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: S6W-04206

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement in its Programme for Government of increased funding for the Young Person's Guarantee, what additional support it will provide to people with complex additional support needs to enable them to access training, education or employment.

Question reference: S6W-04204

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure there are opportunities for all young people to access positive post-school destinations, in light of reported concerns by teachers and social workers that such opportunities do not exist for young people with the most difficult and complex needs.

The Scottish Government are undertaking a range of measures to support disabled young people to access positive post-school destinations, including introducing Scotland’s first National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy in this Parliamentary Term. The Strategy is jointly led by the Minister for Equalities & Older People and the Minister for Children and Young People, to focus on supporting our disabled young people. As part of our commitment to improving transitions for young people, the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with ARC (Association for Real Change) Scotland to develop and deliver the Principles into Practice trial programme, a trial of ARC’s transitions framework.

In addition, we are implementing the independent Morgan Review recommendations for Additional Support for Learning, to ensure improvements are being made to effectively implement legislation and policy across Scotland. On 1 November we launched the Getting It Right For Every Child guidance refresh consultation, which includes the role of the Lead Professional. This refresh will include developing practice guidance on planning for children.

The Young Person’s Guarantee also has an important role in supporting young disabled people into education, training and employment, including supported employment. Since the Guarantee’s launch in November 2020 we have provided additional funding of up to £130 million, with the aim of supporting at least 24,000 new and enhanced opportunities. This includes over 11,000 employability and training opportunities for young people through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs).

LEPs are prioritising support for disabled young people through employer recruitment incentives and specialist programmes, with some offering targeted support for those with complex additional support needs. Many partnerships are working with specialist organisations such as Project Search and Penumbra.

Through Developing the Young Workforce and Enable Works, Young Person’s Guarantee funding is also connecting over 1,000 disabled young people to fair work, education and opportunities designed to ensure a successful transition into adult life and work.

The Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland recognise that disabled people can face additional challenges in their career journeys, therefore enhanced contribution rates are available for Modern Apprentices up to the age of 29 who self-identify as disabled. SAAS administer the Disabled Students’ Allowance to support disabled students and those with additional learning needs and may have extra costs because of their impairment. Furthermore, many colleges and universities provide support to disabled young people while they are studying.

The Young Person’s Guarantee is part of a basket of interventions designed to support disabled young people that will contribute to the refresh of A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People – Employment Action Plan , due for publication next Spring.

Question reference: S6W-04205

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported figures stating that just 15% of school leavers who have a condition under the category of Complex Additional Support Needs go onto further or higher education, what further steps it will take to ensure that this cohort of school leavers has accessible further education provision.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the educational experiences of young people with complex additional support needs.

Students with disabilities or additional support needs can access a variety of support to assist their access to Further Education and Higher Education. The Additional Support Needs for Learners Allowance in Further Education and the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) in Higher Education, provide financial assistance which can be used to facilitate support which is individual to the student’s needs.

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) are currently leading a project on behalf of the Scottish Government, reviewing the disability related student support element, encompassing both Further Education and Higher Education.

The project aims to deliver a suite of recommendations which will seek to improve the provision of support and increase parity across the sector. This will include improvements to the Higher Education Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) administered by SAAS and the Additional Support Needs for Learners Allowance which is available to students in Further Education.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Outcome Agreement Guidance for 2021-22 sets out that SFC expect institutions to comply with their legal duties including setting and delivering equality outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-04078

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether COVID-19 vaccine booster appointments are being offered to all members of a household on the same day and at the same time, where they are close in age and required to travel a considerable distance to a vaccination clinic, and, if not, what the reasons are for these considerations not being taken into account when appointments are being offered.

Vaccination appointments including boosters, are scheduled based on the cohorts defined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and from the files submitted by Health Boards. These are in priority order based on risk to the individual, rather than postcode alignment. For example, a married couple in the same house, one 68 years old and one 71 years old, would see them placed in different JCVI risk cohorts, therefore the 71 year old would be scheduled before the 68 year old, and their appointments may be days or weeks apart.

Individual cases can be considered by the Health Board if a priority, and support arranged.

Question reference: S6W-03083

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether people living in Scotland and travelling abroad are experiencing difficulty accessing French QR codes to prove COVID-19 vaccination status and, if so, what action it is taking to resolve any reported issues.

The Scottish Government have been working with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the Border Force to ensure countries that require QR codes would accept ours. Scottish Government officials became aware on 8 September 2021 that French authorities were seeking additional verification to our QR codes only for their domestic certification purposes, and that information was issued the same day. The issue was therefore resolved on 9 September 2021.

French authorities have not experienced any further issues in accessing the QR codes of people living in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00399

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-03461

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what process is in place to allow firms to advertise their products and services as being Scottish Government-approved in (a) general and (b) relation to interlinked fire alarms.

Question reference: S6W-03460

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any agreements in place with any preferred installers or providers of interlinked fire alarms.

Question reference: S6O-00283

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding reports that wind farm developers are offering payments to local residents in return for signing non-disclosure agreements and not objecting to planning applications.

Question reference: S6W-03014

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to setting a target to increase Scotland’s hedgerow network as part of its Forestry Grant Scheme.

Hedgerows can support ecological connectivity by joining up nature rich areas across Scotland, contributing to wider nature networks and helping to address habitat fragmentation, which is one of the most significant drivers of biodiversity loss.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of hedges and their creation and supports the this through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme which has committed £11.6 million since 2015.