Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-00528

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the (a) recruitment and (b) construction work being carried out as part of the rollout of 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

The Improvement Service has been commissioned by the ELC expansion programme to collect data from local authorities on progress towards delivery of 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare, and to report on this data. The most recent report, on data returned by Local Authorities in April 2021, was published on 15 June and can be accessed via the Improvement Service and Scottish Government websites. This provides detail on progress with both recruitment and construction work.

Question reference: S6W-00533

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment made in session 5 by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to the Education and Skills Committee on 17 February 2021, whether it is on course to update the Parliament regarding the Advance Payment Scheme before the summer recess.

Question reference: S6W-00526

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-35197 by John Swinney on 1 March 2021, whether it will provide this information broken down by local authority area.

Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or a flexible route. Probationers entering via a flexible route are not included in this analysis as they are not identified separately in the teacher census. These probationers account for a very small proportion of all probationers.

The following tables show the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who, at the time of the September teacher census following their probationary year were (1) in permanent teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, (2) in temporary teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, or (3) not teaching in a publicly funded school in Scotland.

These figures are broken down by the local authority in which the individual carried out their probationer year.

Table 1: Post-induction scheme teachers in permanent posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

	2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008	2008 - 2009	2009 - 2010	2010 - 2011	2011 - 2012	2012 - 2013	2013 - 2014	2014 - 2015	2015 - 2016	2016 - 2017	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020
Aberdeen City	48	21	4	14	18	26	35	55	65	66	74	75	71	71
Aberdeenshire	53	39	51	30	16	29	72	77	99	112	92	112	90	53
Angus	38	38	25	22	24	20	43	37	41	52	36	50	34	19
Argyll & Bute	11	15	9	3	4	5	3	12	5	10	10	13	14	6
City of Edinburgh	75	34	31	30	17	42	46	46	56	97	93	81	83	74
Clackmannanshire	23	15	13	6	2	0	5	15	13	22	24	14	19	21
Dumfries & Galloway	32	31	34	7	26	27	22	30	30	38	38	49	30	26
Dundee City	49	31	28	23	15	22	21	37	39	56	50	61	44	52
East Ayrshire	24	15	9	13	19	11	16	16	16	30	19	41	26	16
East Dunbartonshire	13	14	3	7	6	12	11	12	17	26	41	44	42	42
East Lothian	24	21	11	7	13	17	19	17	24	38	30	31	30	18
East Renfrewshire	51	27	10	20	22	27	23	18	28	36	56	41	44	34
Falkirk	77	46	19	25	24	31	42	49	61	60	63	71	56	32
Fife	56	97	85	41	58	45	77	68	75	101	93	116	126	113
Glasgow City	92	32	18	22	35	41	39	81	107	109	158	154	124	123
Highland	43	50	25	24	5	12	24	56	47	74	88	94	43	42
Inverclyde	14	7	2	4	7	2	2	5	2	9	11	6	13	7
Midlothian	28	26	13	11	2	7	14	17	21	33	28	29	19	18
Moray	23	14	13	6	5	13	12	17	24	31	23	25	34	13
Na h-Eileanan Siar	13	18	5	1	4	3	4	8	3	6	6	10	8	8
North Ayrshire	23	15	9	16	14	12	6	12	12	33	38	35	40	13
North Lanarkshire	90	72	30	15	8	35	34	20	64	57	52	78	73	61
Orkney Islands	5	6	1	2	0	2	0	6	1	7	4	3	2	1
Perth & Kinross	31	26	21	0	16	0	21	28	35	37	38	40	40	31
Renfrewshire	29	21	11	7	18	20	16	22	17	27	41	54	37	21
Scottish Borders	12	22	17	16	13	6	15	10	16	22	18	24	29	14
Shetland Islands	10	4	3	4	1	0	2	1	6	4	5	4	3	1
South Ayrshire	25	14	8	10	11	24	19	16	13	19	29	20	18	9
South Lanarkshire	90	76	49	19	48	70	60	63	108	129	154	146	112	152
Stirling	23	25	8	13	21	15	22	13	29	24	34	29	26	22
West Dunbartonshire	26	16	8	8	13	12	10	14	23	26	30	33	23	25
West Lothian	76	69	38	8	13	15	24	33	42	49	47	61	61	67
Grant aided	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	2

Scotland	1,230	957	613	434	498	603	759	913	1,140	1,440	1,524	1,644	1,414	1,207

Table 2: Post-induction scheme teachers in temporary posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

	2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008	2008 - 2009	2009 - 2010	2010 - 2011	2011 - 2012	2012 - 2013	2013 - 2014	2014 - 2015	2015 - 2016	2016 - 2017	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020
Aberdeen City	39	57	10	32	31	20	8	5	5	8	7	7	6	13
Aberdeenshire	34	44	57	73	72	34	16	11	26	28	29	25	15	65
Angus	14	8	22	35	38	18	9	7	4	2	6	5	26	35
Argyll & Bute	14	16	16	15	9	5	5	6	12	7	9	12	21	21
City of Edinburgh	67	72	74	72	79	49	47	42	53	38	35	35	38	79
Clackmannanshire	12	12	14	13	13	7	11	10	9	6	9	5	6	7
Dumfries & Galloway	20	18	36	31	22	16	27	19	22	22	34	33	25	25
Dundee City	23	31	31	23	37	15	20	18	16	4	10	12	19	21
East Ayrshire	28	28	34	42	51	22	27	32	27	26	20	26	28	49
East Dunbartonshire	20	26	21	38	41	39	51	51	48	40	45	54	49	54
East Lothian	30	23	32	28	35	25	21	30	28	26	17	20	22	48
East Renfrewshire	48	31	21	44	77	41	41	48	49	34	27	35	46	65
Falkirk	15	31	32	32	53	38	31	23	24	25	27	22	28	69
Fife	66	48	49	94	101	53	46	44	65	59	77	81	61	97
Glasgow City	86	83	101	111	73	68	57	51	98	86	54	48	99	157
Highland	36	30	39	48	45	34	40	27	40	23	32	31	49	41
Inverclyde	21	21	16	23	14	17	12	20	23	15	15	27	20	27
Midlothian	23	12	17	13	18	14	16	15	18	13	16	8	29	31
Moray	13	10	15	15	13	14	7	7	19	4	10	4	8	14
Na h-Eileanan Siar	3	2	5	7	11	1	8	2	4	6	7	5	4	3
North Ayrshire	32	32	41	24	42	22	29	27	34	18	21	34	32	30
North Lanarkshire	119	83	99	83	98	89	109	107	74	77	91	119	99	150
Orkney Islands	4	3	4	4	8	3	4	5	5	3	5	5	5	5
Perth & Kinross	15	11	25	0	7	0	18	22	23	13	14	16	22	14
Renfrewshire	51	58	57	74	71	27	47	44	74	48	57	37	35	59
Scottish Borders	14	32	12	15	25	12	12	19	12	6	4	4	13	17
Shetland Islands	6	7	5	6	5	2	4	3	2	5	4	2	6	1
South Ayrshire	25	22	27	39	38	26	30	37	30	24	19	27	22	39
South Lanarkshire	58	47	65	89	47	29	37	46	46	34	29	33	46	35
Stirling	27	32	26	37	33	15	22	32	24	13	24	32	22	41
West Dunbartonshire	30	37	34	20	31	22	21	36	26	20	25	20	28	36
West Lothian	37	51	44	85	104	47	30	43	30	20	25	23	42	56
Grant aided	3	0	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	1	0

Scotland	1,033	1,018	1,082	1,268	1,344	825	863	889	970	755	805	848	972	1,404

Table 3: Post-induction scheme teachers not reported in the following year’s teacher census (headcount).

This category includes those teaching elsewhere, including in the independent sector, those who have found supply work, and those who are unemployed or who have left teaching, although this detail is not included in the census data.

	2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008	2008 - 2009	2009 - 2010	2010 - 2011	2011 - 2012	2012 - 2013	2013 - 2014	2014 - 2015	2015 - 2016	2016 - 2017	2017 - 2018	2018 - 2019	2019 - 2020
Aberdeen City	39	46	10	33	36	17	11	17	13	11	8	11	11	12
Aberdeenshire	37	40	50	60	67	21	25	18	17	17	18	16	18	9
Angus	21	28	20	24	34	5	5	7	6	3	6	3	9	3
Argyll & Bute	24	21	17	14	8	5	2	0	4	1	2	2	4	2
City of Edinburgh	97	124	100	84	89	47	33	36	29	28	42	43	40	66
Clackmannanshire	6	16	9	20	8	4	2	4	7	0	8	7	8	5
Dumfries & Galloway	11	14	19	24	14	12	22	12	12	14	6	15	20	37
Dundee City	27	29	16	13	21	15	8	5	2	5	11	7	10	4
East Ayrshire	50	56	29	44	15	10	6	4	8	5	2	5	9	12
East Dunbartonshire	19	44	47	35	58	20	10	20	12	12	14	20	22	10
East Lothian	51	43	43	51	51	20	15	19	7	12	10	15	17	4
East Renfrewshire	48	73	68	47	36	18	21	20	16	21	5	8	23	47
Falkirk	29	34	54	49	34	13	13	12	6	10	8	13	18	15
Fife	61	78	76	47	38	27	23	22	20	19	23	25	23	43
Glasgow City	94	146	110	131	65	26	19	32	35	34	25	34	32	38
Highland	37	50	42	43	26	34	38	28	23	22	10	16	26	32
Inverclyde	38	43	25	14	13	13	14	8	8	5	5	2	7	11
Midlothian	33	41	47	41	13	11	6	12	5	5	5	8	5	10
Moray	14	26	24	26	13	2	6	13	6	3	4	7	4	7
Na h-Eileanan Siar	7	9	4	7	3	5	2	0	1	0	0	2	2	4
North Ayrshire	56	56	52	31	20	17	11	12	6	2	3	10	9	10
North Lanarkshire	72	126	92	101	55	23	29	30	12	19	10	18	19	7
Orkney Islands	3	6	13	9	7	2	5	0	5	2	5	2	0	2
Perth & Kinross	35	40	30	0	46	0	17	15	10	12	8	12	8	3
Renfrewshire	65	76	93	35	38	21	23	14	24	14	11	11	22	5
Scottish Borders	5	20	12	12	21	12	11	10	4	3	4	4	4	3
Shetland Islands	8	7	8	10	5	2	0	2	3	1	0	0	1	2
South Ayrshire	30	39	31	7	21	13	9	8	9	6	9	10	16	13
South Lanarkshire	103	112	119	95	81	30	15	28	16	15	11	11	34	9
Stirling	45	35	35	45	26	13	17	16	11	12	12	5	14	13
West Dunbartonshire	47	45	56	50	27	11	17	8	9	9	4	9	7	24
West Lothian	35	39	80	63	39	9	5	7	10	8	9	8	7	6
Grant aided	0	5	2	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Scotland	1,247	1,567	1,433	1,268	1,029	479	440	439	356	330	298	359	450	468

Question reference: S6W-00525

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-36077 by John Swinney on 24 March 2021, what meetings have been held since that date.

During the pre-election period Scottish Ministers only met with SQA when both attended the the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG): https://www.gov.scot/groups/covid-19-education-recovery-group/ . I continue to attend these meetings alongside SQA Chief Executive Fiona Robertson.

I attended a meeting which Fiona Robertson also attended on 24 May. We had a brief phone call on 3 June. We will have a formal introductory meeting on 24 June.

Officials meet regularly with SQA on a range of matters relating to the delivery of SQA’s functions.

Question reference: S6W-00521

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the (a) remit and (b) expected publication dates of the equality impact assessments that have been conducted by (i) it and (ii) the SQA regarding the 2021 Alternative Certification Model.

An Equality Impact Assessment to support the decision to replace the National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher examination diet in 2020-2021 with an Alternative Certification Model will be published on the Scottish Government website shortly.

SQA has undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment of the 2021 Alternative Certification Model that was co-created by the National Qualifications 2021 Group. It is available on the SQA’s website at: Equality Impact Assessment - National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Alternative Certification Model 2021 (sqa.org.uk) .

Question reference: S6W-00303

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to address long-COVID.

It is crucial that the decisions we take are based on the latest available evidence and are aligned to clinical guidance.

Our approach is for people to have access to the support they need for assessment, diagnosis, care and rehabilitation in a setting that is as close to their home as possible.

NHS Boards across Scotland are co-ordinating and providing local pathways to ensure a multidisciplinary and person-centred approach in their area.

Additionally, we invested over £460,000 in Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland to enable them to deliver their ‘Long COVID support service’ which complements the support being provided by NHS Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has also committed around £2.5 million to fund nine projects to improve our understanding of the long term effects of COVID-19 on physical and mental health and wellbeing in Scotland, and help with developing effective clinical interventions to support recovery and rehabilitation.

Question reference: S6W-00527

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for the Gateway Review of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-00524

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33536 by John Swinney on 10 December 2020, whether the summary of the returns and analysis has been published and, if so, where.

Question reference: S6W-00482

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Shetland Fishermen's Association paper, 'ICES-plus': Improving scientific advice in Scottish fisheries management.

Marine Scotland scientists provide the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) with data, evidence and expertise in relation to stocks of interest to the UK providing the basis for international advice. These scientists already contribute to the peer review of ICES advice in accordance with the organisation’s own advisory framework and principles, and are best placed to comment on the quality of advice from ICES and where appropriate challenge that advice or the interpretations and assumptions.

Marine Scotland intends to discuss these issues with the fishing industry under the Future Fisheries Management Strategy. The Scottish Government’s negotiating position has always been to deliver the best outcome for Scotland’s fishing interests through securing sustainable catching opportunities.”

Question reference: S6O-00037

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what practical support it has offered for travelling artistes, in light of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Chamber and committees