Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-21805

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18146 by Graeme Dey on 6 June 2023, when it expects to receive formal responses from all partners in the collective bargaining progress in relation to the recommendations of the lessons learned report.

Question reference: S6W-21772

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided in grant funding to the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £4,367,590.00 of grant funding to the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland between 1 April 2013-30 September 2023 to support a number of areas of their work. This is broken down per financial year as follows:

Year	Total Funding
2013-14	£263,257.00
2014-15	£421,746.00
2015-16	£460,127.00
2016-17	£464,389.00
2017-18	£408,079.50
2018-19	£345,842.50
2019-20	£361,191.00
2020-21	£429,351.00
2021-22	£456,045.00
2022-23	£507,671.00
2023-24	£249,891.00
TOTAL	£4,367,590.00

Question reference: S6W-21806

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have met the expected level of (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in each of the past 10 years at each stage of assessment.

Information on the proportion of P1, P4, P7 and S3 children achieving the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels in literacy and numeracy is available from 2016-17 from Table 1 of the Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) publication which can be found on the Scottish Government website: www.gov.scot/publications/achievement-curriculum-excellence-cfe-levels-2021-22/

Between 2011 and 2016 the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) was used to monitor national performance of school children at P4, P7 and S2 in literacy and numeracy in alternate years. The SSLN provided information on reading, writing and listening & talking individually but not for literacy as a whole. Reading, Writing and Listening & Talking data for 2014 and 2016 can be found in table 1 and Numeracy data for 2013 and 2015 is in table 2.

The data collected via the SSLN differed from that collected via ACEL. The SSLN reported on the proportion of pupils "performing well or very well" at the relevant CfE level. Data was collected through a sample survey rather than for all pupils and was based on the results of assessments completed by participating students as opposed to being based on teacher professional judgements, as is the case for ACEL. As a result SSLN results are not directly comparable with ACEL results.

Table 1: Proportion of pupils performing well or very well in Reading, Writing and Listening & Talking, 2014 and 2016

Stage	Organiser	2014		2016
Stage	Organiser	Percentage of pupils	Confidence interval 95%	Percentage of pupils	Confidence interval 95%
P4	Reading	78	(76 , 80)	77	(75 , 79)
P7	Reading	88	(87 , 90)	88	(86 , 89)
S2	Reading	80	(78 , 82)	82	(81 , 84)
P4	Writing	64	(62 , 66)	62	(60 , 64)
P7	Writing	68	(66 , 69)	65	(62 , 67)
S2	Writing	55	(53 , 57)	49	(47 , 51)
P4	Listening & Talking	59	(56 , 62)	60	(57 , 64)
P7	Listening & Talking	66	(63 , 69)	67	(64 , 70)
S2	Listening & Talking	52	(49 , 55)	49	(47 , 52)

Table 2: Proportion of pupils performing well or very well in Numeracy, 2013 and 2015

Stage	2013		2015
Stage	Percentage of pupils	Confidence interval 95%	Percentage of pupils	Confidence interval 95%
P4	69	(67 , 71)	66	(64 , 68)
P7	66	(64 , 68)	66	(64 , 68)
S2	42	(40 , 44)	40	(38 , 42)

Note: As the SSLN was based on a sample of pupils rather than on the whole population, the results shown are estimates. That is to say there is an element of uncertainty within the results because the pupils sampled may not reflect the population exactly. Associated confidence intervals are shown in the table.

Question reference: S6W-21781

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it gathers data on the number of students accessing mental health services at colleges and universities.

Question reference: S6W-21800

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to offering further support to local authorities for (a) data collection and (b) reporting on the (i) No One Left Behind and (ii) Young Person's Guarantee programme.

Data collection and reporting for devolved employability services delivered under the No One Left Behind approach occurs quarterly, with provision in all 32 Local Authority areas aligning with the Employability Shared Measurement Framework. To support this, we have worked with Local Authorities in their Lead Accountable Body role to develop a single reporting template, and accompanying guidance, which has been made publicly available. This reporting contributes to our quarterly statistical publication.

Data collection and reporting has been a key theme identified in our recent national stakeholder discussion events and the actions will be reviewed to identify how we can improve. This will be outlined in the Strategic Plan and National Improvement Plan which will be published later this financial year.

We will continue to work with partners to refine data collection and reporting practices, including identifying where additional support would be beneficial.

Question reference: S6W-21801

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is undertaking any work to address mental health and wellbeing issues in the context of employment support.

The Scottish Government works in partnership with Local Government and Local Employability Partners to offer key worker led, person-centred holistic support. At a local level they work in communities and with partners to deliver employability services to those who are experiencing or are at risk of becoming long term unemployed and this includes people with disabilities or long-term health conditions.

Supported employment including Individual Placement and Support can offer assistance to those requiring intensive and specific help especially those with severe and enduring mental ill health.

These evidence-based models of delivery help people find or re-enter sustainable employment that fits their needs and interests. It offers intensive, individual support, rapid job search followed by placement in paid employment in the open labour market, and time-unlimited in-work support for both the employee and the employer.

We are working with a range of partners, to inform options on development of the Supported Employment offer which is currently delivered through Fair Start Scotland. From 2024 this type of support will be made available through our No One Left Behind approach with the Local Employability Partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-21799

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee.

Learning and evaluation continue to be a key aspect of our approach to employability services in Scotland.

The Implementation evaluation of the development and early delivery of No One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee was commissioned by the Scottish Government and published on 10 August 2023.

We will consider the recommendations from the evaluation alongside the outputs from our recent national stakeholder discussion events and actions will be reviewed to identify how we can improve.

Question reference: S6W-21777

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20608 by Christina McKelvie on 30 August 2023, what percentage of children aged between 11 and 15 have taken part in a sport activity in each of the last five years.

The most recent data from the Scottish Health Survey on sports participation by children aged between 11 and 15 in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.

Percentage of children (aged 11-15) participating in any sport in the last week, SHeS 2016-2021*
					%
Any Sport?	2016	2017	2018	2019	2021
Yes	70	67	60	65	65
No	30	36	40	35	35
* Data for 2020 was not comparable due to the impact of the pandemic on data collection.

The 2022 SHeS report is due to be published at the end of this year.

Question reference: S6W-21802

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to offering funding for employability services on a multi-year basis.

Question reference: S6T-01590

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recently announced Centre of Teaching Excellence.

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