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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-37965

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers to be the purpose and scope of the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s accreditation function.

SQA Accreditation quality assures and regulates qualifications offered in Scotland. It does this by approving awarding bodies and accrediting their qualifications, ensuring that accredited qualifications are of an appropriate standard and meet the needs of learners.

The accreditation model in Scotland mandates the following qualifications are accredited: Scottish Vocational Qualifications, the main qualification in a Modern Apprenticeship Framework, Security and License Trade qualifications and Workplace Core Skills qualifications. All other qualifications that are accredited are on a voluntary basis.

Question reference: S6W-37797

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £100 million of funding allocated to tackle waiting times by (a) NHS board and (b) specialty.

The funding committed to date in respect of the circa £100 million extra investment to address long waits is shown in Table 1 broken down by health board and in Table 2 broken down by specialty; this is over and above other funding to improve waiting times.

Table 1.

Health Board	Total Cost 25-26
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	5,708,768
NHS Borders	2,550,705
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	772,963
NHS Fife	9,938,616
NHS Forth Valley	3,656,435
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	24,515,664
NHS Golden Jubilee	2,183,118
NHS Grampian	6,987,204
NHS Highland	10,288,772
NHS Lanarkshire	6,606,479
NHS Lothian	22,379,275
NHS Orkney	165,664
NHS Shetland	422,127
NHS Tayside	9,921,322
NHS Western Isles	71,000
Grand Total	106,168,112

Table 2.

Speciality	Total Cost 25-26
Cancer	14,247,846
ENT	9,461,666
General Surgery	5,059,208
Gynaecology	8,879,121
Imaging	21,657,167
Imaging Reports	122,030
Ophthalmology	12,141,912
Trauma & Orthopaedics	25,252,177
Peri-Operative Management (Various Specialities)	60,000
Plastics	3,246,147
Urology	6,040,838
Totals	106,168,112

Question reference: S6W-37585

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities it is working with during the academic year 2025-26 to pilot approaches that amplify good practice in supporting school leavers into positive destinations, as part of its commitment to focus on areas with the lowest rates of school leavers entering such destinations, and how it will report on the progress of these pilots.

Work is at an early stage on this Programme for Government commitment and is currently focused on identifying best practice that can be used to inform the pilots. The opportunity to engage in this work will be available to all Local Authorities.

The aim is to build on existing good practice and tailor support to local needs. We are mindful that whilst the majority who leave school before the end of S5 progress to positive destinations, the rates are lower than for older pupils, so we have a particular interest in these groups. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring every young person leaves school with the skills and confidence to succeed in whatever path they choose – regardless of background or location.

Question reference: S6W-37502

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the construction of six new school building projects through the Learning Estate Investment Programme, and the delivery of 47 modern, state-of-the-art schools by the end of 2027-28, as set out in its Programme for Government 2025-26, will be supported by the updated guidance that the Education, Children and Young People Committee recommended the Scottish Government should develop to support neurodiverse children at school.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, school design is ultimately a matter for them.

However, our Learning Estate Strategy - which was produced in collaboration with COSLA - underpins the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), and its guiding principles make clear that learning environments should support the wellbeing of all learners and meet varying needs to support inclusion.

All LEIP projects were announced prior to the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s recommendations being published. To date, 10 projects are complete, 17 are in construction and the remainder are in development.

Guidance is currently being developed with a wide range of stakeholders, and is planned to be applicable to both existing and future projects either within the LEIP or across the learning estate as a whole. This guidance is expected to be published before the end of this year and, in the interim, local authorities can reference a publicly accessible standard which is titled: Design for the Mind – Neurodiversity and the Built Environment.

Question reference: S6W-37507

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the commitment in its Programme for Government 2025-26 to commission Enquire, the national advice and information service on additional support for learning, to improve the communication of the key information that different audiences need to meet the needs of children with additional support needs, what (a) key information and (b) audiences this work will include.

Communications were discussed in detail at the ASL Project Board’s meeting on 30 January 2025 when the Project Board agreed to engage Enquire to draft a communications strategy.

It is anticipated that the strategy being produced by Enquire will focus on bespoke clear, key messages for a range of different audiences including children and young people, parents and carers. The work will also recommend bespoke communications channels for each audience.

Regular updates on the progress of the strategy will be provided to the ASL project Board. Further information, is available on the ASL Project Board’s dedicated Scottish Government webpage at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/additional-support-for-learning-project-board/.

Question reference: S6O-04708

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding support for the reported development of community food production and short supply chains, as outlined in the Glasgow City Food Plan.

Question reference: S6W-37505

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify the meaning of its aim to "rationalise the qualifications offer in the senior phase", and how it will do this.

I made it clear when responding to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (IRQA) in September last year that it is vitally important that all young people have a clear and coherent senior phase offer, which aligns with pathways that are available in both higher and further education, and on into employment.

As indicated in the Scottish Government response to the IRQA, the work to rationalise the qualifications offer in the senior phase will be undertaken by the current qualifications body and subsequently Qualifications Scotland. The work should ensure high-quality qualifications in senior phase that:

suit all pupils regardless of their age, stage, and ambition;
is clear and easy for pupils to understand and navigate;
delivers greater parity of esteem between different qualification types;
delivers the skills and knowledge to grow our economy and
will be maintained, reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

During 2024-25 SQA worked with stakeholders to identify and remove underutilised qualifications from their portfolio and, after extensive engagement, will remove 143 qualifications mostly on the grounds of no or low uptake.

An essential part of rationalisation of the senior phase offer will be guided by the evidence gathered from reviewing the types of qualifications available, patterns of delivery, their intended purposes, and how effectively they are fulfilling those purposes.

Question reference: S6W-37506

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government who will be invited to the data summit on additional support for learning, as announced in its Programme for Government 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-37501

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific actions it will take to ease teacher workload, as announced in its Programme for Government 2025-26.

The Scottish Government will work with teacher unions, and COSLA through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are committed to working in partnership with the teacher unions to set out a timeline for implementation of this important commitment, so that meaningful progress can be made as soon as is practical.

Question reference: S6W-37500

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will deliver its commitment to reduce teacher class contact time.