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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: S4T-00747

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that people with serious criminal convictions are teaching in schools.

Question reference: S4O-03380

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what flexibility there is in the national calculation method for determining the type of heating system used in large public buildings.

Question reference: S4W-21311

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what bodies are represented on the Northern Isles Ferries Consultative Forum; how membership was decided; on what dates and where it has met, and what was discussed.

The following bodies are represented on the Northern Isles Ferries Consultative Forum:

HITRANS, ZetTrans, Shetland Island Council, Orkney Island Council, Serco NorthLink Ferries, Pentland Ferries, John O’Groats Ferries, Aberdeen Harbour Board, Lerwick Port Authority, Scrabster Harbour Trust, Stromness and Kirkwall Harbours, VisitScotland and Transport Scotland.

Membership of the forum was decided by Scottish Ministers. The forum has met twice, on 10 December 2013 and 21 May 2014. Ferries issues pertinent to the Northern Isles were discussed. Minutes of these meetings will be published by Transport Scotland, following formal agreement from forum members.

Question reference: S4W-21313

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether an expert panel has been established to consider strategic options regarding the future of the Northern Isles ferry service and, if so, who sits on the panel.

The Scottish Government regularly consults on the Northern Isles ferry services through a variety of groups including the recently established Northern Isles Ferry Services Consultative Forum. This forum has met twice and was established by Scottish Ministers following the MV Hamnavoe breakdown in 2013. This group allows for a consistent consultative mechanism with key stakeholders, including passenger ferry operators, harbour authorities, regional transport partnerships, tourist sector and the two local councils.

Question reference: S4W-21167

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the educational impact of (a) Achieving our Potential: A Framework to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland, (b) The Early Years Framework and (c) Equally Well: Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequality on the educational outcomes of pupils from economically disadvantaged households.

Achieving our Potential: A Framework to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland, The Early Years Framework and Equally Well: Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequality did not in themselves set out to make an impact on the educational outcomes of pupils from economically disadvantaged households. They seek to highlight the potential for education initiatives to improve the wider outcomes of all children and young people, including those from disadvantaged households.

Question reference: S4W-21166

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it made of the evidence from education initiatives contained in its 2011 Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland of what works for children from economically disadvantaged households before producing Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland: Our Approach 2014-2017.

During 2013 and early 2014 the Scottish Government developed a strategic approach with the Ministerial Advisory Group on Child Poverty and a full range of stakeholders across Scotland. A number of areas were identified as priorities for future work across a variety of policy areas, including education. There were also widespread calls for more robust reporting of the range of activity contributing to tackling child poverty in Scotland and of the impact of this activity. The refreshed Child Poverty Strategy reflects the importance of these areas to our approach and describes the approach to reporting on relevant activity in the coming years.

The Government is currently developing, with the Ministerial Advisory Group, a measurement framework which will include indicators of relative attainment. This will be reported on annually, the first occasion being as part of the 2014 Annual Report, which will be published in summer 2014.

Question reference: S4W-21169

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing assessment is in place to monitor the impact of the curriculum for excellence on the educational outcomes of pupils from economically disadvantaged households.

Question reference: S4W-21168

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the curriculum for excellence on the educational outcomes of children living in poverty.

There are a range of measures through which the impact of the Curriculum for Excellence on the educational outcomes for all children, including those living in poverty, can be assessed. These include the annual Scottish Qualifications Authority exam results and leaver destination data, the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, and the triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reports. The 2012 PISA study of fifteen year olds showed that Scotland has begun to make progress on reducing the attainment gap.

Through the inspection process, Education Scotland examines the nature and context of each school and considers its pupils' needs. Each inspection is supported by information on the social background and attainment of pupils using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and linked to comparator schools. Through this they have identified schools and authorities that appear to successfully tackle poverty pressures and they share the information with other schools in similar situations.

Question reference: S4W-21170

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence there is that measures in the curriculum for excellence are helping to reduce the attainment gap of pupils from economically disadvantaged households in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Question reference: S4W-21165

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 30 May 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its getting it right for every child approach on the educational outcomes of children from economically disadvantaged households.