Parliamentary questions
Michelle Ballantyne
639 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
18 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether, in response to calls by the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH), it will commit to establishing a national programme of mental health training in schools that is consistent across Scotland and ensures that the needs of both pupils and staff are always being met.
Answer · John Swinney: We take the mental health of our young people very seriously. Every child and young person should have access to emotional and mental wellbeing support in school. Mental Health First Aid Training is currently being delivered to school staff within secondary …
18 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that postgraduate secondary teacher training targets are met in 2018-19 without requiring universities to compromise the standard of teachers, in light of figures obtained by The Times, which suggest that universities had been lowering entry requirements for trainees.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is taking a range of actions to help increase the number of student teachers. We have: Committed £88m this year to make sure every school has access to the right number of teachers with the right skills. Provided support to universi…
17 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many school leavers moved into full-time apprenticeships in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.
Answer · John Swinney: The number of school leavers in a Modern Apprenticeship (full-time or part-time) 9 months after leaving school was (a) 4,759 (2014-15 school leavers cohort) and (b) 5,240 (2015-16 school leavers cohort). The data available does not state if a school leaver i…
17 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses (a) joined and (b) left the NHS in 2016-17, and how many of the nurses who left were under 30.
Answer · Shona Robison: The statistics on joiners and leavers do not differentiate between nurses and midwifes. For both groups combined, there were 5,504 joiners and 5,168 leavers in 2016-17 (31 March to 31 March). The age composition of the joiners and leavers is not reported.
16 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital tooth extractions for under-18s there were in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2016-17.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The total number of hospital tooth extractions in Scotland for those aged under 18 years was (a) 10,419 in 2006-07 and (b) 9,049 in 2016-17. This is down from 13,115 in 1999-00. Source: NHS National Services Scotland – Scottish Morbidity Records 00 (outpatie…
16 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the number of men working in the childcare and early years sector.
Answer · Maree Todd: The distinct representation of males in our recruitment campaign seeks to encourage men with the right skills and aptitudes into the sector, while addressing some of the wider societal perceptions and perceived barriers men face. We continue to work with a …
16 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a recent report from Skills Development Scotland claiming that 11,000 early learning and childcare workers will need to be recruited in order to implement the early years and childcare expansion to 1,140 hours, how it plans to meet its target by 2020.
Answer · Maree Todd: A range of actions are underway to develop a high quality, diverse workforce to meet the needs of expanded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). Most prominently, we launched phase one of our recruitment campaign in October 2017, encouraging school leavers to …
15 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to research of 18- to 75-year-olds by Drinkaware, which suggests that, in the last year, (a) 47% said that they had drunk alcohol to improve their mood and (b) 58% said that alcohol helped them to cope with pressures of day-to-day life.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government acknowledges that motivations are an important aspect of drinking behaviour. The Drinkaware research report (https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/media/1852/drinking-to-cope-jan-2018.pdf) referred to in the question specifically focussed on ad…
15 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to performance figures from ScotRail, which record that 51.7% of the 33 daily services arriving at the southernmost end of the Edinburgh-Tweedbank line in 2017 were on time.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: I would like to point out that the recognised rail industry standard for reporting performance is the Public-Performance-Measure (PPM). Accordingly, 88.8% of the 33 daily services arriving at the southernmost end of the Edinburgh-Tweedbank line in 2017, arriv…
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments by the chairman of BMA Scotland that there is a need for funding and a long-term plan for the NHS to make the service sustainable.
Answer · Shona Robison: As announced in the Draft Budget on 14 December 2017, the health resource budget will increase by over £400 million to £13.1 billion in 2018-19. We have prioritised investment in frontline services, and total additional funding for our frontline NHS Boards wi…
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments by the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland that there has been a "deficit of support from Education Scotland" regarding the implementation of the curriculum for excellence.
Answer · John Swinney: Education Scotland has provided an extensive range of support for Curriculum for Excellence, including Developing the Young Workforce and the Scottish Attainment Challenge. We believe that the changes to the way Education Scotland works – part of the wider pa…
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average secondary school class size is in (a) Scotland and (b) the Borders.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not collect information on secondary school class sizes.
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported figures released by the Scottish Borders Council, which show that the number of teaching posts receiving no applications has increased by almost 50%, from 16 in 2015-16 to 23 in 2016-17, how it plans to tackle this increase.
Answer · John Swinney: 1,052 in September 2016 to 1,055 in September 2017.
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many new teachers have been recruited since the launch of the Teaching Makes People campaign in February 2017.
Answer · John Swinney: The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland published on 12 December 2017 shows that there are 543 more full-time equivalent teachers than last year, increasing from 50,970 in 2016 to 51,513 in 2017. This is the second year in a row that we have seen teach…
12 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage more NHS staff to get the flu vaccination.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government has taken steps to increase staff vaccination. The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer wrote out to the NHS in September last year re-iterating the importance of the flu vaccine to staff, espec…
11 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with plans to (a) provide 40% more seating and (b) introduce Class 385 trains on the North Berwick-Edinburgh line, and what the reason is for any delay.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Two class 385 trains concluded the required testing on the newly electrified Edinburgh-Glasgow via Falkirk route prior to Christmas and the data from these dynamic tests will form part of a suite of documentation submitted in February to gain approval from th…
11 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed new housing developments in the area, whether it plans to improve the rail infrastructure between Drem and Wallyford stations.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland instructed Network Rail in July 2017 to develop options to enhance line capacity as part of development work being undertaken on the East Coast Main Line. This study will determine the most efficient solutions for enhancing service capacity…
11 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people use Prestonpans railway station each year, and what its response is to reported concerns that there are plans to close the station.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: According to the Office of Road & Rail (ORR), 257,518 passengers used the Prestonpans station in the 2016-17 year. There are no plans to close Prestonpans railway station. East Lothian Council are considering multi-modal infrastructure interventions to facil…
8 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is reportedly not providing funding for the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government does not directly fund local drug and alcohol services. Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) have responsibilities for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery in their local areas and as part of this they will have…
8 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a rail fare freeze to bring the cost of commuting to and from cities by rail in line with the cost of commuting by car.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx
8 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase business confidence in Scotland, and what its response is to the finding in the Bank of Scotland report, Business in Britain, which suggests that sales, orders and profits over the next six months are expected to fall from 19 to 17%.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We are maintaining the expanded Small Business Bonus Scheme, removing the rates burden for 100,000 premises and, as announced in the draft budget, we will continue to fund the most competitive business rates relief package anywhere in the UK. We are deliveri…
8 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the reported increase in the number of assaults on emergency service workers, and what its response is to statistics, which suggest that these are at a three-year high.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: We do not tolerate any attacks on emergency services workers. All workers deserve protection from abuse and violence at work. That is why Scotland's justice system provides for protection for all workers under our common laws of assault, threatening and abusi…
8 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to encourage a higher uptake of the flu vaccine in 2018 among people over 65.
Answer · Shona Robison: We recognise the important protection the flu vaccine can offer. Every year the Scottish Government invests in a national flu marketing campaign to promote flu vaccination amongst those who are eligible including everyone over the age of 65. We continue to w…
7 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle incidents of hare coursing in (a) the Scottish Borders and (b) East Lothian.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland, the Scottish Government works closely with law enforcement bodies, land managers and conservation groups to raise awareness of hare coursing, encourage incident reporting and improve de…
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to tackle the reported lack of confidence of staff at Education Scotland, in light of the findings of the Civil Service People Survey 2017.
Answer · John Swinney: These results are deeply disappointing. I believe, however that the appointment of the new Chief Inspector of Education and Chief Executive of Education Scotland, Gayle Gorman, last month will come to be seen as the critical step in improving the situation. …
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to tackle the reported increase in the number of term-time holidays taken by pupils, in light of the reported concerns that it is damaging their education.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government aims to promote good attendance at school. Our focus is to encourage parents and pupils to recognise the value of learning. Absence, whatever the cause, disrupts learning. It is for schools and education authorities to judge what sanct…
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the average number of sugary snacks consumed by primary school children each day in 2016-17.
Answer · John Swinney: This information is not held centrally. Mandatory food and nutrition standards apply to all food served in Scottish schools but does not cover any food brought from home. Our Better Eating, Better Learning guidance continues to support schools and local auth…
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposals by Public Health England to limit children’s snacks to 100 calories, whether it will consider a similar approach for Scotland in an effort to tackle childhood obesity.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Limiting the contribution of calories from sugary or fatty snacks is a positive step towards tackling obesity. However, many of the 100 calorie snacks that are commercially available contain as much as half the recommended daily sugar intake for a child. Food…
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to ensure that all products included in the second generation of baby boxes are produced in Scotland or the UK.
Answer · Maree Todd: The second generation baby box will be procured by open tender via Public Contracts Scotland. Any supplier, SME, Scottish or otherwise, who is registered on the portal can submit a response to the tender. Our appointed contractors, APS (Scotland) Group will …
5 Jan 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to ensure a high standard of quality in the next generation of baby boxes.
Answer · Maree Todd: The procedures will mirror those in place for the first generation Box. This will include a requirement for compliance with British and European Safety standards across all items, additional specific safety accreditations in relation to the box and the baby w…