Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-20424

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is in place to support social prescribing in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has invested significantly in social prescribing through Community Link Workers within general practice. Funding for Community Link Workers in general practice is included within the Primary Care Improvement Fund. Health and Social Care Partnerships decide how to use their Primary Care Improvement Fund allocation to develop local Multi-Disciplinary Teams which incorporate link worker roles.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to Voluntary Health Scotland to manage the Scottish Community Link Worker Network. The aim of the network is to create a space for community link workers in primary care settings in Scotland to come together to share learning and to develop, network and support each other in order to improve outcomes for their patients and communities. Funding is also provided to the Scottish Social Prescribing Network to support those who are undertaking link worker/social prescribing roles in other local schemes.

Question reference: S6W-18085

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 11 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on ministerial mobile phones in each of the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-19121

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much money from the capital budget is being used for current spending in the 2023-24 financial year.

Question reference: S6W-19132

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18198 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 June 2023, which states that it will provide a total of £205 million in 2023-24 to help meet the costs of the final March 2023 pay deal, in light of its officials stating in the Education, Children and Young People Committee meeting on 17 May 2023 that the total cost for the 2023-24 financial year was £188 million, whether it will confirm what the total cost of the teachers' pay settlement is in the 2023-24 financial year.

The total cost to the Scottish Government, in the 2023-24 financial year of the teachers’ pay deal agreed in March 2023 is £205 million.

The figure of £188 million quoted by officials at the Education, Children and Young People Committee meeting on 17 May 2023 represents the cost to the Education and Skills Portfolio of funding overall teachers’ pay costs in 2023-24. This figure also includes recurring costs relating to the 2021-22 teachers’ pay deal but does not include the proportion of costs relating to the teachers’ pay deal agreed in March 2023 that are being met directly through the local government finance settlement, as these costs do not sit within the Education and Skills Portfolio budget.

Question reference: S6W-19133

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18198 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 June 2023, whether it can confirm that only £50 million has been allocated to fund the teachers' pay settlement and that the remaining £155 million is still to be found within the education and skills budget for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-18875

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering the banning of homework in schools.

The Scottish Government does not prescribe approaches to items of practice on matters such as providing homework to children and young people.

In April 2023, Education Scotland published an update on ‘Engaging Parents and Families: A toolkit for practitioners’, which is available on the National Improvement Hub along with case study examples of learning at home. This resource, which includes a short review of the evidence surrounding homework, also provides schools and practitioners with good practice examples of effective approaches to learning at home.

Accordingly, decisions on providing homework are a matter of broader policy and approach that schools and headteachers are empowered to make decisions on. This is in line with other such decisions that headteachers make at a local level on learning and teaching practice, including the curriculum design, the vision, aims and rationale of the school or setting.

Question reference: S6W-18672

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has received the final report of the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment.

Question reference: S6W-18857

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the employability and individual training account budgets will be confirmed and announced.

The 2023-24 budgets for employability programmes, including No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland were confirmed by the Deputy First Minister on 25 May, with Grant Offer Letters issued to local authorities on 30 May for No One Left Behind. The budget for Individual Training Accounts has now been confirmed and the scheme will re-open during the week commencing 19 June 2023.

We are currently considering the budget for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24 through colleges and the Open University in Scotland and will provide a further update once budget discussions have concluded.

Question reference: S6F-02250

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the future and viability of rural schools.

Question reference: S6O-02389

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the newest developments are in the creation of Scottish Parliament apps to allow the public easier access to parliamentary business papers and other resources.

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