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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 31879 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-03881

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to applications to study nursing, how many (a) were received and (b) were successful, broken down by each year since 2007.

Table 1 highlights data from UCAS showing both the number of applications and number of accepted applicants to pre-registration nursing programmes from 2007 to 2020. Figures for 2021 have not yet been published yet.

Table 1

Applications and acceptances to nursing at Scottish providers by year

Source: UCAS

Year	Applications	Acceptances
2007*	2,715	285
2008*	2,540	330
2009*	2,515	325
2010	17,125	3,530
2011	19,230	3,265
2012	18,440	2,940
2013	18,800	3,040
2014	21,260	3,370
2015	21,105	3,355
2016	20,725	3,350
2017	20,900	3,615
2018	20,435	3,725
2019	21,710	4,040
2020	23,640	4,785

*Prior to 2010, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was not incorporated into the UCAS undergraduate admissions scheme. This means that UCAS data is not comparable over the longer term due to changes in the courses included within the UCAS application process. For time comparisons, therefore, data prior to 2015 is used not included.

In 2015, around 120 courses at providers in Scotland that were previously part of the UCAS Teacher Training scheme moved into the UCAS undergraduate scheme. The numbers for providers in Scotland in 2015 and later recorded through the UCAS Undergraduate scheme will include those which were previously part of UCAS Teacher Training – estimated to be around 2,000 acceptances per year, mostly aged 21 or over.

For the 2010 cycle, the Centralised Applications to Nursing and Midwifery Training Clearing House (CATCH) was incorporated into the UCAS Undergraduate admissions scheme. Data from 2010 onwards includes nursing and midwifery diploma courses in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-03789

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress the National Childhood Bereavement Coordinator has made on developing a curriculum on bereavement.

Includem, the charitable organisation who were awarded the contract for the National Childhood Bereavement Coordinator, facilitated roundtable discussions earlier this summer exploring the theme of ‘Training & Education’. These roundtable discussions were open for attendance to any individuals with experience of working with bereaved children and young people under the age of 25 in Scotland and attendees came from a wide range of backgrounds.

The Project will continue to work with those with lived experience of childhood bereavement, practitioners working to support them, and with schools, to make progress in this area and to work with schools on improving how they support bereaved children and young people. A full report, including final recommendations, will be delivered to the Scottish Government later in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-03778

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will update the guidance for international school and educational visits, which was due to be reviewed at the end of August 2021, in order to bring it in line with the current framework for international travel.

Question reference: S6W-03847

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what programmes it has in place to support the retraining of workers so that they can access new sectors.

There are a number of Scottish Government programmes that offer a diverse range of training opportunities for people to train, reskill or upskill and access new sectors:

Employability Fund - offers employability and skills training for unemployed individuals across Scotland. The Employability Fund cease in March 2022 with future associated funding transferring to No One Left Behind.
Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships – learn on the job to gain the experience people need and work towards a recognised qualification.
Individual Training Accounts – to help unemployed people or those on low income to develop the skills they need for work or to progress their career. Individual Training Accounts provide learners with a contribution of up to £200 towards a training course.
National Transition Training Fund - supports people aged 25 and over, who have been made redundant, who are in at risk jobs/or sectors or whose sectors have been most impacted by Covid 19 or EU Exit, to access funded training to help them transition into new employment in growth sectors or where there are regional job opportunities.
A wide range of short courses at Further and Higher Education level, including online provision, are available through colleges and universities across Scotland. Fully funded courses can be sourced using the Skills Development Scotland’s My World of Work Website course search here: https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/learn-and-train

Question reference: S6W-03896

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of training a nursing student.

The Scottish Government package of support for Scottish student nurses and midwives is currently at its highest level. The average cost of training a nursing student, over three years of full-time university education, is £55,000. This comprises:

Teaching grant and tuition fee payments to the university;
£10,000 non-means tested, non-repayable annual bursary payments to the student;
travel costs;
uniform costs;
health checks;
disclosure checks;
and a range of additional funding students can also apply for, such as Dependant’s Allowance, Single Parent’s Allowance, Childcare Allowance for Parents and Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Question reference: S6W-03880

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether district nurses are being used to administer COVID-19 booster vaccines and winter flu vaccines to individuals at home, and, if so, under what circumstances.

Due to the importance of the autumn/winter vaccines, some health boards are utilising Community Nursing Teams.

This will particularly be for those patients who are on their current caseloads and are housebound. Community Nurses are also supporting vaccinations in care homes, not only to those on caseload but to help support delivery to this priority group. Community Nurses are also undertaking additional shifts in vaccination clinic settings.

Question reference: S6W-03898

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional nursing students it believes will be needed to resolve the reported staffing issues, and how much it believes it will cost to fill these places.

Growing our nursing workforce is crucial and we have steadily increased places on undergraduate nursing courses over 9 consecutive years. Each year we undertake a robust nursing student intakes planning process to determine the target number of nursing students to which Scottish universities should recruit to meet future nursing workforce demands. The process involves significant input from key stakeholders from across the health and education sectors, and uses detailed modelling of current and projected staff and student numbers, including workforce supply and demand for 3-5 years hence, as well as anticipated key service drivers, in coming to a decision.

To address more immediate staffing pressures, the NHS Recovery Plan, which was published on 25 August 2021, commits more than £1 billion of targeted investment for the recovery and renewal of our health service. A key requirement to delivering the Recovery Plan is having the right workforce in place at the right time and it is therefore key that we now develop a new supporting workforce strategy to enable us to do this. We will therefore publish a National Workforce Strategy by the end of this year, which supports remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services.

Question reference: S6O-00370

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that those who are entitled to and require a COVID-19 vaccine passport exemption letter can receive one.

Evidence shows that vaccination is the most effective way to keep you, your friends, family, and community safe and we encourage everyone to consider getting the vaccine. Billions of vaccinations have now been administered globally and we are confident about the safety of these vaccines and that in the vast majority of cases a successful route to safe vaccination is found.

If vaccination is not straightforward for some individuals, support is available to help them achieve the benefits of protection from the Covid-19 vaccines. Local vaccination centres can help answer questions about the vaccine and can advise what arrangements may be put in place to enable safe vaccination.

In the rare cases where that support is provided and does not lead to vaccination then this will result in the person being identified as either able to safely receive the vaccine but decides not to do so and in this circumstance they will not be eligible for a medical exemption certificate; or they will be identified as clinically unable to safely receive the vaccine and in which case they will receive a secure paper exemption certificate in the post. All vaccine status certificates, including medical exemptions certificates, are time limited.

I am sorry that this has process has not operated as it should have in your constituent’s case and I have written to you separately on that matter.

Further information on COVID-19 Status Certificates and about medical exemptions from them is available on NHS Inform .

Question reference: S6O-00369

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 11 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a full assessment of the outcomes of the COP26 discussions and the implications for Scotland’s energy strategy.

The Scottish Government will consider in detail the decisions and outcomes from the COP26 Summit, as well as the comprehensive Scottish Government programme that is running alongside. Our forthcoming draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will take a whole-system view of the energy sector and highlight our commitment to ensuring that the transition to net zero is inclusive, creates good green jobs, is fair for all, and that no one is left behind. It will provide an early opportunity for Scotland to build on the agreements and priorities that emerge from COP.

Question reference: S6W-04333

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it last met with trade unions representing Scottish Parliamentary Service and MSP staff.