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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: S6W-07496

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are currently waiting for an additional support needs (ASN) diagnosis in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area.

Additional support needs, as defined under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended), arise if a child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education. An additional support need can be of short or long-term duration. Under the Act, education authorities are required to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Under the Act, a formal diagnosis is not required in order for support to be provided. The Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , published on 15 March 2022 includes the latest information and a local authority level breakdown of the reasons why additional support was provided. The data collected does not distinguish between support not being provided and a need being identified and support not being in place.

Question reference: S6W-07498

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have recently reviewed their additional support needs (ASN) policy.

The responsibility for the review of education authority policy on additional support needs rests with each individual education authority. This is in addition to the requirements of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) which requires education authorities to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Education Scotland works in partnership with the Scottish Government, ELC, schools and local authorities to improve the outcomes and educational experiences for all learners, including those who require additional support through a range of activities. These include:

Support and challenge from Education Scotland Inclusion Wellbeing and Equality Officers through the national and regional focus
Information, guidance, professional learning and reflective opportunities which include a focus on additional support needs and inclusion
The HM Inspection model of education which provides support and challenge to promote improvement for all learners through the fulfilment of statutory duties, inclusion and equality.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published our joint national response to the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning in October 2020. Angela Morgan’s report sets a clear direction in how we can continue to build on progress in this area. The joint action plan sets out the measures we will take to implement her recommendations.

Local authorities should consider these recommendations as part of implementation of additional support for learning policy locally.

We published an updated action and progress report on 1 st November 2021. The action plan and governance arrangements for this work are available from: Additional support for learning action plan: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-00936

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce the same proposals as the UK Government that will remove unsafe cladding from all medium- or high-rise buildings.

Question reference: S6O-00835

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns expressed by homeowners over the delay to help residents in homes with unsafe cladding.

Question reference: S6O-00749

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons school pupils taking examinations in some subjects, such as business or geography, will reportedly receive advance notice of what content will or will not be assessed, while those taking other subjects, such as chemistry, will receive no advance notice.

Question reference: S6W-04884

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 11,000 hectares, which have reportedly been planted with trees in the last year, were planted as (a) commercial forestry, (b) agroforestry and (c) private/community woodland.

The area of new woodland that has been planted as (a) commercial forestry, (b) agroforestry and (c) private/community woodland in Scotland in the last year, December 2020 to November 2021, is shown in Table 1. There were no grant applications for the specific agroforestry option, which is different from tree planting on farms. More than half of the applications for tree planting in private and commercial forestry were from the agricultural sector.

Commercial Forestry	7,379	ha
Agroforestry	0	ha
Private or Community Owned Forestry	11,399	ha

Question reference: S6W-04882

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the 11,000 hectares that have reportedly been planted with trees in the last year.

Question reference: S6W-04883

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) coniferous, (b) broadleaved, (c) native and (d) non-native trees have been planted in Scotland since 1 January 2021 to date.

Question reference: S6W-05085

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on NHS dental care services.

Many dental procedures involve the use of an aerosol which, for the safety of both patients and staff, needs to be done under strict Infection Prevention and Control guidelines. This means that NHS dental teams are unable to see the same numbers of patients as before the start of the pandemic.

From February 2022, we will bring in new and increased fees for dentists for a range of treatments, supporting them in their efforts to clear the backlog which has built up during the pandemic. We have already provided £50 million of additional financial support (on top of the budget for General Dental Services), plus supplied £30-£35 million of free PPE, to ensure NHS dental services emerge well-placed to care for the oral health of everyone in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-05087

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when NHS dental care will resume operating at the same capacity as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Area of New Woodland Creation in 2020	10,195	ha
Coniferous	6,806	ha
Broadleaved	3,389	ha
Native	3,850	ha
Non-native	6,345	ha