Parliamentary questions

Mary Fee

672 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

17 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the Skills Development Scotland (a) budget and (b) spend has been in each of the last 10 financial years.

Answer · John Swinney: Skills Development Scotland is allocated Grant in Aid each year which is used to deliver the commitments as set out in the corresponding letter of ministerial guidance. In addition to their Grant In Aid allocation, SDS also receive income from other sources.…

3 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19873 by Clare Haughey on 22 November 2018, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £250 million investment in mental health has been spent, including how much has been allocated to preventative approaches and early intervention.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Programme for Government 2018 committed to invest an additional £250 million to improve mental health over the next five years from April 2019. It committed to a comprehensive package of measures to improve mental health services for children, young peop…

3 May 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £5 million that it allocated to the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Task Force in June 2018 has been spent, including how much was allocated to specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Answer · Clare Haughey: In December 2018 the Minister for Mental Health, Clare Haughey, announced that £4 million of investment would be distributed through NHS Education for Scotland (NES), to recruit additional CAMHS staff across Scotland who would be instrumental in reducing pres…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many educational mental health staff there have been in each local authority in each of the last five academic years.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. We have made absolutely clear the commitment of this government to promoting children’s health and wellbeing. This year’s Programme for Government includes a commitment to invest in school co…

17 Apr 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will integrate the principle of non-regression into provisions on keeping pace with EU law to ensure that no new measures inadvertently lead to a lowering of consumer and environmental standards.

27 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spends on (a) primary and (b) secondary education, also expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government funds primary and secondary education through the local government finance settlement. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets on the basis of local needs and priorities. Gross revenue expe…

27 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out on children who deferred entry to primary school in 2018-19.

Answer · Maree Todd: No analysis has been carried out by Scottish Government on children who deferred entry to primary school in 2018-19. Information on the number of registrations for funded Early Learning and Childcare for children who have deferred entry to primary school has …

27 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have deferred entry to primary school for 2019-20.

Answer · Maree Todd: Scottish Government do not hold information on the total number of children who have deferred entry to primary school for 2019-20. We do collect information on the number of registrations for funded Early Learning and Childcare for children who have deferred…

27 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of children who started school in 2018-19 were (a) 4, (b) 5 and (c) another age.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not collection information on children starting school. However, information is collected annually on all children in publically funded schools in Scotland in the September pupil census. There may be a small number of children who…

21 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how best practice regarding social media use and mental health can be shared with all schools to support minimum standards.

Answer · John Swinney: We are committed to making sure child internet safety is properly recognised in Scottish education and wider child protection policies. We take online safety incredibly seriously and we continue to liaise with law enforcement agencies to ensure that they have…

20 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on delivering additional payments of the Best Start Grant to help with early learning costs.

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15086 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether it will publish the Children in Scotland report that it commissioned, and whether it has disseminated the findings to the stakeholders and other organisations that contributed.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The report provided by Children in Scotland has been helpful in shaping our work to appoint a childhood bereavement coordinator. As the childhood bereavement coordinator position will be advertised shortly, I have instructed my officials to make this report …

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10219 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, how the £70,000 allocated to support the work of the national co-ordinator for child bereavement services in 2017-18 was spent.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to my answer to PQ S5W-22232 on 1 April 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/28877.as…

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15086 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, whether it will provide an update on the appointment of the national co-ordinator for child bereavement services, including the timescale for the process.

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10219 by Shona Robison on 21 March 2018, how much funding has been allocated to support the work of the national co-ordinator for child bereavement services in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Discussions regarding the appointment of a national co-ordinator are now nearing conclusion. No funding has been allocated towards this post so far, as the work associated with refining this post has not concluded. The position will be advertised shortly and…

13 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been of the Autism Strategy, and how it will continue to support autistic people when the strategy concludes in 2020.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism. The refreshed priorities and outcomes 2018-2021 of the Scottish Strategy for Autism was published in 2018 and sets …

13 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have autism, and what action it is taking to improve the public's understanding of the condition.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism. As part of the launch of the Scottish Strategy for Autism 2011, the Scottish Government commissioned the Microsegme…

13 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research from the National Autistic Society Scotland, which suggests that, although 99% of people have heard of autism, only 15% of autistic people feel that the public understands the condition in a meaningful way.

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people through the implementation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism. We accept the findings from the National Autistic Society Scotland and that is why one of our key priorities for th…

13 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support school pupils on part-time timetables.

6 Mar 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress being made by the Health and Social Care in Prisons Programme Board.

25 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it collects and records regarding pupils who have been placed on part-time timetables.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on pupils that are subject to reduced or part-time timetable is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government. Work is underway to start collecting this information from local authorities and we anticipate data to start becoming available fo…

22 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-02899 by Michael Matheson on 21 February 2019, when he last met the bus operator, McGills, and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I have not met with McGill’s Buses to date.

13 Feb 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the transport secretary last met bus operators that serve Renfrewshire.

4 Feb 2019 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister, in light of it being Children’s Mental Health Week, what action the Scottish Government is taking to increase the provision of mental health support for young people.

29 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be of the college capital spending plans in the draft Budget.

28 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes studying in Scotland to prospective students in China.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: China continues to be by far the biggest international student market for Scotland's Higher Education sector, with figures published in January 2019 by the Higher Education Statistics Agency showing that China-domiciled student numbers rose again in 2017-18 t…

24 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is compliance with the recommendations made by the Council of Europe in April 2018 regarding the children of prisoners, and what steps it is taking to address non-compliance.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Council of Europe's non-binding guidelines provide an important framework and context within which to support the well-being of children who have a parent in custody and the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to tackling any adversity that might …

14 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how overcrowding in prisons impacts on prisoners' (a) mental health and (b) ability to access mental health treatment.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: SPS aims to provide a setting which encourages positive mental health in all aspects of prisoner management and care. SPS Governors wo…

14 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has held with the (a) Scottish Social Services Council, (b) Care Inspectorate and (c) National Day Nurseries Association Scotland regarding the promotion of outdoor learning in early years.

Answer · Maree Todd: Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of organisations across the early learning and childcare sector in relation to promotion of outdoor learning. This has taken place in particular during our national learning events. SSSC, Care Inspectorate an…

14 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the health and safety of (a) children and (b) staff taking part in outdoor learning in early years.

Answer · Maree Todd: It is the responsibility of a provider to make the proper provision for the health and safety of both children and staff. The Care Inspectorate supports care service providers taking a positive approach to risk in order to achieve the best outcomes for child…