Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-27968

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to do so in April 2023, whether it still plans to carry out and publish an audit of fracture liaison services, and, if so, when it will commence such an audit.

In 2023 Scottish Government committed to carrying out a scoping exercise across Health Boards to consider the FLS audit through Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) with Public Health Scotland (PHS).

Scottish Government committed to funding up to £150,000 for this scoping exercise and a potential audit in year 1. This has now been completed and PHS have put forwards a Business Case to Scottish Government which is currently being considered.

Question reference: S6W-27967

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it does not publish data on the coverage of fracture liaison services in each NHS board, including information on how they are performing.

Question reference: S6W-27955

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been paid out from the Digital Start Fund to date.

Question reference: S6W-27957

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) in receipt of welfare benefits and (b) on low incomes have accessed the Digital Start Fund to date.

(a) The eligibility criteria for the Digital start fund required applicants to meet at least one of the following conditions:

? Unemployed

? In receipt of a low income benefit such as Universal Credit

? Employed on an income of £16,000 or less

? Experience two or more barriers or disadvantages as defined by Scottish Government’s European Structural and Investment Funds Participant Guidance .

SDS, who administered the fund, do not hold the data necessary to determine how many participants met each of these specific criteria.

(b) Over three years, the Digital Start Fund supported 468 individuals with 380 candidates completing training. Their employment status when starting the training is broken down as follows:

? Year One: unemployed individuals 55.7%; employed 28.7%

? Year Two:unemployed individuals 71.3%; employed 18.3%

? Year Three: unemployed individuals 50.9%, employed 35.3%

Question reference: S6W-27956

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of students studying computing science at Higher level in each of the last three years were female.

The SQA publish information on the number of entries to Higher subjects by male and female candidates on the attainment statistics pages of their website: Attainment Statistics - SQA

Based on this the percentage of entries to Higher computing science by female candidates in each year between 2021 and 2023 can be found in the following table.

Table: Percentage of entries to Higher computing science from female candidates, 2021 - 2023

	2021	2022	2023
Higher Computing Studies	17%	19%	19%

Question reference: S6W-27982

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test test test TEST and testing (a) TEST and (b) Test for (i) test and (ii) TEST.

Question reference: S6W-27981

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government test TEST test test test.

Question reference: S6W-27963

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its response to the report of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape, what steps it has taken to ensure that any barriers that women and girls face in accessing the skills system, such as gender segregation in subject choice, gender stereotypes around work, occupational segregation, caring responsibilities, sexism and sexual harassment, are fully considered in the skills review.

An initial Equalities Impact Assessment , Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA): Purpose and Principles (www.gov.scot) for the Purpose and Principles for Post-School education, research and skills Post-school education, research and skills - purpose and principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was published on 4 July 2023. Consideration of all protected characteristics, including gender, will continue to inform the design and delivery of post school education and skills reform.

This will build on our existing work to address barriers for women and girls, including:

•A range of resources developed by Education Scotland to address gender segregation in subject choices in schools

•Duties on colleges and universities to tackle inequality, including gender disparities within STEM subject areas

•Working with the Equally Safe in Colleges and Universities Core Leadership Group to address gender-based violence.

•The refreshed Fair Work Action Plan which was published in December 2022 and aims to take an intersectional approach, where possible, to tackling the structural labour market barriers faced by disadvantaged groups in Scotland’s labour market including women.

On the specifics of skills planning, consideration of all protected characteristics, including gender and socio-economically disadvantaged groups, will be embedded throughout the process.

Question reference: S6W-27848

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what research it is undertaking to establish the reasons for the reported increase in recent years of pupils being absent from (a) primary and (b) secondary school.

Education Scotland published the results of a deep dive on attendance in November 2023, which sought to understand the current barriers and challenges which influence school attendance and make recommendations on how local authorities can support increased attendance. All 32 local authorities were consulted as part of the work, with 14 local authorities and 18 schools taking part in case studies. The case studies indicated that pupil mental health is a key concern and is believed to be a significant driver behind absence.

Im proving attendance: Understanding the issues (education.gov.scot)

The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR), published in November 2023, included insights into behaviours that were related to attendance and engagement in school. Attendance and school avoidance was identified as a significant issue post-COVID 19 by school staff and local authority representatives. Across local authority areas, representatives spoke about a small but persistent cohort of students who had experienced difficulties in returning to school post-COVID-19 and were continuing to learn online and in the community. The research found that some school staff felt that the disruption had made pupils feel that in-school attendance wasn’t important, while others felt that low attendance was related to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.

Behaviour in Scottish Schools 2023 (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-27881

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what direction it provides to Glasgow City Council to make new housing developments accessible for wheelchair users and for disabled people.

The Scottish Government provides guidance for local authorities to support the preparation of Local Housing Strategies including the provision of accessible and specialist housing. Separate guidance requiring local authorities to set all-tenure wheelchair accessible housing targets as part of their Local Housing Strategy has also been provided.

Where local authorities identify a strategic requirement for a particular type of home, including wheelchair accessible housing, projects to support delivery of these homes are expected to be included in Local Authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans for delivery through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

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