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: S3W-03686

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 10 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of trials by Perth and Kinross Council on visual stimulus modification and educational attainment.

Question reference: S3W-03685

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce orthoscopic screening and treatment to all schools.

NHS health boardsin Scotland are in the process of implementing the recommendationsin Health for all Children 4: Guidance on Implementation in Scotland that:

all children shouldbe screened by an orthoptist in their pre-school year, between the ages of fourand five years and that once this is in place, vision screening on school entryshould cease

vision screening insecondary school should continue at a single point only, unless already discontinued

that NHS boards andlocal authorities should make arrangements for any child undergoing assessment foreducational under achievement or other school problems to have a visual acuity check,and

NHS boards shouldensure that vision screening is undertaken in schools for children with hearingimpairment.

Question reference: S3W-01842

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, following the increase of more than 1,000 students in 2008-09 applying for financial assistance and the resultant additional pressures on university hardship funds, what plans the Scottish Government has to ensure that discretionary funds meet this demand.

Question reference: S3W-02277

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 July 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 7 August 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans the Scottish Government has to allow educational trusts to run schools.

Question reference: S3W-01362

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 July 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many classrooms in local authority primary schools were not assigned to a class of pupils or were otherwise classified as being unused in the last year for which figures are available; how many (a) P1, (b) P2 and (c) P3 classes had more than 18 pupils in that year, and whether it has projected how many extra teachers and classrooms will be required in order to reduce such classes to 18 or fewer by the end of Session 3 of the Parliament.

Information on thenumber of unused classrooms in local authority primary schools is not held centrally.In 2006, 1,510 P1, 1,378 P2 and 1,428 P3 classes had more than 18 pupils.

We are consideringin detail the numbers of teachers needed in order to reduce all P1 to P3 classesto 18 or less and allow all pre-school children access to a teacher. We have announcedthe first steps towards this, with funding for the employment of an additional 300teachers and the increase of 250 training places from this August.

We will be announcingfurther steps in due course, to a timetable that ensures that we can protect thequality of the teachers entering the profession and takes into account the capacityof the system to provide training places. Clearly, the most important issue is toensure the best possible educational outcomes for our children.

It is for local authoritiesto consider the detailed accommodation requirements of their schools in the lightof local circumstances and declining school rolls projected for coming years.

We have made available£40 million of additional capital resources to authorities this financial year toallow a start to be made on the accommodation requirements.

Question reference: S3W-01190

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of classes in (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) in total are set by ability in non-streamed local authority secondary schools, broken down by year of study.

Question reference: S3O-00181

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 June 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 14 June 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to have a national strategy for the provision of sports facilities.

Question reference: S3O-00002

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 May 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to take forward the commitment to protect rural schools from closure and what action it will take to assist those schools at immediate risk.