Scottish Government
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Wednesday 13 June 2018 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Constitution and External Affairs Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to the people of Palestine through its International Development Fund. (S5W-17044) Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government’s new International Development Strategy, published in 2016, focuses our work on four partner countries with which we have strong historic and contemporary links to ensure our £10 million International Development Fund has the greatest impact. Those four partner countries are Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan. However, Scottish based organisations working in any country whose Human Development scores medium or low on the current United Nations Human Development Index are eligible to apply to our Small Grants Programme for Feasibility or Capacity Building grants of up to £10,000. The State of Palestine is currently ranked as a country of medium human development in the UN’s Human Development Index (ranked 114 in the 2016 HDR), and therefore eligible organisations would be able to apply for these two types of grant within our Small Grants Programme. Graeme Dey (Angus South) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the benefits of migration to the Scottish economy and society. (S5W-17047) Alasdair Allan: Migration is crucial to the development of Scotland as an inclusive, fair, prosperous, innovative country. It is essential to our economic prospects and our demographic sustainability that Scotland continues to attract the level and nature of migration it needs. Following the EU referendum we published a report summarising and evaluating the recent literature on the impacts of migrants and migration on Scotland’s economy, labour market, public services, communities and culture. In November last year we set out the evidence about the importance of migration to Scotland, in our submission to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). We followed that earlier this year with a discussion paper on Scotland’s Population Growth and Migration Policy detailing the unique challenges facing Scotland’s population and the potential economic gains if migration was sustained. The paper also outlines how a tailored approach for Scotland, with new powers for the Scottish Parliament, could operate. Economy Emma Harper (South Scotland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding future funding for Scottish hill farmers. (S5W-16637) Fergus Ewing: Over the last year, I have repeatedly pressed my counterpart in the UK government for clarity regarding future funding for Scottish agriculture, including hill farmers. Most recently, this has included a letter I sent on 23 March 2018, in conjunction with Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and Welsh Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths, to the Secretary of State Michael Gove setting out several detailed questions regarding future funding. As no answers to this letter were forthcoming, I again pressed the Secretary of State on this issue at a ministerial meeting on 14 May 2018. The Secretary of State was unable to provide further clarity at that meeting, and so I have again written to him, with Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and Welsh Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths, requesting immediate answers to these questions. Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13174 by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 December 2017, which stakeholders it has met in the last six months to discuss proposals for national fixed pricing on electricity distribution networks; when the meetings took place, and whether it will publish details of the discussions. Holding answer issued: 13 June 2018 (S5W-16965) Paul Wheelhouse: A holding answer was provided. Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on fracking, and what action it is taking to (a) reinforce and (b) publicise this. Holding answer issued: 13 June 2018 (S5W-16967) Paul Wheelhouse: A holding answer was provided. Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many companies have received funding under the Digital Skills Fund; how much has been allocated, and what the (a) highest and (b) average award was. (S5W-17118) Keith Brown: There is no Digital Skills Fund. However, I believe the question relates to the Digital Growth Fund, which was announced in March 2017 to offer up to £36m of loans to SMEs to enhance digital skills and capabilities. Phase one of this will be launched in June 2018 with the £2m Digital Development Loan. After Consultation with the sector , it was decided to increase the scope of the loan to cover SMEs digital capabilities and processes as well as skills attainment. As such, no loans have been issued as of yet. Education, Communities and Justice Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what efforts it is making to encourage schools to inform students of their apprenticeship choices. (S5O-02222) Jamie Hepburn: Within all Local Authority secondary schools in Scotland, Skills Development Scotland has devised an improved and expanded approach to Career Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG), ensuring that skills intelligence is shaped to inform young people of the opportunities available to them. All learning and skills pathways, including the Apprenticeship family, are explored to ensure each individual makes informed decisions. From August 2018 we will be significantly increasing the number of Foundation Apprenticeships available in the senior phase of school to around 2600, up from 1200 in the previous year. This year we will also provide 28,000 Modern Apprenticeship opportunities and of those 28,000 starts around 900 will be Graduate Apprenticeships. Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the implementation in Dumfries and Galloway of Developing the Young Workforce. (S5O-02223) Jamie Hepburn: The Dumfries and Galloway Developing the Young Workforce Regional Group has helped establish school/employer partnerships, enabling work experience placements and encouraging the development of employability skills within the region. Youth Guarantee Coordinators and Employability Coordination Groups, working across the area to support young people in school at risk of not achieving a positive destination, have supported an increase in positive destinations from 87.4% in 2011-12 to 94.6% in 2015-16. In addition, the industry-led DYW Regional Group in Dumfries and Galloway has facilitated over 140 DYW events and engaged with over 200 businesses, leading to over 3000 young people in Dumfries and Galloway directly benefiting from DYW activity. Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in implementing the Independent Review of Student Financial Support in Scotland's recommendation that care-experienced students under 26 should receive a minimum student income of £8,100. (S5O-02224) Shirley-Anne Somerville: Building on the Scottish Government’s existing commitment to support care-experienced young people to access Further and Higher Education, the care-experienced bursary will be increased to £8,100 in 2018-19 with additional funding of more than £5 million provided to support that. This brings care-experience bursary support in line with the Scottish Living Wage as recommended by the independent Review of Student Support. Bill Bowman (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on 10,000 fewer students being enrolled at Dundee and Angus College compared with 2006, representing a 38% drop. (S5O-02225) Shirley-Anne Somerville: Headcount at Dundee and Angus College has reduced since 2006 primarily because the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) de- prioritised short courses (often around 5 hours) many of which did not lead to a recognised FE or HE qualification, nor increase employability or progression to further or higher learning. Short courses that do lead to a recognised qualification and on to work or progression are still funded. Headcount figures at colleges are therefore not a reliable indicator of impactful college activity. Full-time equivalent (FTE) numbers are a better reflection of college activity and provide a more accurate picture over the time-series. Dundee and Angus College’s FTE numbers have remained relatively stable over this time-series, with a reduction of only 378 FTE; while the SFC have ensured the College can continue delivering impactful learning by increasing its core teaching funding allocation to over £27 million in 2018-19, an increase of 9.3% on the previous year. Maurice Corry (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Public Petitions Committee's call for child rights and wellbeing impact assessments of all armed forces' visits to schools. (S5O-02226) John Swinney: We will consider the recommendations from the Public Petitions Committee report, on Ensuring greater scrutiny, guidance and consultation on armed forces visits to schools in Scotland, and will respond to the Committee in due course. As part of this