Chamber and committees

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-09049

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it will provide for roadside drug testing equipment.

Question reference: S5F-01216

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2017

To ask the First Minister whether headteachers will require the agreement of the relevant local authority before a decision is made about how the pupil equity fund will be spent in their schools.

Question reference: S5O-00897

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to tackle drug-driving.

On Friday last week, I announced that the Scottish Government would bring forward legislation by the end of 2017 that will introduce drug driving limits. This legislation, which if approved by Parliament will come into force in 2019, will set individual limits for different drug types and help make it easier for the police and prosecutors to hold irresponsible drivers to account and help improve road safety.

Question reference: S5W-07220

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 24 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the final contract for the roll-out of its baby box scheme will be awarded.

Question reference: S5W-07219

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 24 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the final contract for the roll-out of its baby box scheme will include delivery of the baby box to new parents.

Question reference: S5W-07218

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 24 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its current contract with the APS (Scotland) Group for the pilot of its baby box scheme includes the delivery of the baby box to new parents.

Question reference: S5W-07323

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils from an SIMD 20 background enrolled on a further education course in each year since 2007.

Data on students from SIMD 20 areas on Further Education courses at colleges is available in the Scottish Funding Council publication ‘Learning for All’. The most recent publication contains data covering 2009-10 to 2014-15.

In 2014-15, 32.7% of full-time equivalents (FTEs) on Further Education courses in colleges were from SIMD 20 areas (Table 10).

The full publication is available on the Scottish Funding Council website: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/communications/Statisticalpublications/2016/SFCST062016.aspx

Question reference: S5W-07325

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many students withdrew from their further education course in the (a) first six months, (b) first year and (c) final year of study in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-07324

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many SQA marker vacancies there were on 31 March in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5O-00749

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the provision of accurate lists of available supply teachers.

We are currently working with local authority representatives, as partners on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, to develop a national supply booking system where teachers seeking supply opportunities will be able to register their availability, making it easier for local authorities to identify and access available supply teachers.

However, this is only part of the solution. I am firmly of the view that increasing the availability of teachers for schools in Scotland is vital. To support this the Scottish Government has significantly increased student teacher intake targets for the sixth year in a row, which has included making adjustments to the workforce planning model to factor in a greater need for supply cover.