Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-27982

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the identification of dyslexia in young people and adults who were not recognised with the condition when they were at school.

The Scottish Government’s Disability Delivery Plan to 2021, A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People, sets out our ambitions and commitments to supporting disabled people - including those with dyslexia and other learning difficulties and disabilities.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to Dyslexia Scotland who offer the following services:

3 Adult Networks
Assessment and tutoring service (for adults as well as children and young people)
Career development service for adults (which includes training and resources for careers advisers and others working with adults – e.g. this film on career journeys )
Our Helpline is open to anyone with an interest in dyslexia
A wide range of events throughout the year including Adult Masterclasses, Dyslexia Awareness Week events
Open meetings run by our Branch network (18 volunteer-led branches)
We held our first Dyslexia Festival in October 2019 – and have another planned in February 2020
Dyslexia awareness training for a range of organisations including employers and service providers
Modules for CLD practitioners and others working with adults
Over 30 leaflets , including for adults

The Scottish Government is working with representative organisations across the Scottish economy, including organisations representing those who have been diagnosed with dyslexia, to assess the support that is needed to enable people to move into and stay in work.

We expect all boards to undertake individualised assessments of employees’ workplace needs and to provide tailored workplace adjustments where necessary, in line with their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

Question reference: S5W-27981

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that local authorities have suitable resources to identify secondary school pupils with dyslexia.

The Scottish Government has supported the development and publication of the Addressing Dyslexia toolkit ( http://addressingdyslexia.org/home ) to support those working with children and young people in schools in the identification and support of pupils with dyslexia. There are also free online modules for practitioners – the Career Long Professional Learning for Dyslexia Route Map and professional online training.

The ‘Introduction to dyslexia and inclusive practice’ ( http://addressingdyslexia.org/free-online-learning-modules ) The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local authorities and organisations, such as Dyslexia Scotland, to ensure that children and young people with dyslexia are identified and receive the appropriate support to get the most out of their learning opportunities.

Question reference: S5W-27979

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase identification of dyslexia among primary school pupils.

The Scottish Government understands how important an early identification of dyslexia is. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, (as amended) places duties on education authorities to make sure that learners with additional support needs, such as dyslexia, have their needs fully met through the right support and planning.

We recognise that practitioners may require support in the process of identification and we are working closely with local authorities and schools to improve consistency of support across Scotland. This includes improved guidance, building capacity to deliver effective additional support, improving career pathways and providing professional development resources.

We are also investing an additional £15 million this year to further enhance capacity in education authorities and schools to respond effectively to the individual needs of children and young people.

Question reference: S5W-27980

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that there is wide variability across local authorities in identifying rates of dyslexia among secondary school pupils.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities and schools to improve consistency of support across Scotland. This includes improved guidance, building capacity to deliver effective additional support, improving career pathways and providing professional development resources.

The Scottish Government has provided guidance to education authorities on the recording of pupils with additional support needs as part of the pupil census.

Question reference: S5W-27915

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value of fines issued to people convicted of fly tipping has been in each of the last five years.

The available information is provided in the following table, which has been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database .

Please note: Information for 2018-19 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2018-19 Statistical Bulletin. The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs

Total value of fines issued by the Scottish Courts for fly-tipping offences¹, 2013-14 to 2017-18.

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1990 SECTION 33	2,670	17,750	2,775	34,100	100

1 - where main crime

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S5W-27914

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been for fly tipping in each of the last five years.

The available information is provided in the following table, which has been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database .

Please note: Information for 2018-19 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2018-19 Statistical Bulletin. The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs

Number of people convicted in the Scottish Courts for fly-tipping offences¹, 2013-14 to 2017-18

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1990 SECTION 33	11	13	9	7	5

1 - where main crime

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S5W-27913

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly tipping in each of the last five years, and what the total value of notices was in each year.

Question reference: S5O-04221

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle fly tipping.

Question reference: S5O-04183

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Awaiting answer

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the voluntary and third sectors.

Question reference: S5W-26999

Asked by: Margaret Mitchell, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18390 by Humza Yousaf on 18 September 2018, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending involving Children and Young People would "report back with findings and recommendations to Scottish Ministers by the end of next March", on what date the group reported these to Minsters; by what date it will publish its final report, and what the reason has been for the delay in making this public.

The report of the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People is published today. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-27078 on 23 January 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The timescales for the Expert Group to report were extended to allow the group to fully consider the complex issues involved. This ensured that the group had the necessary time to consider a wide range of UK and international evidence before making its recommendations.

A final report was shared with Ministers on 19 November 2019. The UK General Election on 12 December 2019 further impacted the timing of the final report.

Chamber and committees