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Current Status:
Withdrawn
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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether liquified natural gas-fuelled ferries have a role to play as part of its decarbonisation and net zero targets.
Answer
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) emits approximately 20% less carbon than Marine Gas Oil (MGO - the conventional fuel used for ferries), so provides an opportunity for emission reductions in the medium term.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out into the viability
and effectiveness of hydrogen-fuelled ferries.
Answer
The Scottish Government has supported the various phases of the HySeas project which is developing a concept design for a hydrogen fuelled vessel that could operate in Scotland. Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) has been a partner in the HySeas III consortium and. both Transport Scotland and CMAL continue to monitor developments and opportunities in this field.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many children in the (a) North Ayrshire and (b) Inverclyde local authority area are eligible to receive a free laptop or tablet, and, of those, how many (i) have received and (ii) are yet to receive a free laptop or tablet.
Answer
The following table shows how many pupils are in each of the named local authorities (taken from the most recent pupil census data from 2021) and how many devices have been distributed by these local authorities, using £25m digital inclusion funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21. In total, this funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 devices for learners across all local authorities.
Local Authority | Pupils (2021 pupil census) | Devices Distributed (via SG digital inclusion funding 2020/21) |
North Ayrshire | 17,887 | 1,734 |
Inverclyde | 9,805 | 1,107 |
Individual local authorities across Scotland have also undertaken their own digital inclusion schemes. The latest information we have available indicates that almost 280,000 devices have been, or are in the process of being, rolled out to learners across Scotland.
We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10792 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Booking.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11675 on 8 November 2022. 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands last met with representatives from the Scottish Crofting Federation, either in person or virtually.
Answer
I last met with a representative of the Scottish Crofting Federation at the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board on 3 November 2022.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of pupils in each year group have received free school meals in each local authority area in each year since 1999.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect data on the uptake of free school meals broken down by year group.
The Schools Healthy Living Survey Supplementary Statistics provides a breakdown of school meal uptake by pupils in primary, secondary and special schools dating back to 2006. Previous School Healthy Living Survey Supplementary Statistics datasets, back to 2012, are available through the following web link: School Healthy Living Survey supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
The uptake of free school meals as a percentage of the total number of pupils since 2006 is contained within the following table:
Free School Meals uptake by school sector 2006-2022
| | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
P1-P3 (2015-2020) / P1-P5 (2022) | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | 75% | 78% | 77% | 76% | 75% | 72% | # | 63% |
P4-P7 (2015-2020) / P6-P7 (2022) | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | 16% | 15% | 14% | 13% | 14% | 15% | # | 12% |
Primary | 15% | 14% | 14% | 14% | 16% | 18% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 42% | 42% | 42% | 40% | 40% | 39% | # | 48% |
Secondary | 8% | 7% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | 9% | # | 8% |
Special | 55% | 55% | 48% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 51% | 52% | 51% | 44% | 54% | 51% | 50% | 58% | # | 48% |
Total | 12% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 13% | 14% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 29% | 29% | 28% | 28% | 27% | 27% | # | 31% |
Total excluding P1-P3 (2015-2020) / P6-7 (2022) | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | 13% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 12% | # | 10% |
# = data not collected
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the finding of the National Dental Inspection Programme statistics, published by Public Health Scotland on 25 October 2022, that 58.4% of Primary 1 children were estimated to have no obvious decay experience in the most deprived areas, compared with 85.8% in the least deprived areas.
Answer
Over the extended-period we have seen significant improvements in child oral health in Scotland. The first year of the National Dental Inspection Programme in 2002/03 showed that 45% of primary 1 children had no obvious decay experience. Despite the unique challenges of the pandemic this figure has increased to 73% in 2021-22.
This is a demonstration of the success of prevention-based oral health programmes such as the Childsmile Programme - a flagship programme at the leading edge of prevention-based oral health care provision - where nursery and schoolchildren receive regular tooth brushing instruction and fluoride varnish application.
We recognise that oral health inequalities in children continue to present a considerable challenge, and have been exacerbated by the pandemic restrictions on NHS dentistry during the pandemic.
Which is why as part of the recovery of NHS dental services we have increased funding to child dental services by introducing for the first time an enhanced examination fee from 1 February 2022. The latest monthly activity statistics from Public Health Scotland show that 330,000 child examinations have been provided this year with almost 60,000 in the month of August alone.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the FOI request
FOI/202200316022, for what reason three independent schools could be inspected
in the last two years while no primary, secondary or special schools were
inspected during the same period.
Answer
The inspection of independent schools as outlined in the question were carried out for the following reasons:
- "special inspections" which are generally in response to concerns being raised over the quality of provision for children and young people or safeguarding concerns being identified. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools in response to requests from Scottish Ministers.
- "post registration inspections" which, in line with Scottish Government guidance, should be carried out by HM Inspectors within nine months of opening. Post registration inspections continued to be carried out as soon as was practicable taking account of the impact of the pandemic. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools for post-registration purposes.
Since March 2020 HM Inspectors have focused on engaging with schools, colleges, and services throughout Scotland to provide support and contribute to the overall recovery of the education system. In academic year 2021-22, HM Inspectors engaged with over 400 schools and settings. This included visits to 112 schools, settings and services that were identified, pre-pandemic, as requiring a further inspection. It also included recovery visits to 148 schools and settings to learn about their own current priorities as they responded to the impact of the current pandemic, what was working well, and the challenges education practitioners faced. HM Inspectors carried out four national thematic inspections involving engagement with 148 schools, settings and services.
