Questions and answers

Question reference: S6T-01914

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its pledge to provide a free bike to every school-age child who cannot afford one.

Question reference: S6W-04117

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the case of McMaster & Others and MacKay & Others (Gov ref LIT/11764/AT) has been resolved and if not what the current situation regarding settlement is.

Question reference: S6W-26325

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects about care experienced young people's school (a) attendance, (b) achievement, (c) attainment and (d) positive destinations; how any such data is analysed, and when it will next be reviewed.

Data on education outcomes of care experienced young people is collected and published as part of the annual Education Outcomes of Looked After Children (EOLAC) Official Statistics publication. This covers pupils in publicly funded mainstream schools in the 32 local authorities, and one grant aided school. For the latest EOLAC 2021-22 publication, information was linked from:

Looked After Children statistics, 2008-09 - 2021/22
School Leaver Initial destination data
School Leaver Follow-up Destination data
Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels data

Information on the methodology used to match looked after children’s data is available in the background notes of the EOLAC 2021-22 publication. The latest education outcomes for looked after children statistics include analysis for:

All children looked after within the year
Children looked after for the full year
Children looked after for part of the year
Children who had been looked after at some point for any duration since age 5, and since age 12. These statistics were published for the first time in the 2021-22 publication as Experimental Statistics.

The experimental statistics will be reviewed before the next iteration of the statistics, planned for publication in August 2024.

Data on (b) achievement , (c) attainment and (d) positive destinations is collected annually. Further information on the types of analysis breakdowns provided for these education outcomes can be found in the supporting Tables document of the 2021-22 publication. Data on (a) attendance is collected every second year, and was last published in 2020-21. Further information on the types of analysis breakdowns provided for attendance can be found in the supporting Tables document of the 2020-21 publication. Information on the groups each of these education outcomes is analysed for can be found in the respective section of the publication report, as per the hyperlinks provided above.

Question reference: S6W-26322

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how often it reviews statistical collection and publishing cycles in order to deliver joined-up policy making.

Scottish Government statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code of Practice states that statistics producers should routinely review the relevance and usefulness of statistics, including the timeliness of the statistics and data.

The Code of Practice also requires statistics producers to maintain and refresh their understanding of the use and potential use of statistics, and that they regularly engage with users. This is to ensure that statistics support the public good, which includes the development and evaluation of public policy.

The application of the Code of Practice in Scottish Government is overseen by the Chief Statistician, with decisions about particular collections and publications made on a case-by-case by the responsible statisticians.

Question reference: S6W-26330

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many young offenders currently being held in a young offenders institution are (a) 16 and (b) 17 years old.

Question reference: S6W-25925

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many staffing vacancies are currently unfilled within Disclosure Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25927

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much Disclosure Scotland has spent on employing temporary staff in each year since 2012.

Question reference: S6W-25926

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of staff were employed by Disclosure Scotland in each year since 2012.

Question reference: S6O-03237

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments made by the National Autistic Society Scotland that some autistic pupils in Scotland have to “fail” in mainstream education before receiving the support that they need.

Question reference: S6W-25792

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 13 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives are in place to promote early intervention and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

Child abuse and neglect have significant detrimental effects on children and young people’s emotional, physical and mental health, social development, education and future employment.

Scotland’s approach to child protection is set within the “Getting It Right For Every Child” (GIRFEC) approach to planning and providing support and care to children and families. The GIRFEC approach supports prevention of child abuse and neglect by driving forward a multi-agency approach to working with and supporting children and young people.

The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, updated in 2023, provides information to support practitioners to identify and respond to cases of child abuse and neglect. We are also developing national multi-agency training on inter-agency referral discussions (IRD), which are the start of the formal process of information sharing, assessment, analysis and decision-making following reported concerns about abuse or neglect of a child or young person. This will further support practitioners to prevent and intervene early so risk and harm to children and young people is recognised and acted on quickly and effectively.

We continue to learn from good practice both in Scotland and internationally to deliver positive action to reduce child abuse and neglect including initiatives like Scotland’s baby box, the Best Start Grant, Best Start Foods, Parent Club and universal free school meals for children from primary 1-5.

We will continue to work on implementing initiatives to intervene early and prevent child abuse and neglect, ensuring Scotland is the best place in the world for a child or young person to grow up.

Year	Temp staff cost (£000)
2012	1,942
2013	2,371
2014	2,407
2015	3,029
2016	5,423
2017	8,029
2018	16,605
2019	15,149
2020	14,701
2021	9,470
2022	7,702
2023	9,175

Year	Staff headcount
2012	290
2013	315
2014	336
2015	341
2016	494
2017	609
2018	413
2019	447
2020	474
2021	468
2022	465
2023	456
As of 29 February 2024	457

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