Mary Fee

14 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports outdoor learning in early years.

Answer · Maree Todd: The expansion of funded hours for early learning and childcare (ELC) provides a unique opportunity to enrich the experience we offer children in their early years. The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of outdoor learning, exercise and play for youn…

10 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many funding applications have been lodged for the national funding that was announced during Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week 2018, and how many have been approved.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Women and Girls Fund is currently still open to applications and does not close until 5pm on 25 January 2019.

7 Jan 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the amount of land and buildings in community ownership in urban areas.

19 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support will be in place for families of people subject to electronic monitoring under its Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Currently, as part of a Home Background Report or Community Assessment Report (which have to be completed prior to electronic monitoring being imposed), family circumstances in the home are assessed. In practice, this gives an opportunity for any householder …

19 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures will be in place to support people to comply with conditions imposed through electronic monitoring under its Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There is currently an 80 per cent completion rate for electronically monitored orders. Some of those who are electronically monitored currently will already have statutory supervision, for example those on Parole licence. Measures within the Management of Of…

19 Dec 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons there has been a reported rise recently in the Scottish prison population.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: On Sunday 6th January 2019, the population in custody was 7,845. Prison population numbers are impacted by short term fluctuations and change over time. There are a complex range of factors from across the Scottish justice system that impact the prison popul…

28 Nov 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will fund local authorities in the West Scotland region to help ensure that communities are kept clean and tidy.  

27 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how children and nurseries are selected to participate in the pilot to deliver the expansion of childcare to 1,140 hours.

Answer · Maree Todd: All Local Authorities were invited to apply to take part in the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) expansion delivery trials. Fourteen Local Authorities were selected based on an assessment of their applications. The trials took place between January 2016 and…

27 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring and evaluating the pilot to deliver the expansion of childcare to 1,140 hours.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government published an evaluation of the fourteen Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) delivery trials in May 2018 (published here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/evaluation-early-learning-childcare-expansion-delivery-trials/ ). These trials …

14 Nov 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the mental health of (a) children and young people, (b) children in care, (c) care-experienced young people, (d) people over 65, (e) disabled people, (f) black and minority ethnic (BME) people, (g) trans people, (h) lesbian, gay and bisexual people, (i) Gypsy/Travellers, …

Answer · Clare Haughey: The Scottish Government monitors the mental health of the population as a whole via the Scottish Health Survey , with additional information available for some smaller groups from the Scottish Survey’s Core Questions . It is not possible to break the surv…

31 Oct 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the UK Budget will affect Scotland's equalities budget.

5 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to NHS staff so that they can best direct bereaved parents under the age of 25 to appropriate support.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The NHS Education for Scotland (NES) website ‘Support Around Death’, provides health professionals across Scotland with a range of resources on bereavement care after pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death, including short animated educational films. An…

5 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether support for bereaved parents can only commence after the age of 25 and, if so, what support is available for those under 25.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Scottish Government expects all bereaved parents to receive the same high quality, appropriate bereavement care regardless of age, race, faith, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. The Scottish government funded National Care Bereavement Pathway…

5 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with bereaved parents under the age of 25 regarding policy development in relation to the provision of support to them.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Scottish Government expects all bereaved parents to receive the same high quality, appropriate bereavement care regardless of age,race, faith, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. The Scottish government funded National Bereavement Care Pathway …

5 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it records the maternal age following a still birth or miscarriage, and, if so, how many mothers under 25 have had a (a) stillbirth and (b) miscarriage since 2014.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Information on the number of hospital inpatient miscarriages to mothers aged under 25 was last published in Births in Scottish Hospitals for year ending March 2016, see:  Table 12 - Miscarriages by NHS Board of residence and maternal age . Accurate assessme…

29 Aug 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports childcare for newborns to two-year-olds, and whether it plans to extend free childcare provision to this age range.

Answer · Maree Todd: We are working closely with local authorities to extend the current entitlement to funded early learning and childcare to 1140 hours per year for all three and four year olds and for eligible two year olds from August 2020. We have no plans to extend the elig…

27 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have waiting lists for funded nursery places, broken down by average length of wait.

Answer · Maree Todd: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities have a statutory duty to offer a funded early learning and childcare place to all eligible children, although this might not always be at their first choice of provider.

27 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost per hour of (a) local authority and (b) private childcare has been in each of the last 10 years, broken down by age.

Answer · Maree Todd: Local Authority settings Data collected from local authorities and published as part of the Financial Review in 2016 implies a unit cost estimate for provision of ELC in local authority settings of £5.45 per hour for three and four year olds and £7.74 for two…

7 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional financial support parents can apply for when deferring their child's entry to primary school.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (section 31) states that children must start school by the August following their 5th birthday, so parents with children born from September to December are able to defer their child’s start date to the following year if they…

18 Jul 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) council, (b) private and (c) social enterprise nurseries and childcare centres there were at the beginning of each school year in the last 10 years, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Maree Todd: The following table shows the requested information for 2007 to 2010 from the SG Pre-school Education and Childcare census as at January of each year, as data is not available for the start of the school year. The figures provided are for the whole of the chi…

25 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) admissions to and (b) releases from each prison there have been in each year since 2011-12.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Table 1 - Number of admissions to each prison in each year since 2011-12: Penal establishment 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 Aberdeen 1,395 1,310 882 - - - - Addiewell 2,098 2,471 2,492 2,402 2,390 2,066 1,882 …

19 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether schools monitor mental health problems as a reason for absence.

Answer · John Swinney: Pastoral care/guidance teachers monitor attendance closely and identify patterns and reasons for absence on an individual basis. They will meet with children and young people in order to identify underlying reasons for absence and try to provide support where…

14 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the mental health of people with (a) ME, (b) MS and (c) chronic pain conditions.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Mental Health Strategy is all-inclusive and applies to all individuals and groups. Our aim is that mental health services and professionals are welcoming to all, and respond to the mental health needs of individuals in a person-centred, safe, effective an…

7 Jun 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S5W-16859 by Jamie Hepburn on 7 June 2018, whether it will provide the information regarding the number of female apprenticeships that have been completed in each year since 2011-12 broken down by (a) the other parliamentary regions and (b) each local authority …

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Further to my answer to S5W-16859 on 7 June 2018. a) Skills Development Scotland do not record information for Female apprenticeship achievements for parliamentary regions. b) Female apprenticeship achievements each year from 2011-12 in each local authority…

29 May 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Police Scotland staff comments in the report, Evaluation of Police and Fire Reform: Year 3, that “we were forced in the short term to make decisions about saving money that weren't always particularly intuitive in support of improving service”.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Police reform has maintained policing services in the face of unprecedented public spending pressures. While recognising the complexity and challenges associated with reform, the Evaluation of Police and Fire Reform demonstrates there is credible evidence of …

23 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-02125 by Jamie Hepburn on 23 May 2018, how many female STEM starts there have been in West Scotland in each year since 2014-15.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: From 2014-15 to 2016-17, there have been 448 Female starts in STEM related Modern Apprenticeships in the Skills Development Scotland, West of Scotland, Career Information and Guidance area. The following table provides a breakdown of West of Scotland, Modern…

23 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many female apprenticeships have been completed in West Scotland in each year since 2011-12.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Female apprenticeship achievements each year from 2011-12 in the Skills Development Scotland, West of Scotland Career Information and Guidance area are as follows:   2011-12: 1543   2012-13: 1914   2013-14: 2039   2014-15: 1874   2015-16: 1741   2…

16 May 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of female STEM apprentices in West Scotland.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Between 2014-15 and 2016-17, there has been an 18% increase in the number of Female starts in STEM related Modern Apprenticeships in the Skills Development Scotland West of Scotland Career Information and Guidance area. Through implementation of Developing t…

18 Apr 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timetable of the merger between Police Scotland and British Transport Police.

11 Apr 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce air pollution in small towns in the West Scotland region.