Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-01106

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to remote and rural communities in the Lothian region.

Question reference: S6W-08038

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement SQA psychologists had in the development of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic advice and guidance that the SQA provided to schools regarding the examinations diet.

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is an executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), established under the Education (Scotland) Act 1996. It operates at arm’s length to Ministers and is responsible for making its own evidentially based operational decisions.

I have asked the SQA to reply.

SQA has advised that it does not employ psychologists and their guidance draws on a range of teams and specialisms.

Question reference: S6W-08039

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is no statistical data available from the SQA that could be used to asses whether there are any differences in pass rates for exams taken (a) pre-COVID-19 pandemic and (b) during the pandemic for those (i) with a neuro-divergent diagnosis and (ii) without such a diagnosis.

I have asked the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to reply.

While information is available for children and young people with additional support needs, neither Scottish Government nor SQA collect specific data on candidates who may have a neuro-divergent diagnosis. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) requires education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. The provision of additional support is based on need for educational support rather than a diagnosis alone.

Where a school is presenting a candidate with additional support needs for examination, if appropriate, a request can be made to SQA for a reasonable adjustment, such as additional time or a scribe. The requests from centres do not require or provide any detail on the range of additional support needs or disabilities that learners have.

Question reference: S6W-08136

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 6 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some Scottish Child Payments and Child Disability Payments were not made on time in the week beginning 11 April 2022, and whether it will confirm how many individuals did not receive their payments on time.

Due to an unexpected system error 19,881 Scottish Child Payment clients and 1,284 Child Disability Payment clients who were due to receive their regular payment throughout week commencing Monday 18 April experienced a delay of one working day. Social Security Scotland contacted those impacted to let them know in advance. For clarity, they have received all of their payments.

Implementing our improved social security system and work to continually improve this - for example further uprating benefits to help tackle the cost of living crisis - is not without its technical challenges. There are processes in place to mitigate risk and when issues do arise our priority is ensuring people get the money they are due as quickly as possible and protecting those who are the most vulnerable. The unexpected cause of this delay has been identified and rectified.

Question reference: S6W-08036

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 May 2022

To ask the Government whether it plans to increase investment in local advice services, including government-funded services and those provided by housing associations, to help provide people with advice and support amid the reported cost of living crisis, in line with the recommendation of the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

Home Energy Scotland (HES), administered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government, provides free, bespoke, impartial advice and support on energy efficiency, renewable heating and fuel poverty support in Scotland.

This year, we have committed to expanding the Home Energy Scotland advice service by 20%. This will allow the service to support an extra 12,000 households a year in making their homes warmer and easier to heat.

HES also acts as the gateway to the Scottish Government’s domestic loans and grants programmes for energy efficiency improvements to homes in Scotland and a referral service to Scotland’s flagship fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland. We are increasing the budget for the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme to £55m for 2022-2023, up from £50m in 2021-2022.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

Question reference: S6W-08037

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 May 2022

To ask the Government whether it plans to introduce emergency redress funding for social tenants facing higher fuel bills as a result of work to decarbonise their energy supplies, in line with the recommendation of the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition to net zero and this includes supporting those who are least able to pay.

As part of a wider package of funding announcements made to tackle the cost of living crisis, we have committed a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which has been helping households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing their energy use, since late 2020.

This money is in addition to the £25m funding we have provided this winter to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity and the further £6m provided to trusted third sector partners to help low income families.

Anyone struggling with their energy bills can get in touch with our Home Energy Scotland service for advice and support to reduce their fuel costs.

The Scottish Government’s full response to the recommendations made by the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce will be published after the local government elections.

Question reference: S6W-08140

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the total funding available from the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for an Occupational Therapy Masters is reportedly £10,000 when the tuition fees for the two-year course at Queen Margaret University amount to £20,000, plus living expenses, in light of reports that, in England, students are offered a £10,000 grant from the NHS learning support fund in addition to a loan of over £11,000 and funding for accommodation and travel costs incurred whilst on placements.

The current full time postgraduate student support package offers a loan of up to £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for fees and £4,500 for living costs). Students whose tuition fees are above the maximum available to them from SAAS have to make their own arrangements for the balance. This applies to all eligible postgraduate courses.

The current student support package has been designed to support students with the costs incurred during their time studying at university, and the support now available in Scotland is at its highest level.

A review of postgraduate funding was part of this Government’s manifesto commitments. This is underway and will include consideration of the overall level of funding available to students.

Question reference: S6W-07595

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position, including that of Transport Scotland, is on the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to enforce School Streets, and whether there are any barriers, including legal ones, that could prevent using ANPR cameras in such a way.

Using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to monitor and fine moving traffic would require local authorities to have the powers to enforce moving traffic violation. Local authorities currently do not have the powers for such enforcement. This would require a change to primary legislation and to date there has been no significant call for these powers from local authorities in Scotland.

In Scotland, moving traffic violations remain a matter for the Police.

Question reference: S6O-01032

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will qualify for an indefinite award within the first 12 months of the national launch of Adult Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6W-07458

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it has supported former Hong Kong residents who have resettled in Scotland.

We welcome people from Hong Kong who have chosen to move to Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting their integration into our communities and we have also published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website.

The Scottish Government is taking a coordinated cross-portfolio approach to support BN(O) nationals coming to Scotland, working with COSLA to assess the impact on public services in key local authorities. We have been pressing the UK Government to provide clarity on when the £2.98M funding for integration support will be transferred to the Scottish Government.

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