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: S5O-04166

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all school staff have access to mental health first aid training.

Question reference: S5W-27142

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19849 by John Swinney on 20 November 2018, how many local authority staff have been trained under the funding it provides for mental health first aid training, broken down by local authority.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Education Scotland produce annual reports on the funding we provide. As part of this, local authorities are asked to provide a summary of the implementation and a brief evaluation of the initial impact of the project, but the reports do not ask for specific numbers or staff positions.

The reports will be published on the Scottish Government website by the end of March 2020.

Question reference: S5W-27141

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many counsellors are employed in schools on a (a) permanent and (b) temporary contract, also broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S5W-27196

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5F-02258 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 April 2018 (Official Report, c. 20) and S5W-26884 by Jamie Hepburn on 16 January 2020, what the nature is of the support provided by Scottish Enterprise to Leonardo regarding the development of the radar system used by the Norwegian search and rescue, including whether this has been for research and development, production or marketing purposes.

Question reference: S5W-27059

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the missile defence system referenced in the answer to question S5F-02258 by the First Minister on 26 April 2018 is the same product as the "radar system for use by the Norwegian search and rescue service", which was referred to in the answer to question S5W-26884 by the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills on 16 January 2020.

Question reference: S5W-27017

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the term "defensive technology", used in the answer to question S5W-26884 by Jamie Hepburn on 16 January 2020, to have the same definition as "non-military", the term used in the answer to question S5O-03882 by Derek Mackay on 5 December 2019, and, in light of this, whether the missile defence system referred to in the answer to question S5F-02258 by the First Minister on 26 April 2018 is "non-military" technology.

Question reference: S5W-27016

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26884 by Jamie Hepburn on 16 January 2020, what the nature of Scottish Enterprise’s support was to the company, Leonardo, regarding the missile defence system, and whether this was for research and development, production, or sales.

Question reference: S5W-26884

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03882 by Derek Mackay on 5 December 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that funding to companies involved in the arms trade is focused "toward helping [them] diversify into non-military and civilian applications", whether it considers the missile defence system for the Royal Canadian Air Force, which was referred to by the First Minister in response to question S5F-02258 on 26 April 2018 (Official Report, c. 20) and is in receipt of support through Scottish Enterprise, to be non-military.

Question reference: S5W-26878

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the consultation that it undertook to establish appropriate measures on the poverty-related attainment gap, and for what reason it has not included achievement of fourth level at S3 among the measures.

The Scottish Government consultation on measuring the attainment gap ran from 4 October 2017 until 20 November 2017. 102 responses were received from stakeholders with a range of interests, including 10 local authorities and 38 individuals. Responses to the consultation generally supported the proposed approach.

The consultation proposed a basket of eight key outcome measures on the achievement and attainment of children. These included achievement of third level at S3 on the basis that young people should definitely be achieving at least third level by then. The majority of those who responded to the specific question in the consultation paper agreed that third level was the correct measure to use.

In response to the broader views expressed as part of the consultation, an additional three measures were included to bring the basket of key measures up to eleven, these included two additional health and well-being measures, covering the social, emotional and behavioural development of children and young people, and one on the achievement of one or more SCQF level 4 qualification upon leaving school.

This is the first time we have had a consistent, national approach to measuring the attainment gap and agreed milestones towards closing it. However, the Scottish Government still continues to collect a wide range of data, including achievement of fourth level at S3, which is used to inform the improvement activities set out in the National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan.

Question reference: S5W-26885

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government who will lead the review of co-ordinated support plans for children with additional support needs.

We have committed to review the use of Co-ordinated Support Plans to ensure that children and young people with the most significant additional support needs are receiving the support that they need to reach their full learning potential. Scottish Government officials are leading on this review and are continuing to take forward work with partners to agree the scope of this work.

This work is being undertaken within the wider context of the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning which will be used to inform the review of the use of Co-ordinated Support Plans which is being chaired by Angela Morgan and is expected to report to Scottish Ministers and COSLA in early 2020.