Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36800

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed with the UK Government the provision of support to workers at Grangemouth refinery in the interim period prior to any developments from Project Willow.

Question reference: S6W-37219

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether private sector contractors in the Scottish Water framework agreement are allowed to sub-contract.

Question reference: S6W-37218

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Scottish Water measures the performance of the private contractors that it engages to provide services.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold the information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water measures the performance of its partner organisations through a structured framework that ensures alignment with its standards for safety, health and wellbeing, cost management, efficiency, and service excellence. Executive Director led Strategic Boards, and Senior Manager led Operational Boards are in place to review performance, and set direction for future strategic improvements.

Question reference: S6W-37053

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is responsible for any public health consequences that result from its decision to remove eligibility for the flu vaccine from 50- to 64-year-olds.

Decision-making on Scotland’s vaccination programme continues to be guided by the independent, expert advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI currently advises flu vaccination for all those aged 65 years and over, along with individuals who have specific underlying health conditions.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCVI advised routine flu vaccination for those 65 years and over, as well as those with underlying health conditions. Scotland followed this advice.

Our programme was expanded during the pandemic in order to protect the people of Scotland, the NHS and the wider health and social care sector, while it was under severe COVID-related pressure. The programme was expanded to those aged 55 years and over in 2021, and then to those aged 50 years and over in 2022 and 2023.

In winter 2024, as we moved beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, we reverted to the standard JCVI-advised groups and those aged 50-64 years were no longer included. This is in line with JCVI advice, endorsed by Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer.

Question reference: S6W-37141

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to assess the impact on patients of any geographical variation between NHS boards in accessing Scottish Medicines Consortium-approved therapies for those with advanced or complex Parkinson’s disease.

The Scottish Government does not assess geographical variations in people accessing Scottish Medicines Consortium-approved therapies for advanced or complex Parkinson’s Disease. However, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery are having initial conversations about the potential to undertake Parkinson’s Disease pathway work, which we understand would help to explore and articulate pathways for therapies for advanced and complex Parkinson’s Disease.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assesses the clinical and cost- effectiveness of newly licensed medicines on a once for Scotland basis and publishes advice for Health Boards to consider. It is expected that Health Board Area & Drug and Therapeutics Committees (ADTCs) will consider making an SMC-recommended medicine, or an equivalent, available on their local or regional formulary for routine prescribing within 90 days of SMC advice being published.

Health Boards are expected to apply common principles and processes in the introduction of newly licensed medicines to facilitate consistency of approach to local decision-making. The decision to prescribe a medicine, and which medicine to prescribe, is entirely for the clinician in charge of a person’s care, having considered their clinical condition, their safety, and any relevant clinical guidance.

Question reference: S6W-36497

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average expenditure per (a) pre-school education, (b) primary school, (c) secondary school, (d) college and (e) university place has been in each year since 2007-08 in (i) cash and (ii) real terms.

Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per child attending pre-school, and per primary and secondary pupil alongside allocations (accounting for teaching and tuition fees funding) per college and university place.

2024-25 figures for Pre-School, Primary and Secondary School will be available after the publication of the 2024-25 Scottish local government finance statistics in February – March 2026.

The Scottish Government do not hold data on Pre-School registrations prior to 2010.

Indicative University and College funding allocations for 2025-26 were published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) earlier this month. These include a cash terms increase in teaching funding for colleges, and a cash terms increase to the Main Teaching Grant (and teaching price) for Universities, compared with last year. These indicative figures have not been included in this table as the underlying calculation requires further details, including the number of controlled and non-controlled funded places, which are not yet available to SFC.

Further detail of College and University Indicative Funding Allocations for 2025-26 can be found at:

College Indicative Funding Allocations 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

University Indicative Funding Allocations 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

Table 1: Average Expenditure Per Place for each Education Level (Cash Terms)

	Pre-School	Primary	Secondary	College	University
2007-08	-	£4,651	£6,344	£4,046	£6,561
2008-09	-	£4,833	£6,665	£4,219	£6,760
2009-10	-	£4,882	£6,533	£4,293	£6,904
2010-11	£3,456	£5,007	£6,607	£4,289	£6,957
2011-12	£3,193	£4,935	£6,495	£4,138	-
2012-13	£3,194	£4,899	£6,629	£4,012	£7,139
2013-14	£3,102	£4,880	£6,714	£4,043	£7,175
2014-15	£3,411	£4,819	£6,795	£4,029	£7,240
2015-16	£3,957	£4,877	£6,920	£4,024	£7,237
2016-17	£4,344	£4,980	£7,050	£4,092	£7,005
2017-18	£4,592	£5,169	£7,131	£4,196	£7,013
2018-19	£5,190	£5,444	£7,459	£4,539	£7,182
2019-20	£6,916	£5,791	£7,789	£4,665	£7,190
2020-21	£9,366	£6,130	£7,906	£4,878	£7,316
2021-22	£10,435	£6,550	£8,174	£4,952	£7,433
2022-23	£11,282	£7,075	£8,766	£5,054	£7,558
2023-24	£12,000	£7,487	£9,276	£5,506	£7,613
2024-25	-	-	-	£5,506	£7,635

Table 2 provides the same information at 2024-25 price levels. Real terms conversions were produced using use HM Treasury’s March 2025 GDP Deflator series, including forecasts for the 2024-25 financial year.

Table 2: Average Expenditure Per Place for each Education Level (Real Terms)

Education Level	Pre-School	Primary	Secondary	College	University
2007-08	-	£7,170	£9,780	£6,238	£10,115
2008-09	-	£7,191	£9,917	£6,277	£10,058
2009-10	-	£7,167	£9,591	£6,303	£10,136
2010-11	£4,979	£7,214	£9,520	£6,180	£10,024
2011-12	£4,521	£6,987	£9,196	£5,859	-
2012-13	£4,440	£6,810	£9,215	£5,577	£9,924
2013-14	£4,231	£6,657	£9,158	£5,515	£9,788
2014-15	£4,597	£6,494	£9,157	£5,429	£9,756
2015-16	£5,294	£6,525	£9,259	£5,384	£9,683
2016-17	£5,684	£6,516	£9,224	£5,354	£9,166
2017-18	£5,915	£6,659	£9,186	£5,405	£9,034
2018-19	£6,548	£6,868	£9,410	£5,726	£9,060
2019-20	£8,523	£7,137	£9,599	£5,749	£8,860
2020-21	£10,955	£7,170	£9,247	£5,705	£8,556
2021-22	£12,277	£7,706	£9,617	£5,826	£8,744
2022-23	£12,399	£7,775	£9,634	£5,554	£8,306
2023-24	£12,456	£7,771	£9,629	£5,715	£7,902
2024-25	-	-	-	£5,506	£7,635

Sources:

1.Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2.Pupil Census – published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

3.Scottish Funding Council

4.GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Methodology

The methodologies used to determine the average expenditure per place for each education level are provided in more detail below.

Pre-school: average gross revenue expenditure per child in pre-primary education is arrived at by taking the total gross revenue expenditure on pre-primary education, adjusted for inter-authority transfers, as reported by local authorities to the local financial return. These figures are then divided by the number of pupils in funded early learning and childcare as per the statistics reported in the early learning and childcare (ELC) census. The figures for per child expenditure on pre-primary education are likely to be overestimates due to the fact that September (when the figures for the ELC census are collected) is a point in the academic year when ELC registrations are at their lowest. This is because children starting funded ELC (usually when they turn three) start at the beginning of the term which starts after their birthday – so, in the Autumn term only some of the children who will become eligible for funded ELC during that academic year have already taken up their funded place. However, this issue applies every year, meaning that the above time-series comparison is reasonable.

Primary and Secondary schools: average gross revenue expenditure per pupil in primary and secondary education respectively is arrived at by taking the total gross revenue expenditure adjusted for inter-authority transfers, reported by local authorities on primary and secondary education to the local financial return, divided by the number of pupils in primary and secondary education as per the statistics reported in the pupil census.

Colleges: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) have supplied detail of the average cost of a College place (expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE)). This is calculated by taking funding provided to Colleges for core teaching and assumed tuition fee income (see supplementary note 3) and dividing this by the number of student places.

Universities: The cost of an average University place, also provided by the SFC, is estimated by taking the total teaching grant awarded to Universities (excluding teaching grant associated with rUK students studying expensive strategically important subjects, who are not eligible for funding) and assumed tuition fee income associated with those places (see supplementary note 3) and dividing this by the total number of SFC funded places for Scottish and EU domiciled FTEs. Expenditure figures exclude funding for student support, and SFC’s research and strategic funds. Total FTE figures are SFC/SG funded places and do not include fees only and international places.

Supplementary notes:

1.“-“ indicates that there is no available data for this year.

2.Assumed tuition fees include income from SAAS, SDS, employers and students paying their own tuition fees for SFC funded programmes.

3.For college and university figures, the funded places/weighted SUMS/credits figures used are taken from the final published main grant letters or outcome agreements, and do not take account of any subsequent adjustments.

4.No fee assumption was made in AY 2011-12. In response to a reduction in grant in aid each university's teaching grant was reduced pro-rata, rather than being calculated based on our funding formula. As a result, no figure was provided by SFC for this year.

5.Further detail on College and University funding figures each year can be found in the supplementary notes of the answer to question S6W-15187 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

Question reference: S6W-37143

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a register of all current public bodies, including their (a) functions, (b) staff numbers, (c) budgets and (d) board members.

Information on public bodies for which either the Scotish Government or Scottish Parliament are responsible is publicly available on the National Public Bodies Directory Executive non-departmental public bodies - National public bodies: directory - gov.scot.

Each entry on the national directory includes staff numbers and details of Scottish Government funding where the information is held. There is also a link to the respective public body website where details of the public bodies functions and board members can be found.

Question reference: S6W-36846

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of declining international student enrolments on university finances, in light of reports that applications from overseas students are down by over 10%.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has a statutory duty set out in the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 to secure the coherent provision by the post-16 education bodies (as a whole) of a high quality of fundable further education and fundable higher education.

The SFC monitors and assesses the financial health and the sustainability of universities through regular engagement and analysis of financial returns, which universities are required to submit to SFC each academic year. This includes consideration of a wide range of factors, including international enrolments.

Question reference: S6W-37095

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the feasibility study for the transport of carbon dioxide by pipeline to St Fergus in the north east of Scotland, and if the study has not concluded, when it is expected to do so.

Question reference: S6W-37185

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on pulmonary rehabilitation in each year since 2021.

We recognise that pulmonary rehabilitation is an important element in managing respiratory disease and it is already a key recommendation for all appropriate patients in NICE clinical guidelines, which we expect all NHS Boards to follow.

The Scottish Government has not provided any specific funding to NHS Boards for pulmonary rehabilitation. We provide NHS Boards with baseline funding, and it is for each individual NHS Board to determine how they utilise the resources provided by the Scottish Government to best meet the needs of their local populations.

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