Chamber and committees

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-04229

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the findings of the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, what its position is on the provision of out of school care.

We are currently working closely with the Scottish Out of School Care Network to develop a new policy framework for out of school care. The framework will be developed under the auspices of the Early Learning and Childcare Strategic Forum, whose remit is to develop and drive a strategic vision for high quality, flexible early learning and childcare in Scotland - integrated with an out of school care system - that is affordable and accessible for all.

Question reference: S5W-04241

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, how it will ensure that people working in childcare settings are covered by (a) the living wage and (b) all other fair work practices.

Question reference: S5W-04234

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much capital investment for early learning and childcare has been provided in each of the last five years by (a) the Scottish Futures Trust and (b) local authorities.

Scottish government provided significant additional capital funding to local authorities to support implementation of the early learning and childcare elements of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014: £71 million in 2014-15, £69 million in 2015-16 and £30 million in 2016-17.

Local authority capital expenditure on pre-primary education for financial years
2010-11 to 2014-15 (most recent data available) is shown in the following table.

Scottish Futures Trust have not provided any funding for capital investment during the last five years.

Local Authority Capital Expenditure – Pre-primary education, £’000s

	Total Gross Capital Expenditure
2010-11	4,280
2011-12	5,707
2012-13	4,926
2013-14	3,873
2014-15	16,927

Source: Local Financial Returns

Question reference: S5W-04242

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish the skills investment plan for the sector.

Question reference: S5W-04239

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish its strategic plan for its programme of infrastructure development.

Question reference: S5W-04238

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish the Flexible Jobs Index for Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-04236

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the publication, A Blueprint for 2020: the Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland, when it will publish the revised statutory guidance on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

Question reference: S5W-04224

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what projection it made in 2012-13 of the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) total student debt for each year from 2012-13 to 2017-18; how this compares with the actual figures for each year up to 2015-16, and what projection it has made for each of the next five years.

The Scottish Government does not make student debt projections.

However, the Student Loans Company publishes data on total student debt and average student debt:

http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/scotland.aspx

Table 1: Total amount owed by borrowers who received loans as Scottish domiciled students studying in the UK, or as EU domiciled students studying in Scotland

Amount of Loan Balance in £ millions

As at end of tax year	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
All ICR borrowers with a Loan Balance	2,314.6	2,519.5	2,809.7

Source: Student Loans Company

Table 2: Average Loan Balance for borrowers who received loans as Scottish domiciled students studying in the UK, or as EU domiciled students studying in Scotland

Average Loan Balance in £

As at end of tax year	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
All ICR borrowers with a Loan Balance	7,230.0	7,460.0	7,870.0

Source: Student Loans Company

Question reference: S5W-04092

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, whether it will provide details of Scottish Development International’s (SDI) current presence in Europe, and what areas would be covered by SDI doubling this.

The Scottish Government proposes an increase in the number of people working for Scottish Development International in Europe from 20 to 40 over the next two years.

SDI currently has four European offices in Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Paris and Stavanger. Detailed work, including location proposals, is being undertaken to ensure that additional resources deliver maximum benefit for Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-04096

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government further to the comments in the publication, Enterprise and Skills Review: Report on Phase 1, by what date the review of the (a) existing data and evaluation functions, (b) learning journey, (c) innovation support ecosystem, (d) effectiveness of investment in learning and skills and (e) role, position and governance of Scottish Development International (SDI), and its possible establishment as a distinct and separate organisation, will be completed.