Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05579

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00665 by John Swinney on 16 June 2016, whether it will provide (a) a breakdown of how many of the teachers were (i) centrally employed and (ii) worked in (A) primary, (B) secondary and (C) special schools and (b) the information for 2016.

Children and young people receive support in school from teaching and support staff. The information provided in the following tables relates to those teachers whose main subject is Additional Support for Learning only and therefore does not reflect the full picture of the support provided to pupils in schools, which is the role of every teacher.

Teachers with additional support needs for learning as their main subject, 2007 to 2016


	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City	191	184	192	174	161	167	147	116	115	127
Aberdeenshire	209	227	279	292	286	277	265	242	263	262
Angus	94	105	97	97	102	93	82	79	82	82
Argyll and Bute	29	36	41	42	42	43	41	40	45	46
Clackmannanshire	29	33	35	30	30	26	24	30	30	30
Dumfries and Galloway	83	125	121	130	124	132	124	120	104	100
Dundee City	182	169	159	159	148	148	137	138	131	121
East Ayrshire	55	64	115	110	109	111	111	107	107	112
East Dunbartonshire	46	66	55	53	50	58	60	53	58	69
East Lothian	41	44	60	56	58	55	49	50	46	43
East Renfrewshire	43	46	43	36	34	43	42	42	41	45
Edinburgh City	166	176	169	168	165	153	150	138	125	120
Eilean Siar	15	19	25	22	22	21	23	15	14	23
Falkirk	112	122	148	131	133	124	124	116	108	102
Fife	233	235	248	236	209	208	211	173	194	199
Glasgow City	235	240	214	245	236	260	245	220	194	167
Highland	225	208	216	190	171	163	150	129	161	161
Inverclyde	49	55	53	47	43	47	46	36	40	46
Midlothian	44	40	43	40	38	40	60	57	51	52
Moray	79	96	98	99	99	100	92	87	87	78
North Ayrshire	104	117	118	116	121	119	125	124	126	116
North Lanarkshire	186	200	189	185	175	162	140	147	130	163
Orkney Islands	19	22	20	22	26	27	32	29	29	28
Perth and Kinross	39	79	70	73	61	68	83	90	89	88
Renfrewshire	85	78	62	53	57	54	57	52	49	42
Scottish Borders	78	80	80	65	88	87	81	86	83	76
Shetland Islands	40	45	52	50	44	41	41	37	41	39
South Ayrshire	83	76	77	106	101	109	106	103	100	94
South Lanarkshire	119	146	151	156	158	152	150	137	130	115
Stirling	27	34	35	43	40	36	38	41	42	38
West Dunbartonshire	28	45	52	48	51	50	48	60	55	47
West Lothian	92	90	87	88	76	76	73	71	66	62
Scotland	3,062	3,301	3,402	3,363	3,258	3,249	3,157	2,963	2,936	2,896

1. This includes teachers in primary, secondary, special schools, and centrally employed teachers, with their main subject recorded as: Learning Support Secondary; Learning Support, Primary; SEN (primary) non-recorded pupils; SEN (recorded pupils); SEN (Secondary) non-recorded pupils; SEN Behavioural Support; SEN Learning Difficulties; SEN Physical Disabilities; Hearing Impairment; or Visual Impairment.

2. Data for 2007 does not include centrally employed teachers as the main subject of these teachers could not be identified. Therefore data for 2007 is not directly comparable with other years. Across all subjects, there were 964 centrally employed teachers in 2007.

3. Scotland total includes teachers at grant aided schools.

Centrally Employed Teachers with additional support needs for learning as their main subject, 2007 to 2016


	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City		4	7	9	10	6	5	5	4	4
Aberdeenshire		12	5	3	2	11	16	14	12	16
Angus		11	7	8	19	19	14	13	13	16
Argyll and Bute		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Clackmannanshire		2	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway		46	97	39	50	72	67	69	49	46
Dundee City		2	2	2	1	11	11	11	19	25
East Ayrshire		7	6	6	5	4	5	4	4	4
East Dunbartonshire		21	17	17	14	14	13	9	15	29
East Lothian		1	5	4	4	2	1	1	2	2
East Renfrewshire		4	4	3	1	1	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh City		15	17	20	19	19	18	15	17	13
Eilean Siar		2	3	4	3	3	4	5	5	6
Falkirk		0	0	1	7	10	12	11	8	8
Fife		11	14	20	13	12	12	11	29	26
Glasgow City		0	3	8	7	25	25	28	18	18
Highland		0	11	9	0	0	1	26	35	33
Inverclyde		6	2	2	5	5	5	5	3	3
Midlothian		0	2	1	1	1	16	12	14	16
Moray		18	20	20	20	21	23	24	21	17
North Ayrshire		12	16	21	26	23	31	29	35	35
North Lanarkshire		9	7	6	8	6	3	5	14	44
Orkney Islands		3	3	3	5	5	6	5	5	6
Perth and Kinross		26	5	2	2	3	9	6	7	6
Renfrewshire		4	0	0	5	5	4	6	6	6
Scottish Borders		25	1	3	71	72	66	71	69	65
Shetland Islands		5	6	7	7	7	7	7	8	8
South Ayrshire		0	4	27	22	26	24	21	20	18
South Lanarkshire		3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stirling		5	3	6	3	2	5	5	9	5
West Dunbartonshire		15	15	15	16	15	14	13	9	3
West Lothian		2	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland		272	289	269	347	401	416	431	450	480

Teachers with additional support needs for learning as their main subject in primary schools, 2007 to 2016


	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City	81	71	58	60	49	42	34	27	27	26
Aberdeenshire	80	88	92	92	97	94	92	81	97	91
Angus	39	41	35	32	27	25	23	22	24	21
Argyll and Bute	2	4	11	12	13	13	13	10	13	10
Clackmannanshire	4	5	3	3	3	2	1	6	7	7
Dumfries and Galloway	24	20	7	23	18	1	2	2	14	15
Dundee City	89	78	77	71	61	59	52	46	35	29
East Ayrshire	0	0	31	30	30	29	27	24	22	25
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
East Lothian	27	25	25	21	24	24	23	21	14	11
East Renfrewshire	10	9	9	6	6	9	6	5	6	7
Edinburgh City	63	58	55	53	48	45	40	38	31	27
Eilean Siar	10	10	11	8	8	6	6	6	6	7
Falkirk	36	40	44	39	33	26	25	20	19	20
Fife	88	88	78	75	66	69	68	60	49	52
Glasgow City	10	11	6	12	6	7	15	16	14	16
Highland	69	65	57	53	48	44	40	33	35	33
Inverclyde	6	6	7	9	4	8	6	5	7	9
Midlothian	19	17	16	15	15	15	12	12	10	10
Moray	43	40	38	35	34	33	32	29	31	30
North Ayrshire	31	31	32	28	33	29	27	27	24	20
North Lanarkshire	38	37	40	40	40	27	25	22	9	10
Orkney Islands	10	8	7	6	9	10	12	9	9	7
Perth and Kinross	4	3	20	21	16	21	19	33	30	30
Renfrewshire	6	6	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	30	6	29	2	2	0	0	0	1	1
Shetland Islands	22	19	24	21	18	14	15	12	14	12
South Ayrshire	21	16	17	18	19	19	19	18	16	15
South Lanarkshire	20	24	24	31	34	35	29	22	19	15
Stirling	9	6	4	7	9	8	8	7	8	7
West Dunbartonshire	1	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	0
West Lothian	30	26	25	24	19	21	24	22	23	22
Scotland	923	858	884	847	791	735	695	637	615	588

Teachers with additional support needs for learning as their main subject, in secondary schools 2007 to 2016


	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City	59	55	70	67	64	65	57	37	42	43
Aberdeenshire	92	92	150	164	157	136	120	116	121	119
Angus	54	53	55	57	55	49	46	44	45	44
Argyll and Bute	21	23	26	26	27	27	25	26	28	27
Clackmannanshire	8	8	10	11	12	12	14	15	16	15
Dumfries and Galloway	58	56	16	64	53	55	50	47	39	38
Dundee City	93	90	80	79	75	68	64	64	60	53
East Ayrshire	30	34	47	45	43	44	45	46	46	47
East Dunbartonshire	18	19	15	14	17	19	21	21	16	17
East Lothian	14	19	30	31	29	29	25	28	29	29
East Renfrewshire	31	31	28	25	25	25	28	29	26	30
Edinburgh City	70	67	64	64	60	52	52	47	42	44
Eilean Siar	5	7	11	10	11	12	12	4	4	10
Falkirk	42	44	73	65	64	61	60	58	56	52
Fife	99	97	118	115	105	105	108	82	88	94
Glasgow City	84	80	67	64	66	66	66	67	62	49
Highland	127	118	121	105	103	101	94	59	74	71
Inverclyde	26	26	25	21	21	21	19	18	20	21
Midlothian	19	17	19	19	19	20	22	22	15	15
Moray	36	39	41	44	45	46	37	35	35	32
North Ayrshire	46	50	46	43	38	39	38	39	38	35
North Lanarkshire	69	76	72	68	64	56	53	55	44	50
Orkney Islands	9	11	10	12	12	12	15	16	15	15
Perth and Kinross	24	38	31	38	29	32	44	40	41	40
Renfrewshire	54	42	36	27	28	28	29	26	22	23
Scottish Borders	41	41	43	52	16	14	15	15	14	10
Shetland Islands	18	20	21	22	19	19	19	17	18	19
South Ayrshire	42	39	39	43	43	44	44	40	41	39
South Lanarkshire	69	78	90	88	86	79	80	72	72	68
Stirling	14	17	19	21	20	20	21	22	19	21
West Dunbartonshire	21	21	23	24	23	21	20	22	20	19
West Lothian	38	37	36	35	32	35	32	25	24	24
Scotland	1432	1443	1534	1566	1459	1412	1375	1252	1231	1211

Teachers with additional support needs for learning as their main subject in special schools, 2007 to 2016


	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City	50	54	57	38	39	55	51	48	42	54
Aberdeenshire	37	35	33	32	31	37	37	32	35	37
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	6	8	4	4	2	3	3	4	4	7
Clackmannanshire	17	19	16	15	13	12	9	8	7	8
Dumfries and Galloway	1	2	1	3	3	4	5	2	2	2
Dundee City	0	0	1	7	12	10	10	17	18	15
East Ayrshire	24	24	32	29	31	33	33	32	34	36
East Dunbartonshire	29	26	24	22	20	26	26	23	23	20
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	2	2	2	2	2	8	8	8	9	8
Edinburgh City	33	36	33	31	38	37	39	38	34	38
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	34	38	31	26	29	27	28	27	25	22
Fife	46	40	38	26	25	23	23	20	29	28
Glasgow City	140	148	138	161	157	161	138	109	101	84
Highland	29	26	27	23	20	19	15	12	16	24
Inverclyde	17	17	19	16	13	13	16	8	10	13
Midlothian	6	6	6	5	4	5	10	10	12	11
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
North Ayrshire	27	23	23	24	24	27	29	28	29	26
North Lanarkshire	79	78	70	70	63	72	59	65	63	59
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	11	12	14	13	15	12	12	11	11	11
Renfrewshire	25	26	23	24	23	20	23	20	20	13
Scottish Borders	7	7	7	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	20	21	18	19	17	19	20	24	24	23
South Lanarkshire	31	41	37	37	38	38	41	42	39	32
Stirling	5	7	8	9	8	6	5	7	7	6
West Dunbartonshire	6	8	12	8	11	14	14	25	26	25
West Lothian	25	24	23	27	23	20	17	23	19	16
Scotland	707	728	695	681	660	701	671	644	639	617

Question reference: S5W-05794

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many children in Edinburgh (a) are eligible for and (b) receive free school meals.

The eligibility criteria to qualify for free school meals is provided for in section 53 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. A summary of the criteria can be accessed from the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/HLivi/schoolmeals/FreeSchoolMeals. In addition, on 5 January 2015, free school meals were extended to all primary 1 to 3 children in local authority schools across Scotland to help ensure every child has the best possible start in life and gets every chance to succeed at school. The policy has had a huge uptake with latest figures showing that over 134,500 primary 1 to 3 children (81.7%) across Scotland now taking a nutritious free school lunch, saving families around £380 a year for each eligible child.

Local authorities must promote the uptake of free school meals amongst those currently eligible. Data on the numbers of children eligible for free school meals (outwith P1-3) is not held centrally.

The latest statistics on free school meals were published on 22 June 2016 in the Scottish Government Statistics Publication - Summary statistics for attainment, leaver destinations and healthy living, No. 6: 2016 Edition. Tables 7, 13 and 19 in the supplementary tables outline the number of children and young people in primary, secondary and special schools, respectively, registered and taking free school meals on census day by local authority level. The supplementary data tables can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/MealsSD/mealspesd/mealspesd2016.

Question reference: S5W-05018

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on child and adolescent mental health in 2015-16, also broken down by NHS board, and what percentage of (a) the overall (i) NHS and (ii) mental health budget and (b) each NHS board's budget this represents.

Scottish Health Service Costs is published annually by ISD Scotland with the support of the Scottish Government. Published costs information for NHSScotland, including for child and adolescent mental health expenditure (Report R04LSX and SFR 8.3); mental health expenditure (Report R340) and total NHS expenditure (Report R300) can be found at: https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Finance/Costs/.

Question reference: S5W-05448

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that continuous glucose monitoring is provided to all people with diabetes who need it.

Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Diabetes Group, our national advisory group, to oversee and drive implementation of our Diabetes Improvement Plan (2014) to improve care and treatment for people living with diabetes in Scotland. The Plan includes a range of actions that aim to support improvements in glycaemic control, including the development of a national approach to the provision of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM).

Our national approach has been developed taking account of the clinical evidence which recommends the use of CGM devices for a small number of people with diabetes as an aid to improve glycaemic control, but does not recommend CGM for routine use. Clinicians are best placed to provide specific advice and support to individuals, based on their circumstances, which can include the provision of CGM where a clinical need for one is identified. The national approach will support clinicians in the provision of this technology and ensure that those who would clinically benefit from it can receive it.

To support this, we are investing over £10m over the term of the Parliament, to increase the provision of insulin pump therapy and CGM.

Question reference: S5W-05449

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost benefits of using continuous glucose monitoring, and how much it estimates this technology saves the NHS by preventing, for example, eye disease, amputations and other health problems that can result from diabetes.

Diabetes accounts for around 10% of the health budget and it is estimated that 80% of these costs are for treating complications associated with diabetes, such as diabetic retinopathy, foot ulcers (which can lead to amputation) and renal failure. Attaining good glycaemic control significantly reduces the risk of developing complications.

The Scottish Diabetes Group’s national approach to CGM has been developed taking account of clinical evidence and all the costs associated with the treatment and management of diabetes. It is estimated that for those who would clinically benefit from CGM, the technology can support a reduction in cost to NHS Scotland of around £3,000 per person in relation to short term complications and will contribute towards reducing the costs in relation to longer term complications.

Question reference: S5W-05450

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that some people with diabetes are unable to access continuous glucose monitoring through the NHS.

Scottish Government works closely with the Scottish Diabetes Group, our national advisory group, to oversee and drive implementation of our Diabetes Improvement Plan (2014) to improve care and treatment for people living with diabetes in Scotland. The Plan includes a range of actions that aim to support improvements in glycaemic control, including the development of a national approach to the provision of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM).

Our national approach has been developed taking account of the clinical evidence which recommends the use of CGM devices for a small number of people with diabetes as an aid to improve glycaemic control, but does not recommend CGM for routine use. Clinicians are best placed to provide specific advice and support to individuals, based on their circumstances, which can include the provision of CGM where a clinical need for one is identified. The national approach will support clinicians in the provision of this technology and ensure that those who would clinically benefit from it can receive it.

To support this, we are investing over £10m over the term of the Parliament, to increase the provision of insulin pump therapy and CGM.

Question reference: S5W-05355

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of (a) dangerous and (b) careless driving in each year since 1999, broken down by area.

Question reference: S5W-05563

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-05158

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that insulin pumps are available for people in all age groups with Type 1 diabetes.

In February 2012, the Chief Executive Letter (CEL 04 (2012)) required Health boards to increase insulin pump therapy in line with national clinical guidance.

The commitment to provide insulin pump therapy to 25% of under 18s and for people of all ages with type one diabetes to more than 2,000 was met by 1 April 2015 supported by £7.5 million of Scottish Government funding.

Since the CEL, the number of people with insulin pumps has increased to over 3,200.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Scottish Government will invest almost £10 million to further increase the provision of life changing technology including insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors to all those who would clinically benefit from them.

Question reference: S5W-05159

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much each NHS board has spent on insulin pumps in each year since 2007, also broken down by the age groups of the recipients.

Chamber and committees