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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: S5W-15851

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) practitioner- and (b) managerial-level training courses in early learning and childcare have been (a) unfilled and (b) uncompleted in each year since 2013-14, and how this compares with the targets that it set.

(a) National enrolment targets for ELC courses were set from 2017-18 only. Information on unfilled places is therefore not available before 2017-18. As noted in my answers to S5W-15849 and S5W-15850 on 8 May 2018, final audited data for 2017-18 will be available after the end of the academic year.

(b) Comparable data prior to 2014-15 is not available. Information on the number of people who did not complete their HNC for the relevant years is shown in the following table. This data includes all withdrawals, but does not account for partial completion i.e. those who re-apply and complete in subsequent years. There were no managerial level course places uncompleted for the periods requested.

Uncompleted

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

Enrolments

uncompleted

Enrolments

uncompleted

Enrolments

uncompleted

HNC

1789

570

1717

495

1828

621

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: S5W-15853

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the childcare profession recruitment campaign, Shape their worlds. Shape your career, including how many people it has helped to recruit.

The first phase of our national recruitment campaign, “Shape their worlds. Shape your career”, focussed on school leavers and predominantly encouraged applications to training opportunities.

The national recruitment campaign is one of many initiatives underway to assist the recruitment of additional workforce. A monitoring and evaluation framework for the early learning and childcare workforce expansion will be in place this summer.

Question reference: S5W-15849

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of 9 April 2018 regarding childcare expansion plans, what baseline it used to set the target of (a) 1,813 additional new starts for HNC college and university courses to train at practitioner level and (b) 490 places at managerial level in early learning and childcare, and whether this figure includes the additional courses previously announced for 2017-18.

The additional further and higher education places for 2018-19 are informed by the following 2014-15 baseline data, set by the Scottish Funding Council:

a) 1,789 (HNC level)

b) 492 (managerial level)

The additional course places for 2018-19 do not include those additional places previously announced in 2017-18.*

* 2017-18 data is in-year data and final audited data will not be available until after the end of the academic year.

Question reference: S5W-15850

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of 9 April 2018 regarding childcare expansion plans, how many of the (a) 650 additional practitioner level HNC courses and (b) 350 managerial level courses in early learning and childcare were not filled in 2017-18 and what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the 2017-18 expansion.

a) The available data indicates that 44 HNC places were not filled for 2017-18. Following consultation with the sector we have taken the opportunity to ensure there is an appropriate pipeline for the higher level qualifications in the coming years, by reallocating some of the HNC credits to NCs. As noted in my answers to S5W-15849 on 8 May 2018, final audited data for 2017-18 will be available after the end of the academic year.

b) All of the additional managerial places were filled for this period.

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: S5W-15852

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its letter to the Scottish Funding Council of 4 April 2018, whether it will set out the adjustments that it has made to its expectations for the provision of early learning and childcare courses to account for withdrawal rates.

The additional course numbers for early learning and childcare courses in 2018-19 are based on an estimated 20% withdrawal rate. This rate was set in collaboration with the Scottish Funding Council and is based on analysis of data on course enrolment and partial and full completion rates. This allowance has been factored into Scottish Funding Council guidance issued to local institutions for 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-15856

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15083 by Maree Todd on 20 March 2018, how many of the (a) 126 additional teacher training places and (b) 270 additional BA Childhood Practice places to expand the early learning and childcare workforce were filled in August 2017.

a) HESA data relating to additional teacher training for 2017-18 is not held centrally, and will not be available until after the end of the academic year.

b) All of the additional 270 BA places were filled in August 2017. As noted in my answers to S5W-15849, S5W-15850 and S5W-15851 on 8 May 2018, 2017-18 data is in-year data and full and complete data will not be available until after the end of the academic year.

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: S5W-15848

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 25 February 2016 that at least 46 nurseries have been built or expanded by local authorities to help accommodate additional early learning and additional childcare hours, flexibility and children, how many nurseries in each local authority area have been (a) built, (b) expanded and (c) closed in each year since 2014-15.

Question reference: S5F-02313

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 May 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-15870

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14582 by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018, on how many occasions the general anti-tax avoidance rule has been deployed as a specific compliance tool, and what the outcome was of each use.

Question reference: S5F-02259

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.