Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-26780

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consideration of combining the workstreams of the Strategic Board for Teacher Education and the Headteacher Recruitment and Retention working group.

The Strategic Board for Education (SBTE) is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, including tackling geographical and subject-specific challenges. SBTE is also working to improve the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

The Headteacher Recruitment and Retention Working group (HTRRWG) are currently in the process of developing a new workplan. As this group is a sub-group of SBTE, members have agreed that the HTRRWG workplan should align with and complement the overarching aim and outcomes of the SBTE workplan. This work is ongoing and will be discussed further at future meetings of the HTRRWG, minutes of which will be published on the Scottish Government website in due course.

Question reference: S6O-03402

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what measures it is putting in place to reduce waiting times for access to CAMHS.

Question reference: S6W-26836

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of MCR Pathways coordinators in delivering the MCR mentoring programme in schools.

We recognise the important role that programmes like MCR Pathways can play in supporting young people towards positive outcomes. Coordinators, who are often employed directly by local authorities, play an important role within the MCR Pathways programme, including building relationships with young people and supporting mentors.

Since 2021-22 the Scottish Government has provided approximately £5.5M to MCR Pathways to allow it to expand its programme.

Question reference: S6W-26837

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what role mentors provided by MCR Pathways play in improving outcomes for children and young people, including pupils from a care setting.

Question reference: S6W-26865

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to the development of a modern apprenticeship and graduate apprenticeship framework for the games industry.

Question reference: S6W-26782

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the Into Headship programme in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-26781

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding the possible removal of the requirement for headteachers to undertake the Into Headship programme, and whether it will set out any conclusions arising from any such discussions.

Question reference: S6W-26786

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns that, in 2023, the number of teachers in permanent, full-time employment fell to its lowest level since 2012, while the school role increased.

Over the past 10 years the number of teachers in permanent posts has remained stable at over 80%, and since 2014 the number of school teachers in post has increased by 8%, from 49,521 to 53,331 in 2023. Our overall teacher ratio is the lowest in the UK at 13.2.

Whilst the recruitment and employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities, we are committed to supporting the recruitment of teachers, and we are providing local authorities with £145.5m in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers. This additional funding provides assurance of funding for councils and should remove this as a barrier to employing staff on permanent contracts.

The Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is looking at issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

Question reference: S6W-26788

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the reported failure to reach target student teacher intake numbers in 19 out of 20 subjects.

This relates to indicative figures provided by universities at the start of the academic session. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) will publish the 2023-24 academic year Official Statistics data in 2025. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into modern language Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

This information is informing the work of Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

Both the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council have offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which have traditionally been difficult to recruit to.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme is offering a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake teacher training in hard to fill STEM subjects – physics, maths, technical education, computing science, chemistry and home economics. The scheme was also extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

Question reference: S6W-26784

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the reported failure to recruit target numbers of student teachers in languages.

This relates to indicative figures provided by universities at the start of the academic session. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) will publish the 2023-24 academic year Official Statistics data in 2025. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into modern language Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

This information is informing the work of Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

Modern languages are classified as a priority subject for ITE intakes by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Both the Scottish Government and SFC have offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which have traditionally been difficult to recruit to.

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Chamber and committees