- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) children and (b) families had their school meal debt written off as a result of its school meal debt fund, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information. We are currently analysing bids to the School Meal Debt Fund and following up with local authorities on the information provided.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what processes for monitoring and measuring outcomes local authorities were required to implement to gather evidence on the effectiveness of the delivery of its school meal debt fund.
Answer
Monitoring will be expected as part of the grant award process. Successful applicants will be informed in due course.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what processes for monitoring and measuring outcomes it has implemented to gather evidence on the effectiveness of the delivery of its school meal debt fund.
Answer
Reporting will be considered as part of the grant award process.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the "waking watch" system in apartment blocks in Glasgow since it was introduced in February 2023.
Answer
The total cumulative spend incurred on Waking Watch services in apartment blocks in Glasgow is £2.2 million. Waking Watch costs for one building within the pilot programme were reimbursed by the responsible developer.
Latest published data shows a breakdown of the waking watch grant and contract costs for entries in the pilot in Glasgow to the end of quarter one 2024-25; spend is updated quarterly, the next update will be published in quarter three 2024-25. Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group last met, and when it plans to next meet.
Answer
The Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group’s remit was to inform the development of a Student Mental Health Action Plan as set out in our 21-22 Programme for Government. The Action Plan was published in September 2024.
We are considering how best to support delivery of the Action Plan, including oversight and support.
We will shortly be engaging with the higher and further education sectors and health and other public and third sector organisations to update them on next steps and request their support and participation going forward.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding in total has been received by local authorities through its school meal debt fund.
Answer
The Scottish Government is currently analysing bids to the School Meal Debt Fund and is following up with local authorities on the information provided. Therefore, no funding has been issued at this time. The funding will be issued as soon as all due diligence processes are complete.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities applied to its school meal debt fund, and how much funding each received.
Answer
Consideration is still being given to the bids received by local authorities. We will publish how much funding each local authority received once this has been allocated to them.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) criteria were used and (b) supporting information or evidence was requested from each local authority in order to access its school meal debt fund.
Answer
Local authorities were asked to consider whether they wished financial support to cancel school meal debt while adhering to guidance produced by COSLA on the issue. Local authorities are expected to use any grant for the purpose of clearing school meal debt and that in accepting the offer of funding, local authorities will agree to adhere to the COSLA Good Practice Principles for School Meal Debt Management in their management of school meal debt going forward. The COSLA Good Practice Principles are available through the following web link: Good-Practice-Principles-for-School-Meal-Debt-Management.pdf (cosla.gov.uk)
Local authorities were asked that any bid included details of the amount of school meal debt accrued as of 31 March 2024, as well as the amount that they were seeking to write off. This could include any debt that the local authority has cleared prior to that point.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has examined the reasons for the steady decrease in the funds held for colleges in arm's-length foundations over the last decade, from £99 million in 2014 when they were first established to an estimated £9 million by the end of 2024.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not conducted any specific analysis of the college sector’s use of their arm's-length foundations (ALFs), however, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) maintains an overview. Colleges are only permitted to donate commercially generated surpluses to ALFs, so donations will partly be dependent on colleges’ ability to raise commercial revenue.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 29 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29823 by Natalie Don-Innes on 25 September 2024, when it will publish the National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy.
Answer
Allowing sufficient time to support the meaningful engagement and participation of those the Strategy will affect, including robust analysis of their views, and ensuring that it can be published alongside a range of accessible formats to meet the needs of those it aims to support has remained of central importance to the Scottish Government throughout the Strategy’s development.
This was reiterated during a recent meeting of the External Strategic Working Group who reviewed the aim of publishing the Strategy by the end of 2024 and concluded that publication in Spring 2025 presents a more favourable timeline to achieving this.