Liam Kerr

3 Mar 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20705 by Jenny Gilruth on 19 September 2023, whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of the change in the number of pupil support assistants in schools between 2018 and 2024.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Data on the full-time equivalent number of pupil support assistants from the September 2023 school staff census will be published on 19 March 2024. Data for 2024 will be collected in September 2024 and published in Spring 2025.

22 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided to Aberdeen City Council to assist the local authority's investigatory works in relation to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As primarily a building maintenance issue it is the responsibility of building owners to maintain their properties. Local authorities manage their own budgets and allocate financial resources on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled …

22 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it (a) has allocated and (b) plans to allocate to Aberdeen City Council to assist with the local authority's investigatory works in relation to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As primarily a building maintenance issue it is the responsibility of building owners to maintain their properties. Local authorities manage their own budgets and allocate financial resources on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled …

22 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Aberdeen City Council to discuss reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Minister for Housing and officials met with the Housing Convenor of Aberdeen City Council and officials on 4 March. Meetings routinely take place at official level including through engagement on the Housing Sub-group of the SG-led Cross Sector Working Gr…

22 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support it is providing to (a) private homeowners and (b) local authorities in dealing with the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in properties.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Homeowners are generally responsible for maintenance costs in their own homes and for their share of work on any common element of a shared building. As primarily a building maintenance issue it is the responsibility of building owners, including local author…

18 Feb 2024 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether the A96 will be dualled from Inverness to Aberdeen.

15 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the results from the Police Scotland pilot, Proportionate Response to Crime, in north east Scotland.

Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to the Oral question? S6O-03126 on 27 February 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the Official Report can be found at Meeting of the Parliament: 28/02/2024 | Scotti…

12 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Dog Control Notices have been issued in each of the last five years.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government previously collected data on the number of dog control notices (DCNs) issued on an annual basis from local authorities. The figures collected annually cover the year from 27 February to 26 February. The figures for 2019-20, 2020-21 an…

12 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to local authorities in implementing and enforcing the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, and whether it has implemented any feedback mechanism that enables it to understand whether any such support is sufficient for each individual local authority.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: All Scottish local authorities have a statutory duty under the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”) to appoint at least one officer for the purposes of the 2010 Act. Local authority appointed 'authorised officers' (i.e. dog wardens) are expe…

12 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the (a) Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and (b) Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 contains any mechanism that prevents owners from relinquishing ownership and/or responsibility for a dog that is subject to complaint, and, if this is not the case, what its position is on whether such a …

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Section 1 of The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (‘Dogs bred for fighting’) already prohibits owners of such dogs from giving away their pets. This means that, for example, it is now illegal for the owner of an XL Bully to sell, give away or rehome their dog. The…

12 Feb 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what analysis it has undertaken of the effectiveness of the (a) Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and (b) Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, and what conclusions it has arrived at as a result of any such analysis.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: A Scottish Government led Short Life Working Group was established in 2022 to assist with taking forward the commitment to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The focus of the review was on the criminal offence in the 1991 Act of a dog being dangerously out…

26 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21884 by Graeme Dey on 27 October 2023, whether it will now provide the update that it has promised regarding the new funding model for post-school education provision announced in the 2023-24 Programme for Government.

Answer · Graeme Dey: In my statement to Parliament on  5th December 2023, I reiterated my commitment to streamline funding for colleges, universities and apprenticeships. As a first step, this means bringing together funding for student support into one place and funding for appr…

26 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22891 by Graeme Dey on 27 November 2023, whether Scotland’s universities will receive the full £5.8 million in regional innovation funding before the end of the current financial year.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Ministers have decided that the £5.8m allocated to the Scottish Government, as consequentials arising from spending on the Regional Innovation in England, will be used to support university research and innovation in Scotland within the current financial year…

16 Jan 2024 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to businesses in Aberdeen.

9 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23979 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024, whether it will provide the information requested, particularly in light of the actions proposed in its Budget 2024-25, regarding what it anticipates the cost will be of (a) consulting on, (b) establishing, …

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Work to establish a Centre for Teaching Excellence, including co-design and consultation, is being taken forward by the already-established Education Reform Programme. As set out in my statement to parliament on 7 November 2023, the Centre for Teaching Excell…

3 Jan 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12917 by Jenny Gilruth on 21 December 2022, whether it has now finalised what the £200 million of funding on page 11 of the Scotland's Railway July 2022 publication, Enhancements Delivery Plan, will be spent on, and by when, and, if not, when it ant…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is continuing to develop the business case for the Aberdeen to Central Belt Enhancements project. This will be considered in in the coming months and within the context of the funding available for rail enhancements. We remain firmly …

30 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to replace the ScotRail fleet of class 43 HST units; if so, when; what the on-costs of any replacement will be, including any break-fee with the current rolling stock provider, and whether there is a budget line in its 2023-24 Budget for this or whether any cost will com…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: It is clear that the High Speed Trains will need to be replaced as an early priority within a ScotRail fleet replacement programme. Work is currently underway, funded within existing rail budgets used for project development, to examine the business case of d…

18 Dec 2023 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Police Scotland is considering closing more than 40 police buildings.

14 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards establishing the Centre of Teaching Excellence (CTE), and whether it will provide an update on (a) in what fundamental respects the CTE will be different from Education Scotland, (b) what the core purpose of the CTE will be, and how its success will be…

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In line with The Scottish Government’s commitment to co-design the Centre for Teaching Excellence, The Scottish Government has undertaken useful engagement with a number of important stakeholders including COSLA, the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, th…

14 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children are currently considered to be "missing from education" at schools in Scotland, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) reason recorded for being missing.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

14 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on education agents employed by Scottish universities to recruit overseas students; if it collects such information, how many such agents are currently in place, and how much has been spent on recruiting them in the last five years, broken down by university.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Scottish universities are autonomous bodies and the Scottish Government does not collect data on education agents employed by them to recruit overseas students.  

14 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have opted to take early retirement in each of the last five years, also broken down by (a) whether they were primary or secondary school teachers and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Tom Arthur: The figures in the following tables represent the number of members of the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS) and Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme 2015 (STPS 2015) who have opted to retire before the respective scheme's Normal Pension Age (NPA),…

5 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22987 by Jenny Gilruth on 5 December 2023, in light of the information that "has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under Bib. Number 64646" containing redacted figures, whether it will reconsider its decision to redact these …

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: This data has been redacted according to data protection legislation. As the redacted figures are below five, there is increased risk of identification of data subjects, and as such these figures must be treated as personal data. The data protection legislat…

5 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22746 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2023, whether it can provide details of the work that is going on "with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map existing provision"; which agencies or who within the Scottish Governme…

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: As noted in the response to question S6W-21440 on 3 October 2023, the Scottish Government is currently working with the local authority facilities management organisation, AssistFM, to develop a clear picture of the scale and uptake of breakfast provision acr…

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the monthly average sales income for fishermen has been in each of the last three years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Over the past three years, 2020 to 2022, the monthly average sales income per Scottish fishing vessel ranged from £3,000 during 2020 in the under 10 metre fleet, and £295,000 during 2022 in the over 24 metre fleet. Table 1: Average fishing income…

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03945 by Humza Yousaf on 19 December 2019, what the staff (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) absence rate has been at each prison and young offenders institution in the last 12 months.

Answer · Angela Constance: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: The following tables set out the position in relation to recruitment (Table1), retention (table 2), and absence (table 3) across the S…

29 Nov 2023 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce the number of missed appointments in the NHS.

26 Nov 2023 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will publish the results of the A96 Corridor Review.

22 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to invest £50 million to create a Women's Business Centre, how much has been invested to date; what that investment has been spent on; what the defined (a) objectives were and (b) measurables are; how many women have been assis…

Answer · Neil Gray: The idea for a Women’s Business Centre was among a suite of options considered in the review led by Ana Stewart culminating in the publication of Pathways for a New Approach to Women in Entrepreneurship. The Pathways report was published in February 2023 foll…

21 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Higher and Further Education and Minister for Veterans has provided any messages to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, and, if so, how many.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23070 on 4 December 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committ…