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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-29831

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case, Cardtronics UK Ltd and others v Sykes and others (Valuation Officers) [2020] UKSC 21, in relation to the application of non-domestic rates in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-29178

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils who would normally access children's services have not been in contact with either any of its agencies' or the local authority since schools were closed due to COVID-19.

Following an agreement led by SOLACE, local partnerships are providing weekly data to the Scottish Government on what is happening locally across children’s services partnerships during the current pandemic crisis. This dataset includes information about how many children with multi-agency plans have been contacted by a professional in health, education, social work or third sector services in the last week.

In the most recent data returned, all 32 local authorities provided this information, reporting that there had been contact, in the last week, with 29,782 children which is 71% of the total number of children reported to have a multi-agency plan. It is not possible to report whether any of the children with a multi-agency plan have had no contact with services since schools closed.

Further information about the data from local partnerships and other available intelligence relating to vulnerable children and young people is detailed in the reports published on the Scottish Government website in April and May:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-vulnerable-children-young-people-data-intelligence-report/

https://www.gov.scot/publications/vulnerable-children-report-15-2020-scottish-government-solace/

Question reference: S5O-04409

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, 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 what conditions are placed on the use of mobile phones that have been allocated to prisoners during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-29172

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support and funding it has provided to ensure that all school pupils have access to remote learning resources and educational support during the COVID-19 outbreak, and what the uptake of additional support has been, broken down by local authority area.

Due to the ongoing challenges currently facing schools and local authorities I have relaxed the guidance on Attainment Scotland Funding streams to support Local Authorities in deploying this funding flexibly to best support vulnerable children from the most deprived backgrounds. There are already a number of such examples, including the provision of laptops and tablets to support digital learning at home, purchase and delivery of books and other learning material to children at home, providing transport to enable some learners to attend LA Hubs, and supporting home-school link workers to maintain regular contact with children.

We recognise that digital exclusion is a particular issue for some of our most disadvantaged learners. To help ensure as many children and young people as possible are able to connect with their schools, continue their learning, access support and engage with their peers, we are investing an initial £9 million which will provide devices and connectivity for 25,000 learners across Scotland. This is the first phase of our £30 million commitment to support digital inclusion for children and young people, which we are working closely with local authority partners to deliver.

Question reference: S5W-29177

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance (a) Education Scotland and (b) the SQA has issued regarding the provision of home learning.

Education Scotland is providing a range of additional resources to support parents and practitioners with providing learning at home and to deliver continuity for learners across Scotland. This includes: a newly created resource bank of learning activities for a variety of ages; the continued provision ofa bank of online resources featuring collated materials across curriculum areas and sectors; a range of webinars to help practitioners get the most of out of Glow, and practical advice and tips for parents through the Parents’ Club online resource and the Parentzone Scotland website.

The SQA has provided Frequently Asked Questions around the provision of estimates for candidates who are studying at home or with a private tutor on their website at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/93797.html . For learners studying from home at present, within the Parent and Carer support section of their website, the SQA has referenced resources around National Courses as well links to support from partner organisations which can be found at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/93825.9757.html .

Question reference: S5W-29170

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much Pupil Equity Funding has been spent by each local authority during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This information is not held centrally and is only gathered annually. The latest detailed figures available, showing 2018-19 Pupil Equity Funding levels of spend, at both Local Authority and School level, were published on 31 October 2019 and are available to access here:- https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/pupil-attainment/

On 1 May 2020, for the first time, Pupil Equity Funding allocations were confirmed for two years, with over £250 million committed to schools across 2020-21 and 2021-22. This will help to provide more certainty for head teachers and aid learning during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and beyond.

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-29181

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects remote learning to continue through the scheduled summer break and, if so, what resources it will be allocating to facilitate this.

While the provision of distance learning by schools is a matter for local authorities and individual schools, we have no formal plans that remote learning continues in the summer break. There are, however, a number of home learning initiatives we support (for example, the Deputy First Minister's Maths Challenge), by community learning and development providers, by third sector organisations, and local community organisations that will be available during the summer holidays.

As in previous years, we anticipate that a range of summer learning activities will be promoted to families in the lead up to and during the summer holidays. In addition, Education Scotland's new "Scotland Learns" website, set up to assist with distance learning during Covid-19, hosts a wide range of learn at home materials and resources which parents and carers can access. Our Education Recovery group is considering how learning can best be supported during the summer break.

Question reference: S5W-29179

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities to contact pupils who are not taking part in remote learning or educational support while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of home learning rests with schools and local authorities. Individuals schools and local authorities are utilising a range of methods to maintain contact with pupils during this period.

We recognise that there are some pupils who are more difficult to reach at this time. Education Scotland is supporting local authorities to ensure that critical provision for the most vulnerable children and families is maintained and extended through flexible use of Pupil Equity Funding and Attainment Scotland Funding.

Question reference: S5W-29174

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils have not engaged with remote learning and educational support since schools were closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S5W-29175

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has given to local authorities to provide training for teachers on remote learning platforms since schools were closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Education Scotland, the national improvement agency for education, is providing a range of additional resources to support parents and practitioners with providing learning at home, and to deliver continuity for learners across Scotland.

To support teachers in particular, Education Scotland has organised and run a series of webinars which have covered topics such as digital literacy skills, evidencing learning using ipads, and getting the most out of Glow.

These webinars remain available for practitioners to view and a further 9 webinars have been scheduled which will look at numeracy and mathematics through computing science; the use of g-suite collaboration tools within Glow and other topics to assist educators across Scotland.

Education Scotland also published Learning and Teaching online: Advice for practitioners on the 12 May.