Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28454

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with teaching organisations to ensure that teachers are not required to work beyond their contracted hours at the weekend.

Question reference: S6W-28445

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 30 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve access to elective professional learning within the teaching sector.

Teachers in Scotland are required to spend 35 hours on professional learning per year and to engage in a Professional Update process every five years as a requirement for registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

As set out in the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers Handbook, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure a wide range of professional learning development opportunities and the teacher’s responsibility to undertake a programme of agreed professional learning. This should be capable of being discharged within contractual working time.

In terms of the provision of professional learning for teachers at a national level, Scotland’s national education agency will have an important role in supporting a thriving professional learning sector through a national framework for professional learning and will build on the existing and well-regarded national leadership professional learning programmes.

Establishing the new Centre for Teaching Excellence will also ensure every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching. Effective professional learning, development and dedicated time for collaboration is critical to improving performance in the classroom.

Question reference: S6W-28434

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 16 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S6W-27078 by Natalie Don on 9 May 2024, whether "the data from that exercise" was submitted to the Scottish Government in June 2024 as anticipated in order to inform the Scottish Government's approach, and, if this is not the case, for what reason, and when it anticipates that the data will be submitted.

Question reference: S6W-27958

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the conclusions of the UK Parliament Education Committee regarding a consultation on a total ban on smartphones for under-16s and a statutory ban on mobile phone use in schools, what its position is on the committee's conclusions and any relevance that these may have in Scotland.

The findings of the UK Parliament Education Committee are noted. It is recognised that the Committee's considerations and recommendations are rightly focussed on the interests of the UK Government and that the legalities around ‘banning’ mobile phones elsewhere in the UK differ from those in Scotland. This is because in Scotland our Local Authorities have statutory responsibility for the delivery of Education and it is consequently a decision for our Headteachers currently, whether or not they would wish to enforce a ban in their school estate.

Nonetheless, the Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward national guidance on mobile phones in schools in Scotland. The guidance has been informed by a range of research and evidence and will make clear that should Headteachers wish to do so, they are empowered to ban mobile phones within their school estate.

Question reference: S6O-03603

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to tackle long ambulance turnaround times.

Question reference: S6W-27686

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the average reduction in journey times has been on each of the national train routes across Scotland in each year since 2016.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

The Scottish Government’s High Level Output Specification (HLOS) strategy requires Network Rail to take full advantage of maintenance and renewal works and timetable development processes to enable ScotRail to achieve improved journey times. It is also a requirement of the ScotRail Policy Compendium and Grant Agreement that ScotRail works with Network Rail to deliver a high performing railway, with competitive journey times.

Office of Rail and Road's Annual Assessment of Network Rail, which is published on its website, provides information on average national journey time for year 2022-23:

Annual Assessment of Network Rail - April 2022 to March 2023 (orr.gov.uk) , which the member might find of interest.

Question reference: S6W-27642

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on the (a) uptake and (b) outcomes of support from the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme in each year of its operation.

The following table shows the level of Mode Shift Revenue Support grants awarded by the Scottish Government since the introduction of the scheme plus details of the committed traffic.

Year	MSRS - Grants Awarded	Containers Moved by Rail or Water
2010-2011	£753,751	121,100
2011-2012	£739,280	115,740
2012-2013	£759,801	114,930
2013-2014	£751,575	121,280
2014-2015	£727,327	132,453
2015-2016	£636,899	103,148
2016-2017	£638,157	122,565
2017-2018	£688,480	129,537
2018-2019	£776,484	140,441
2019-2020	£597,714	124,143
2020-2021	£574,903	151,224
2021-2022	£477,423	85,099
2022-2023	£539,853	129,872

The Scottish Government has a range of annualised data on the uptake and outcome of the Mode Shift Revenue Support Scheme including the value of Grants Awarded and the number of containers moved by rail or water. In total, between 2010-11 and 2022-23, £8,661,647 of awards were made leading to 1,591,532 containers moved by rail or water.

Question reference: S6W-27679

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding it has provided to ScotRail in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-27754

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many adverse incidents have occurred at, or within a half mile radius of, the Toll of Birness in each year since 2010, including the period from January to end of May 2024.

Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents or adverse incidents generally (i.e. not involving an injury).

Since Amey took over the Operating Company contract in 2022, incidents such as flooding (7 times), potholes (3 times), fallen trees (twice) and dead badgers (twice) have prompted Amey to visit the location.

According to Transport Scotland’s accident database, there have been 14 personal injury accidents which have occurred at or within half a mile radius of the A90 Toll of Birness junction between 1 January 2010 and 5 March 2024. These are tabulated below:

Accidents by Year
Year	Total
2010	1
2011	1
2012	0
2013	1
2014	3
2015	0
2016	1
2017	1
2018	2
2019	1
2020	1
2021	1
2022	0
2023	1
2024*	0

* data available until 5 March 2024

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes:

Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 01-01-2010 – 05-03-2024

Date Extracted - 21/05/2024

Please note that the personal injury accident information provided above is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.

The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.

Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.

From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious.

Question reference: S6W-27755

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government at what time, or during what time periods, road traffic accidents, including all reported adverse incidents, have been recorded as having occurred at the Toll of Birness in the last 10 years.

Personal injury accidents occurred at the following time periods at A90 Toll of Birness between 1 January 2014 and 4 May 2024. Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Transport Scotland does not hold information relating accidents or incidents not involving an injury.

Day	Date	Time
Monday	10-02-2014	16:04
Saturday	12-04-2014	08:10
Friday	04-07-2014	07:00
Monday	26-09-2016	12:39
Wednesday	05-04-2017	18:00
Thursday	04-01-2018	08:45
Wednesday	11-07-2018	15:45
Thursday	05-12-2019	18:00
Tuesday	18-02-2020	14:51
Thursday	03-06-2021	07:20
Sunday	15-01-2023	03:32