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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-15730

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that an independently facilitated joint review of the bargaining agreement takes place, in light of the recommendation of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-15728

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to re-establish the authority of the national collective bargaining process, in light of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-15725

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the final recommendations of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Following industrial action within the college sector in 2019, the then Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science committed to undertaking a further lessons learned exercise to break the cycle of annual disputes within the sector.

The Scottish Government commissioned Strathesk Resolutions in 2021 to take forward a lessons learned exercise. The purpose of the exercise was to attempt to reduce the likelihood of future industrial dispute and industrial action, with a view to identifying factors that have led to dispute in recent years and to create an environment for more productive dialogue in future negotiations.

The final report compiled by Strathesk Resolutions, dated 25 March 2022, provides the findings and recommendations to the Scottish Government from the lessons learned exercise. At present, the Scottish Government is awaiting formal responses to the recommendations from partners in the Collective Bargaining process and will use these to inform the next steps regarding the implementation of the recommendations.

Critically, and as made clear by the Lessons Learned report, the Scottish Government will maintain its position of not intervening directly in the national collective bargaining process.

Question reference: S6W-15729

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to facilitate discussion between parties involved in collective bargaining, including management and trade unions, which would lead to a planning statement indicating the needs of the college sector, and to discuss any such statement with the Scottish Funding Council in advance of future budgets being set, in light of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-15724

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the role that the Scottish Funding Council should play in ensuring that any information used in the negotiation process is accepted by all parties as accurate, in light of the recommendation of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-15727

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what financial resource it is allocating to support the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learned exercise carried out by Strathesk Resolutions throughout 2021-22.

Question reference: S6O-02022

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in STEM teacher recruitment.

Question reference: S6W-15299

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many recipients of a STEM teacher education bursary, prior to beginning a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programme, were (a) unemployed, (b) employed full-time, (c) employed part-time, (d) self-employed and (e) in receipt of carer's allowance, in each academic year since 2018-19.

Question reference: S6W-15302

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many current vacancies there are for full-time, permanent teaching positions in (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) mathematics, (d) computing science, (e) technical education and (f) home economics, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-15294

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many current vacancies there are for part-time, permanent teaching positions in (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) mathematics, (d) computing science, (e) technical education and (f) home economics, broken down by local authority.