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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: S6W-21852

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) Scottish, (b) other UK and (c) international students graduated from Scottish universities in each of the last 10 years.

Information on students and qualifiers is collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The table below shows the number of students who qualified from Scottish HEIs between 2012-13 and 2021-22 academic years grouped by domicile.

Domicile

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Scotland

41,905

43,545

41,985

42,890

44,625

44,630

46,400

42,110

45,945

48,220

rUK

7,820

7,140

7,045

7,550

8,060

8,735

9,030

8,995

9,165

9,800

International

20,280

20,925

22,120

20,380

22,070

23,225

26,810

24,585

27,735

35,755

Not Known

Total

70,005

71,615

71,175

70,830

74,765

76,595

82,240

75,705

82,850

93,775

Source: HESA Student data,

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/outcomes

Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5

Question reference: S6W-21885

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consequences local authorities will face if they do not increase teacher numbers to the levels that it requires.

The Scottish Government has provided £145.5 million in this year’s budget on the condition that local authorities:

Maintain teacher numbers at 2022 census levels, as published in the Summary School Statistics in December 2022.
Maintain pupil support staff numbers at 2022 census levels, as published on 21 March 2023 based on the data collected from local authorities in September 2022.

£100 million of this funding is distributed to local authorities as part of the 2023-24 General Revenue Grant. The remaining £45.5 million will also be distributed to local authorities following confirmation that these conditions have been met.

In assessing whether these conditions have been met, we will consider any mitigating circumstances individual councils may wish to put forward.

Question reference: S6W-21824

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported claims from the Educational Institute of Scotland that there is a lack of job security in the teaching workforce.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the recruitment of teachers. It is for this reason we are providing local authorities with £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers. Where this is not being delivered by a local authority, we will withhold or recoup funding given for this purpose.

In addition, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is looking at issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

Since 2010 the number of permanent teaching posts in Scotland remains at approximately 80%.

Question reference: S6W-22264

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of (a) its Bee Health Team and (b) the Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP), and on how the public can engage with each.

The Bee Health Team’s bee heath inspectors have been conducting a programme of apiary visits across Scotland during this year’s beekeeping season, inspecting colonies for signs of notifiable pests and diseases as well as monitoring for incursion of exotic pests. Our diagnostics and science team at SASA continues to provide a free diagnostic service to beekeepers in Scotland to identify and confirm the presence of bee diseases and pests. The Scottish Government also provides funding for a Bee Health Advisor post at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) who provides education and practical advice to beekeepers on honey bee health and good management with the aim of improving bee health in Scotland.

The Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) has developed a 10 year Honey Bee Health Strategy which aims to achieve a healthy and sustainable population of honey bees in Scotland, supported by an Implementation Plan detailing specific actions to deliver the Strategy’s outcomes. The Plan is updated and published after each quarterly BHIP meeting. Links to both the Strategy and the Implementation Plan are below:

Strategy: The Honey Bee Health Strategy 2022 - 2032 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Implementation Plan: Scotland’s Honey Bee Health Strategy: implementation plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish beekeepers and members of the public can contact the Bee Health Team direct by emailing Bees_mailbox@gov.scot to discuss any issues, seek advice, and request items to be raised at the BHIP meetings.

Question reference: S6W-22138

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for the funding that it provided to Kindred Advocacy in 2022.

Kindred Advocacy provide independent advocacy, advice, one-to-one support and support groups for families raising children with complex needs. Kindred Advocacy currently supports 800 – 900 families a year. Most of these families are from Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife, however Kindred Advocacy supports families from across Scotland.

In 2022, Kindred Advocacy received funding through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund (CYPFEI and ALEC).

Kindred Advocacy’s objectives for this funding were:

Parents will feel less isolated and better able to cope.
Parents will feel better informed about their child’s diagnosis or medical condition.
Parents will feel more confident about caring for their child.
Parents will report that there is less impact on family life of caring for a child with disabilities.

Question reference: S6W-21945

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote the consultation on the statement of intent for its National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy.

We are working in collaboration with key stakeholder groups, including representatives of parent carers; local authorities; the third sector; health; social care; education; and employment, to share the Statement of Intent and promote completion of the questionnaire amongst relevant stakeholders with a role or interest in supporting disabled young people’s transition to adulthood. In addition, we are working with a number of organisations to seek feedback on the Statement of Intent from more young people.

Question reference: S6W-21862

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it plans to take to improve life expectancy (a) holistically as a nation and (b) to address any regional disparities within Scotland, in light of statistics showing that it has fallen for three consecutive periods and, on average, is around three years less than in England.

It remains an unwelcome reality that our communities experience health, quality of life and even life expectancy differently across our society. Increasing healthy life expectancy and reducing health inequalities across Scotland remains a clear ambition for the Scottish Government.

We know that deprivation is a significant driver of excess mortality and so reducing poverty and inequality sits at the heart of our investment across all portfolios, and remains the best way of improving life expectancy. In 2022-23, we invested £3bn across a range of programmes targeted at low income households, with £1.25bn directly benefitting children. We increased the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per eligible child per week – an increase of 150% in less than a year - and expanded the payment to all eligible children under the age of 16.

We have Community Link Workers and Welfare Rights Advisers embedded into 180 GP practices within our rural, island and deprived communities; who offer advice to patients regarding social security eligibility, debt resolution, housing and employability issues. We are also progressing a range of action to reduce population level health harming activities across tobacco control, preventing and treating alcohol related harm, improving the food environment to enable healthy weight, and improving physical activity.

We will continue to work with our partners to understand what is needed at a national and regional level to support local, preventative action to drive improvements in health, and embed health considerations within wider policy making.

Question reference: S6W-21839

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20561 by Graeme Dey on 21 August 2023, when it will publish its (a) delivery plan and (b) workforce action plan to support students' mental health.

Question reference: S6O-02677

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on rates of winter admissions to accident and emergency as a result of winter falls, since October 2020.

Question reference: S6O-02678

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to residents who have been required to evacuate their properties due to deteriorating reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.