Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-30870

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many new skilled workers the renewables industry estimates will be needed for renewable energy and grid upgrade projects.

The Scottish Government is aware of a number of reports that set out the potential opportunities for workers in the renewable energy and electricity grid sectors. For example Robert Gordon University research suggests that there could be between 7,000 and 33,000 offshore renewables sector jobs in the North East of Scotland by 2030 while SP Energy Networks suggest that there could be between 40,000 and 80,000 jobs in 2035 in Scotland in electricity networks and related infrastructure.

Independent analysis prepared by EY to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero suggests that with the right support, there could be almost 80,000 low carbon energy production sector jobs in Scotland in 2050.

Question reference: S6O-03972

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will make available to fully fund and protect hospice care services, in light of the increase in national insurance contributions in the UK Budget and any impact of the Agenda for Change on hospice budgets.

The Finance Secretary wrote to the Treasury on 31 October seeking urgent clarification on the increase to employer national insurance contributions.

We are clear that this change must be fully funded so that there is no impact on our frontline services. Clarity must be provided before we set our budget in just a few weeks’ time. We also need clarity on whether funding will cover the full extent of organisations delivering public services.

We will continue to work with the hospice sector to consider opportunities to deliver pay parity with Agenda for Change for independent hospices.

Question reference: S6O-04001

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of people who are not aware of a Do Not Resuscitate order being placed on their medical notes, including in relation to next of kin and power of attorney holders.

Question reference: S6W-30641

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it notifies public sector bodies of the centrally funded eCommerce shared service for procurement and finance systems; what measures it has in place to encourage uptake, and what steps it will take to reduce the overlap in spending on external IT systems and consultancies when a centralised option is available at no or minimal cost.

The eCommerce Shared Service provides a joined up suite of procurement tools to drive excellence, consistency and best practice within public procurement. The tools include the Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal (PCS mandated for all public bodies in advertising procurements £50k and over), PCS-Tender, PECOS P2P, PECOS Content management (PCM), eInvoicing. All or elements of the Service are used by all Scottish public bodies to enable and support their end to end procurement processes.

The eCommerce Shared Service is promoted via established stakeholder groups and at various events to represent and endorse the Service to public bodies. Appendix 1 shows the number of public bodies that currently use the Service.

Spending decisions on IT Systems and Consultancies is a matter for public bodies, however the eCommerce Shared Service works with public bodies to promote and drive uptake of these systems.

Appendix 1

System	Public Bodies
Public Contracts Scotland	Mandated for all public bodies advertising procurements £50k and above
Public Contracts Scotland-Tender	126
PECOS P2P	57
PECOS Content Management	106
eInvoicing	35

Question reference: S6W-30640

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the number of public sector bodies that have chosen to use their own procurement and finance IT systems or consultancies instead of the centrally funded eCommerce shared service, and how much each body has spent annually since 2020 on these alternative systems and consultancy services.

A report on public bodies data, including spend on different corporate functions in 2022-23, will be published on 15 November 2024 on the Scottish Government website, but this does not include information on bodies that have chosen to use their own procurement and finance IT systems or consultancies instead of the centrally funded eCommerce Shared Service. That information is not held centrally. We are engaged with public bodies via various forums where opportunities are identified to promote and drive uptake of the eCommerce tools. Detailed below is a list of how many public bodies currently use the eCommerce Shared Service.

System	Public Bodies
Public Contracts Scotland	Mandated for all public bodies advertising procurements £50k and above
Public Contracts Scotland-Tender	126
PECOS P2P	57
PECOS Content Management	106
eInvoicing	35

Question reference: S6W-30639

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total amount spent by the public sector has been on IT systems and consultancy services, specifically in the areas of procurement and finance, in each year since 2020, also broken down by public sector body, and how this expenditure compares with the availability of the centrally-funded eCommerce shared service that can reportedly be used by these bodies at no or minimal cost.

A report on public bodies data, including spend on different corporate functions in 2022-23, will be published on 15 November 2024 on the Scottish Government website, but this does not include the total amount spent by public bodies on IT systems and consultancy services specifically relating to procurement and finance systems. This is a matter for individual public bodies and is not held centrally. Whilst we do not hold this data we do monitor use of the eCommerce systems across the Scottish public sector and identify opportunities to promote and implement the tools available as part of the eCommerce Shared Service.

Question reference: S6W-30943

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the reported decline in the reading age of pupils in schools.

The Scottish Government takes into account a broad range of data and evidence when considering priorities to improve and support literacy including reading.

For example, Scotland’s performance in the PISA (Reading) international survey in 2022 was above the OECD average and higher than 24 other countries. 9.6% of students in Scotland performed at “PISA Level 5” or better in reading, which is defined by the OECD as top performers, and above the OECD average of 7.2%.

The most recent Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data for literacy showed that 73% of primary school pupils achieved the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Level for literacy, the highest figure on record. The poverty related attainment gap in primary literacy was the narrowest on record.

The focus remains on improving further, and the answer to S6W-30944 on 12 November 2024 provides a summary of the action being taken to support reading and literacy in schools. 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.

Question reference: S6W-30945

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what digital solutions are being explored to improve the reading age in schools.

Question reference: S6W-30944

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what specific actions have been taken in the current parliamentary session to improve the average reading age in schools.

Literacy, which includes reading, remains the responsibility of all educators and a key priority in the National Improvement Framework. The National Improvement Framework and improvement plan 2024 included a range of actions to support literacy under the National Response to Improving Literacy, all of which are relevant to reading. The 2025 National Improvement Framework, which will be published in December 2024, will include a new long-term strategy setting out how we will work in partnership with local authorities and wider children's services to improve outcomes for young people. Improving achievement in literacy will remain a key priority.

Of particular note, in February 2024 Education Scotland published an Early Reading Professional Support Overview followed by a number of Professional Learning Resources from March to June 2024 for educators who support children and young people to learn to read. This guidance covers a range of themes including developing skills for reading and it seeks to provide clarity on the position of systematic phonics within an overall approach to early reading. The guidance is accompanied by an enhanced national primary schools professional learning programme on early reading.

In addition, the Scottish Government continues to fund the Scottish Book Trust to deliver both the Reading Schools programme and Read Write Count with the First Minister (RWC). Reading Schools offers three accreditation levels to Primary, Secondary and Additional Support Needs schools, designed to champion schools’ efforts to build and sustain a reading culture, while RWC gifts books and other materials to Primary 2 and 3 pupils across Scotland. The Scottish Government also continues to fund the School Library Improvement Fund to support creative and innovative projects within the school library sector.

The National Response to Improving Literacy Partnership Board (NRIL) brings together Scottish Government, Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education Services (ADES) to identify and support actions to improve literacy. A key priority for the “NRIL” in 2024 and 2025 is the Literacy and English Curriculum Improvement Cycle which will seek to strengthen and update Scotland’s Literacy and English Curriculum.

Question reference: S6W-30875

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to increase the digitisation of patient records for young people with cancer, and whether it will consider creating a Scottish equivalent of the NHS England app to make accessing medical records and NHS services easier for young cancer patients and their families.

The Digitisation of records is an operational responsibility of individual Health Boards and GP practices. At a national level and building on the existing use of electronic patient record systems, we are focussed on allowing medical records, including cancer, to be stored, linked, and shared securely. This will support our ambition set out in the 2021 Digital Health & Care Strategy 2021 Strategy - Digital Healthcare Scotland % (digihealthcare.scot) to make the right information available to all appropriate staff, when and where it is needed.

We recognise the need to open access to individuals and facilitate consistency in experience across the country, which is why we committed in the 2024-25 Programme for Government: Programme for Government 2024-25: Serving Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)to launch the first version of a personalised digital health and social care service. Over a 5-year period this will incrementally provide digital notifications, access to personal health information, and options for interacting online with health and social care services.

The new service, as well as the digitisation and access to online medical records will support patients, and by extent their families, on a national level over time.

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