Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6O-01378

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will give an update on the work to upgrade Ardrossan Harbour.

Question reference: S6W-09502

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on any teacher shortages in each local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

The recruitment and employment of teachers in local authority schools are matters for individual councils, as they have the statutory duty for education expenditure and to deliver education.

Councils have the responsibility for providing a complement of teachers and other education staff which best meets the needs of their schools and pupils within the resources available. This includes providing a complement of teachers and headteachers which meets the needs of their schools and pupils in light of their local needs and circumstances.

With regard to teacher numbers, whilst the Scottish Government does not hold data on teacher employment, you may wish to note that the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) undertakes an annual exercise to forecast the likely requirement for new teachers which sets the target intakes for initial teacher education programmes in both primary and secondary by subject. COSLA are represented on the TWPAG which is jointly chaired by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Council of Deans of Education. The modelling outputs from the TWPAG use projections on pupil rolls and teacher census information. Whilst we now have more teachers than at any time since 2008, we are aware some LAs continue to find recruitment challenging in some subjects and in some geographical areas.

During the pandemic the Scottish Government provided £240 million of additional investment to local authorities to support the recruitment of additional education staff to support education recovery. We are also providing additional permanent funding of £145.5 million per year to support the recruitment of these extra teachers.

Question reference: S6W-09988

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09572 by Kevin Stewart on 4 July 2022, whether the National Care Service will continue to work with the private sector in addition to (a) specialist charities and (b) third sector providers of care services, under the new ethical commissioning model.

The National Care Service Bill proposes to enable the National Care Service (NCS) to support Fair Work in the sector, by including Fair Work within the guiding principles of the NCS (section 1 of the Bill) and establishing it as an exemplar of Fair Work. The NCS ethical commissioning strategies will also need to reflect these principles, and will therefore be a key tool for ensuring Fair Work is embedded in the way services are planned and provided. Services commissioned by the NCS, of whatever ownership type, will have to ensure they meet Fair Work and ethical commissioning standards and requirements.

Question reference: S6W-09835

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what legislative options it is exploring to achieve a sustainable reduction in the prison population.

We are taking action to change the way that imprisonment is used in Scotland. The Vision for Justice in Scotland (published 8 February 2022) sets out the ambition that people in Scotland live in a just, safe and resilient society, where they will be supported in rehabilitation by the most effective means. As part of this vision, the Scottish Government recognises that there must be appropriate and consistent alternatives to custody, accessible across Scotland.

The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill (introduced 8 June 2022) supports the aims of the strategy by introducing a number of reforms designed to refocus how imprisonment is used. They are intended to ensure that, as much as possible, the use of remand is a last resort for the court, and to give a greater focus to the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals leaving custody.

This is supported by investment to strengthen and reform vital services across the justice sector, including an expansion of community justice services supporting diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing. We have increased investment in community justice services since the new model for community justice was introduced in April 2017 – reaching more than £119m of funding for this year (2022-23).

Question reference: S6W-09701

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it is taking to close the reported wage gap between seafarers at Marine Scotland and those at Caledonian MacBrayne.

The pay of Marine Scotland seafarers is determined by the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy as these staff are civil servants with civil service terms and conditions. CalMac Ferries Ltd is a private company - their staff are not civil servants, so pay and other terms and conditions are determined outside of Public Sector Pay Policy. We consider the pay and benefits (including the civil service pension) for Marine Scotland seafarers are reasonable and competitive in the external job market which is reflected in the volume of applications received for recent job adverts. We will review the pay structure of Marine Scotland staff as part of the reform option in Pay Policy 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-09700

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to improve recruitment and retention of Marine Scotland seafarers.

Question reference: S6W-09630

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 2 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08793 by Clare Haughey on 14 June 2022, what progress was made at its meeting with COSLA, in June 2022, regarding the introduction of a national minimum allowance for foster and kinship carers.

Question reference: S6W-09518

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will provide an update on the timescales for carrying out the (a) community needs and (b) market assessments.

Question reference: S6W-09517

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will list the ferry routes that have been prioritised for assessment.

The Scottish Government is prioritising those routes associated with live investment projects as set out in the answer to the question S6W-06702 on 8 March 2022, namely Mallaig – Lochboisdale Vessel Replacement Project, Oban – Craignure and Gourock – Dunoon – Kilcreggan. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-09516

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will list the routes within the scope of the Ferries Plan 2013-22 that are provided “without government intervention”.