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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 MSPs 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: S5W-35747

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33874 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 December 2020, what analysis it has carried out of the impact of the tourism restrictions on cattery and kennel businesses and, in light of this, whether it plans to reconsider the COVID-19-related support that is available to them.

We recognise the financial pressures that COVID-19 is placing on cattery and kennel businesses. Limits on the amount of funding made available to the Scottish Government to provide financial support to businesses means that we are simply unable to establish funds for every sector impacted. We have, however significantly increased the funding for the Local Authority Discretionary Fund from £30 million to £120 million, therefore enabling local authorities to have even greater flexibility to direct funding towards those businesses unable to access other sources of financial support. I would encourage kennels and catteries to seek support through this route.

Question reference: S5T-02717

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether its discussions have concluded with the OECD regarding publication timetables relating to its review of Curriculum for Excellence.

Question reference: S5W-35842

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what work (a) has been carried out and (b) is planned to raise public awareness regarding the requirements to install interlinked fire alarm systems.

We will continue to work with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, as well as local authorities and retailers, to ensure people have the support and advice they need to meet the new requirements. Our regularly updated online Q and A has been providing advice for householders since 2018 and SFRS have signposted and highlighted the changes though various social media channels.

We are currently planning for an extensive marketing campaign to take place throughout this year to reinforce how people can effectively reduce the risk of fire in their homes and highlighting the changes coming into force in February 2022.

Question reference: S5W-35805

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 March 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met its commitment to create around 350 counsellors in school education and to ensure that every secondary school has counselling services.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

The approximate figure of 350 counsellors is the commitment related to the number of secondary schools in Scotland. The Scottish Government is confident it has met the commitment in full and that all secondary schools in Scotland now have access to counselling services.

As highlighted in the answer to question S5W-35461, there is variation in how the counselling service is being delivered across authorities. Twenty four authorities are providing a specific resource in schools, with eight authorities providing an authority wide service according to need across their region.

Question reference: S5W-35589

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 26 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 12 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-32746 by Maree Todd on 10 November 2020, whether it can now provide updated analysis of the recruitment of equity and excellence leads for early learning and childcare settings in deprived communities.

As outlined in the answer to S5W-32746, The Scottish Government provide funding to local authorities to recruit additional graduate level posts across all 32 local authorities. The allocation of posts and funding have been set by Scottish Government and these posts are recruited and managed by local authorities.

Snapshot figures of graduate level posts in early learning and childcare (ELC) are published annually in Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland 2020 . Data in the tables is gathered from centres (either local authority or partner provider centres) with children registered for the funded entitlement at the time of the census. In 2020, this was collected from 14-18 September 2020.

Additional tables are published alongside the main publication. These can be found under the ‘supporting files’ drop down on the gov.scot website.Table 16of the Additional ELC Tables 2020 provide the ‘Number of staff holding or working towards degree level qualifications relevant to early years in posts funded through the Additional Graduate commitment’ as at 14-18 September 2020.

At that point in time, there were 350 (316 FTE) Equity and Excellence leads in post. We recognise that there will always be a degree of staff turnover in the system, particularly during this period of ELC expansion and with the further challenge of COVID-19. We will continue to work with local authorities and CoSLA to ensure local authorities are supported in any recruitment challenges they may face.

An interim report is due to be published indicating the emerging learning and impact of the Equity and Excellence Lead role.

Question reference: S5W-35340

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-34198 by Jeane Freeman, which received a holding response on 19 January 2021, for what reason it has not yet provided a substantive answer to the question, and when it plans to do so.

Question reference: S5W-34993

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a substantive answer to question S5W-33857, which received a holding response on 21 December 2020.

We do not have this data readily available. However, a number of individuals with respiratory diseases may fall into the priority groups set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and have either received, or are eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccination, depending on their age and medical condition.

The full JCVI priority list is currently:

• residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

• all those 80 years of age and over, and frontline health and social care workers

• all those 75 years of age and over

• all those 70 years of age and over, and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

• all those 65 years of age and over

• all those aged 16 to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

• all those 60 years of age and over

• all those 55 years of age and over

• all those 50 years of age and over

Question reference: S5W-33857

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 4 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with respiratory disease there are in each of the COVID-19 priority categories set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Question reference: S5W-35228

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the prevalence of academic fraud through the use of so-called essay mills, and what legislation is in place or planned to address the issue.

Contract cheating is a global problem affecting higher education. Essay mills have the potential to damage the reputation of higher education throughout the world, so protecting against them is vital and we must be vigilant in cracking down on anyone involved in cheating or any kind of academic misconduct.

While all universities have disciplinary procedures to tackle students who commit academic misconduct, I welcome the updated guidance Contracting to Cheat in Higher Education : How to Address Essay Mills and Contract Cheating and the Academic Integrity Charter for UK Higher Education published last year by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education which will help our institutions combat the use of essay mills, especially during the disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

I am aware that a Private Members Bill to prohibit the operation and advertising of essay mill services is currently before the UK Parliament. Any potential legislation to ban or regulate essay writing businesses is a reserved matter for the UK Government and we will continue to monitor developments with interest.

Question reference: S5W-35229

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government. further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 13 January 2020 (Official Report, c. 17), whether it will provide a breakdown of the allocation of the 70,000 devices for learners by local authority area.

The following table shows the number of devices, ordered, received and distributed by end-January 2021, as reported by local authorities. Local authorities will report February figures in early March and we expect further devices will have been distributed.

Local Authority	Devices ordered but not yet received by council	Devices received by council but not yet distributed	Devices distributed to learners	Total
Aberdeen City	0	0	1777	1777
Aberdeenshire	632	0	4100	4732
Angus	0	0	1555	1555
Argyll and Bute	39	0	1317	1356
City of Edinburgh	0	0	2550	2550
Clackmannanshire	33	0	828	861
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	2371	2371
Dundee City	100	0	2050	2150
East Ayrshire	425	0	2138	2563
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	1015	1015
East Lothian	399	0	1407	1806
East Renfrewshire	33	0	590	623
Falkirk	340	0	1500	1840
Fife	826	0	4639	5465
Glasgow City	0	0	7240	7240
Highland	100	6	4517	4623
Inverclyde	0	127	1073	1200
Midlothian	0	0	1235	1235
Moray	0	0	1315	1315
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	357	357
North Ayrshire	0	0	1734	1734
North Lanarkshire	1253	2031	2756	6040
Orkney Islands	0	0	275	275
Perth and Kinross	600	100	1157	1857
Renfrewshire	200	0	1600	1800
Scottish Borders	0	25	291	316
Shetland Islands	0	0	475	475
South Ayrshire	15	236	1270	1521
South Lanarkshire	0	400	5119	5519
Stirling	266	0	1868	2134
West Dunbartonshire	1726	0	358	2084
West Lothian	0	0	2905	2905
Total	6987	2925	63382	73294