Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-04053

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04067

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2025

To ask the First Minister when the landslip shelter on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful will be complete.

Question reference: S6F-04062

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2025

To ask the First Minister, in light of the publication of the Programme for Government, what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that prevention is more strongly integrated into the health system.

Question reference: S6W-37131

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent steps it is taking to address the reported significant shortfall in Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) secondary teacher training enrolments for the 2024 intake.

The Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group figures are indicative and are provided by universities at the start of the academic session. Official Statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, covering 2024-25, will be available in early 2026. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

We are taking action to encourage more people into teaching, including in the hardest to fill teaching subjects.

Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff and we are providing them with £186.5 million this year as part of an agreement to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels. We will continue to support local authorities to maximise the number of teaching of jobs available, including through the joint Education and Childcare Assurance Board.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme provides a £20,000 bursary to career changers wishing to undertake a one year Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in the hardest to fill teaching subjects, including STEM subjects and modern languages.

We have asked Strategic Board for Teacher Education to develop advice on how to encourage more people into teaching, particularly in subjects that are challenging to fill.

Targets for secondary ITE PGDE courses have also been maintained at 2,000 for the 2025-26 academic year and are published on the Scottish Funding Council website - Intake Targets for Initial Teacher Education in AY 2025-26 - Scottish Funding Council

Question reference: S6W-36815

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13059 by Keith Brown on 9 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) backlog of power of attorney applications; how many cases are currently affected, and what funding is available to support the OPG to address this backlog.

Question reference: S6W-36889

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason inmates who reportedly breached prison rules were included in the early release scheme to alleviate overcrowding.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-04553 on 23 April 2025. All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-37117

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the long-term viability of Scotland’s livestock sector, in light of the finding that 68% of lowland cattle and sheep farms were operating at a loss in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-36819

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reported calls for a cap or oversight mechanism on senior salaries in publicly funded bodies, including local authorities.

The salary and pay range of a Chief Executive should be within the pay bands in the Scottish Chief Executive Framework (as detailed in the Chief Executive Pay Policy). This is to ensure consistency and fairness between the remuneration of Chief Executives in public bodies covered by the Pay Policy, and senior staff employed in Scottish Government Agencies and associated departments, who are civil servants (and members of the Senior Civil Service).

For local government employees, pay and other employment matters are delegated to local authorities. The Scottish Government and COSLA have committed to respect this arrangement as part of the Verity House Agreement.

For Senior Civil Servants, pay is reserved.

Question reference: S6W-36791

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to update The Prison and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

There are currently no plans at present to update The Prison and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011.

SPS focus remains on addressing the current population pressures across our estate as we will continue to work with the Scottish Government to achieve a sustainable long-term position concerning the management of the rising prison population in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37132

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its targets for teacher training enrolments in key subjects such as maths, physics, chemistry and computing in 2024 have reportedly been missed.

Teaching is a rewarding and exciting career, with opportunities to share passion and expertise to inspire young people on their future pathways. While it is encouraging that intakes for primary teaching are overall above target, we are taking action to encourage more people into teaching, including in the hardest to fill teaching subjects.

These are long-term systemic challenges being faced globally, and we are committed to working together with partners, including teachers, unions, and COSLA, to develop solutions.

With COSLA, we are committed to working together to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels, freeze learning hours and make meaningful progress towards reducing class contact time for teachers.. This will help ease teacher workload and improve outcomes for our children and young people.

Work is being taken forward through the joint Education and Childcare Assurance Board with COSLA on pupil behaviour and workload to overcome some of the challenges facing the profession and encouraging more people to consider teaching as a career.

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