents receiving cancer treatment.

Answer · Neil Gray: We take a comprehensive approach to reviewing support provided to people receiving cancer treatment, which includes those who are parents. We published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 &nda…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many care experienced bursaries have been awarded in each year since the establishment of the support .

Answer · Graeme Dey: The number of Care Experienced Bursaries that have been awarded in each year since the establishment of the support in the 2017-2018 academic year is as follows:Academic Year2017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24Higher Education5458401,0451,5351,80…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been on waiting lists for college courses in each year since 1999.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Information is not held centrally. Students apply directly to colleges, as such only colleges would hold this information.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on school bus transport by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not collect information on the amount spent by local authorities on school bus journeys for pupils travelling to school.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of pupils left school with no qualifications in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The following table provides information from 2009-10 to 2023-24. Information is not available on a comparable basis for earlier years.Leavers with no passes in National Qualifications at SCQF Level 3 or better. 2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) 14, (b) 15 and (c) 16 year olds have been accessing college courses through school-college partnerships whilst at school in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area. 

Answer · Graeme Dey: Information on the number of pupils accessing colleges courses is collected by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Data on the number of enrolments by category of student, which includes school based students in S4, S5 and S6, is published in the SFC annual C…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of absenteeism has been for teachers in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold this information, as teachers’ absence is a matter for local authorities as the employer.

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on anti-drug campaigns in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area. 

Answer · Neil Gray: While some schools or local authorities may run localised campaigns, Scottish Government paid-for marketing channels are not used within the school setting. Therefore, there is no recorded spend for Scottish Government marketing for drugs campaigns within sch…

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many young carers have accessed (a) higher and (b) further education in each year since 1999.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Information on the number of carers at Scottish universities and colleges is published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in their report for widening access.Latest publication: Report on Widening Access 2022-23 - Scottish Funding CouncilCarer information …

12 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on anti-smoking campaigns in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area. 

Answer · Jenni Minto: Currently children and young people learn about a variety of substances including alcohol, medicines, drugs, tobacco and solvents in the school curriculum. They explore the impact risk taking behaviour has on life choices and health.Paid for marketing channel…

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have reported experiencing burnout or excessive workload in each of the last six years.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In Scotland our teachers are employed by Local Education Authorities, not Scottish Government. Therefore Scottish Government does not hold this information.

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have left the profession within five years of qualifying, in each year since 2004.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In Scotland our teachers are employed by Local Authorities, not Scottish Government. Therefore Scottish Government does not hold this information.

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times police have been called to incidents at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2004.

Answer · Angela Constance: Information on the total number of times that police have been called to incidents in schools, both primary and secondary, is not held centrally.

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many external tutors have been employed in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2004, also broken down by what the associated costs were each year.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The information is not held centrally. External tutors are not employed by schools or local authorities.

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on restoring (a) primary and (b) secondary schools as a result of damage caused by deliberate fires in each year since 2004.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold this information because the statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining the school estate rests with local authorities.However, through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme, the Scottish Governme…

6 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils have been suspended from (a) primary and (b) secondary school due to (i) verbal abuse directed at and (ii) a physical assault on a teacher in each year since 2004.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The number of pupils that have been suspended for verbal abuse of staff or physical assault against staff in primary and secondary schools from 2005-06 is set out below.Table 1. Cases of exclusion in primary schools due to (i) verbal abuse directed at and (ii…

5 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open the Fairer Funding Fund, following the closure of the recent pilot.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government news Fairer funding for charities - gov.scot provides details of the announcement on 5 February 2025 of the new Fairer Funding multi-year funding pilot. It will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of…

3 Mar 2025 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, which was commissioned by Shelter Scotland and shows the impact that a stay in temporary accommodation can have on children's safety, health and education.

26 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school nurses there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Data on school nurses by sector and local authority is available from 2019 to 2023, here:https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-management-information/from 2017 to 2018, here:https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-statistics/an…

26 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) special school closures there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In 1999 there were 2,293 primary schools and in 2024 there were 1,978 primary schools.In 1999 there were 389 secondary schools and in 2024 there were 360 secondary schools.In 1999 there were 195 special schools and in 2024 there were 107 special schools. Howe…