- Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for Discretionary Funds to be released to colleges by the Student Awards Agency Scotland to enable this to be used to support students who are facing hardship.
Answer
On 6 October 2023 Student Awards Agency Scotland wrote to colleges and universities confirming the 2023-24 Higher Education (HE) Discretionary Funds allocations and guidance. The funds were issued to the sector during the week commencing 9 October 2023. Approximately £8m has been issued. Colleges and universities were notified on 17 th October that a further £4m will be issued in April 2024.
- Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been for the repair work on Bute House, in light of reports that the building closed down for five months between April and September 2023.
Answer
The Scottish Government are working with their appointed contract administrators to obtain completion certification on works connected with the recent essential repairs at Bute House.
Once certification is in place all costs associated with the fabric of the building repairs and fire compartmentation will be proactively released.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20679 by Neil Gray on 31 August 2023, whether it will provide an update on the establishment of an advisory group as required in section 29 of the Scottish National Investment Bank Act 2020.
Answer
Under Section 29 of the Scottish National Investment Bank Scottish Ministers must establish and maintain an advisory group.
As outlined in response to question S6W-20679 on 31 August 2023, now that the Bank is fully established, and has a growing portfolio of investments work is underway to advise ministers on the establishment of the advisory group.
Details such as: membership, recruitment and appointment processes, remuneration and meeting frequency remain under consideration. We will provide an update on this work in 2024.
- Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the results were of its summer investigation into Highly Protected Marine Areas, and when it will publish its findings in full.
Answer
From December 2022 to April 2023, The Scottish Government consulted on the proposal to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas across 10% of Scotland’s seas by 2026. In June 2023, ahead of providing a fuller update, I announced that the Scottish Government would no longer seek to progress this proposal. A full analysis of consultation responses was carried out over the summer and on 7 November 2023, a detailed analysis report was published alongside the Scottish Government’s response .
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much has been paid by registered social landlords in fees to consultants appointed under the direction of the Scottish Housing Regulator in each of the last 10 years.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The independent Scottish Housing Regulator publishes the costs of statutory managers in the final report of each statutory intervention. The reports are on their website.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what 10 breeds, or types, of dog have most often been the subject of Dog Control Notices in each year since 2018.
Answer
he system of Dog Control Notices is operated by local authorities. Information requested on what breeds, or types, of dog have most often been the subject of Dog Control Notices in each year since 2018 is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government funded the creation of the Scottish Dog Control Notice Database. This national database went live in February 2022 and brings together the records of all local authorities into a centralised database, that is accessible by local authorities and Police Scotland.
The national database was created and is managed by the Improvement Service. The following table provided by the Improvement Service shows the requested Dog Control Notice information for 2022 and 2023.
Active Dog Control Notices on 31 December 2022
Dog Breed | Dog Control Notice Count |
Other | 298 |
Staffordshire Bull Terrier | 195 |
German Shepherd | 105 |
Border Collie | 45 |
Rottweiler | 42 |
American Bulldog | 37 |
Staffy Cross | 31 |
Siberian Husky | 27 |
Akita | 25 |
Lurcher | 18 |
Active Dog Control Notices as at 8 November 2023
Dog Breed | Dog Control Notice Count |
Other | 346 |
Staffordshire Bull Terrier | 213 |
German Shepherd | 136 |
Border Collie | 55 |
American Bulldog | 52 |
Rottweiler | 51 |
Staffy Cross | 47 |
Siberian Husky | 31 |
Akita | 27 |
Lurcher | 22 |
Where the dog breed is not known or it is a mongrel/cross breed, local authority dog wardens who issue the Dog Control Notice will select ‘other’ as the breed of dog.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether members of the advisory group, which must be established as per section 29 of the Scottish National Investment Bank Act 2020, will be paid, and, if so, who will set the level of pay.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22695 on 15 November 2023 which will be communicated separately. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will match the UK Government's commitment to provide 15 hours of free childcare support for parents of two-year-olds from April 2024.
Answer
Scotland already has one of the most generous childcare offers in the UK. In 2023-24 we are investing around £1 billion in the delivery of 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all three and four year olds and about a quarter of two year olds who face the most disadvantage.
The 1140 hours offer already equates to 30 hours per week during term time for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds regardless of their parents' working status – putting children first.
The First Minister recently announced in the Programme for Government that over the next year we will work with local government and partners in the ELC sector to significantly expand our childcare programme, including our targeted offer for two year olds, focusing on those who will benefit the most.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what employment-based routes are available to students who wish to enter the teaching profession.
Answer
The Scottish Government supports the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) to offer a part-time PGDE Primary programme. UHI plan to extend this to their PGDE Secondary programmes. The Scottish Government has had discussions with universities about the need for flexibility in delivery of ITE programmes and will continue to engage with them on this issue.
The Scottish Government’s Teaching bursary scheme provides bursaries of £20,000 for career changers wishing to undertake a one year PGDE in hard to fill STEM subjects. These are Physics, Maths, Technical Education, Computing Science, Chemistry and Home Economics. The scheme has recently been extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.
Additionally, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21885 by Jenny Gilruth on 26 October 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what consequences local authorities will face if they do not increase teacher numbers to the levels that it requires; for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer, and whether it can confirm whether it (a) has imposed a requirement on local authorities but has not finalised any consequences for not meeting that requirement and (b) plans to decide and apply any consequences for local authorities that do not meet the requirement during or after that happening.
Answer
Further to the answer S6W-21885, we have been clear that if increased teacher numbers are not maintained, we reserve the right to withhold or recoup funding which has been given for this purpose.
That data will be available following publication of the Summary Statistics for schools in December.
In assessing whether these conditions have been met, we will consider any mitigating circumstances individual councils may wish to put forward.
Local authorities are aware of these arrangements.