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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: S5W-29792

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors how Pupil Equity Funding is spent by each school.

Pupil Equity Funding is additional funding to be invested at the discretion of Headteachers to close the poverty-related attainment gap. Headteachers work in partnership with each other, and their local authority, to agree the use of Pupil Equity Funding.

Working with partners, the Scottish Government has developed refreshed 2020 Pupil Equity Funding National Operational Guidance. This will help schools plan how to most effectively invest their PEF allocation to improve the educational outcomes of children affected by poverty. In addition to the guidance, schools can access ongoing support from Education Scotland’s Attainment Advisor team to maximise improved outcomes for children and young people.

Local authorities may issue complementary guidance about how the funding will operate locally. Schools report on the use of the funding in existing planning and reporting processes to their authority and Parent Council, including in their annual School Improvement Plans and Standards and Quality reports. These plans and reports should be made publicly available so that parents and others can understand what is happening in their school.

In recognition of the financial and other resource implications of maintaining critical provision for children and families at this time, the Scottish Government is providing Local Authorities and Headteachers with flexibility on the use of Attainment Scotland Funding, including Pupil Equity Funding, in order that Local Authorities and Headteachers can best support our most vulnerable children.

Question reference: S5W-29793

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional support needs' (a) teachers and (b) pupils there are, broken down by local authority.

On the number of additional support needs teachers, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28271 on 20 April 2020.

Information on the number of pupils with additional support needs is published in the Pupil Census Supplementary Statistics.

The number of pupils with additional support needs in primary, secondary and special schools in each local authority in 2019 may be found in Table 6.10, Table 7.5 and Table 8.6 respectively of the 2019 edition of this publication:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5O-04397

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when physical work will start with the delivery of Lot 1 of the R100 high-speed broadband programme.

Question reference: S5O-04247

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the NFU Scotland document, Stability – The Platform for Change, what pilot schemes for agricultural support it will introduce for the 2021 claim year.

Question reference: S5O-04069

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met The Highland Council and NHS Highland to discuss social isolation and loneliness.

Question reference: S5W-26715

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 6 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26368 by Fergus Ewing on 21 November 2019, what action it is taking to ensure that Highlands and Islands Enterprise carries out the due diligence promptly; by what date it expects the funicular to be fully repaired, and whether it believes that it will be open to the public by the end of 2020.

Question reference: S5W-26716

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the terms were for NHS Highland being placed at level 4 of the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework, and what key performance indicators it will use to determine whether this status should be retained or changed.

As I have already informed Parliament in the answer to question S5W-20143 on 23 November 2018, NHS Highland was raised to stage 4 in the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework in November 2018 following concerns about the Board’s financial position and internal governance. Further information on the NHS Board Performance Escalation Framework can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-and-integration-authorities-consolidated-financial-reporting-2019-2020/ .

The performance of NHS Highland is considered against a wide range of performance targets - both operational and financial - and is scrutinised by the Scottish Government’s National Performance Oversight Group. The Group is co-chaired by the Director of Delivery and Resilience and the Director of Community and Social Care. The Health and Social Care Management Board (comprising all Health and Social Care Directors and chaired by the Director General) meets on a weekly basis and takes advice from the National Performance Oversight Group on issues relating to performance, delivery, finance, quality and safety. In addition to providing tailored support to the Board, an Oversight Group, chaired by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, has recently been established to support NHS Highland.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5F-03803

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2019

To ask the First Minister what alternative holiday arrangements have been made for staff from the emergency services who will be working over the festive period.

Question reference: S5O-03929

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist NHS Highland to reduce its reliance on locum staff.

Question reference: S5W-26368

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 21 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether a contractor has been appointed to fix the Cairngorm Funicular Railway (CFR), and, if not, when a contractor will be appointed; what the total cost is of repairing the CFR and, of that total cost, how much funding it is making available.

It remains the intention of Highlands and Islands Enterprise to repair the Funicular. The associated costs are currently high level estimates which is why Highlands and Islands Enterprise are continuing to carry out the appropriate due diligence around the technical aspects. This will help fully capture the totality of financial costs associated with this complex work and help inform the procurement of a construction contractor.