Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-29729

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 29 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans there are to support the provision of habilitation training for children and young people with a visual impairment in (a) specialist and (b) mainstream schools.

Question reference: S4W-29730

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 29 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how Education Scotland measures the effectiveness of habilitation provision for pupils with a visual impairment.

In the course of inspections, Education Scotland evaluates provision for children and young people with additional support needs, including children with visual impairment. Models of habilitation support vary within each education authority or school. In some, this is an education model whilst in the majority, habilitation is delivered by social work services or other partners, including voluntary organisations. Inspectors do not evaluate specific habilitation programmes but do evaluate how well each school meets the needs of visually impaired children and young people, which may include their skills in mobility and independence. If a school or service has a specific habilitation programme or service Education Scotland inspectors will evaluate the quality and impact of this.

Question reference: S4W-29728

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 29 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that every child and young person with a visual impairment receives the habilitation training that they require.

Curriculum for Excellence has the express aim of ensuring children and young people have the skills for learning, life and work. Young people’s entitlements in Curriculum for Excellence provide ways for habilitation skills to be part of personalising learning through:

Skills for life for those with visual impairment to enable them progress in their environment and locality,

Appropriate attention to an environment for learning that support young people to achieve,

Personalising support to meet the needs and raise achievement of those with visual impairment.

It is for education authorities to provide the learning experiences, and support necessary, to meet the learning needs of the children and young people for whose education they are responsible.

Education Scotland will shortly publish a best practice document for those making provision for sensory impairments for education authorities and schools across early years, primary, secondary and special schools and units as well as grant-aided schools in Scotland. Good practice is disseminated through the Education Scotland website, events and communities of professional learning with in GLOW and Education Scotland’s inclusion hub.

Question reference: S4O-05575

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the prison estate.

Question reference: S4O-05538

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in finding an agreement on the fiscal framework.

Question reference: S4O-05514

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have outstanding equal pay claims.

Question reference: S4W-29144

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many students studying for (a) one Higher, (b) two Highers, (c) more than two Highers and (d) no Highers who qualify for the education maintenance allowance receive each of the payment bands.

Data on the number of students who qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance and the qualifications they are studying for are not held centrally.

Data on the number of students who received Education Maintenance Allowance is available in the Scottish Government's annual national statistics publication Education Maintenance Allowances 2013-14. Data for local authorities are available from the Scottish Government website:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/DataEMA

Question reference: S4W-29143

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many students who qualify for the education maintenance allowance are studying for (a) one Higher, (b) two Highers, (c) more than two Highers and (d) no Highers, broken down by local authority.

Data on the number of students who qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance and the qualifications they are studying for are not held centrally.

Data on the number of students who received Education Maintenance Allowance is available in the Scottish Government's annual national statistics publication Education Maintenance Allowances 2013-14. Data for local authorities are available from the Scottish Government website:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/DataEMA

Question reference: S4W-29142

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many students qualify for the education maintenance allowance, broken down by local authority.

Data on the number of students who qualify for the Education Maintenance Allowance are not held centrally.

Data on the number of students who received Education Maintenance Allowance is available in the Scottish Government's annual national statistics publication Education Maintenance Allowances 2013-14. Data for local authorities are available from the Scottish Government website:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/DataEMA

Question reference: S4W-29103

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 13 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions Police Scotland and predecessor forces have been called to licensed betting shops in each year since 2010, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Chamber and committees