Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-26519

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many households received support through the Warmer Homes Scotland programme in each financial year of its operation, broken down by local authority area.

The first phase of Warmer Homes Scotland began in September 2015, and closed to new applicants on 31 March 2023. The second phase of Warmer Homes Scotland was launched on 2 October 2023.

The following table shows the number of households who have received support through both phases of the Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) scheme in each financial year since 2015, broken down by local authority area.

	Financial Years – WHS 1									WHS2
Local Authority Areas	15-16	16-17	17-18	18-19	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23	23-24		23-24
Aberdeen City	39	128	100	106	69	74	121	151	98		32
Aberdeenshire	60	224	175	141	114	85	181	191	155		25
Angus	34	130	93	89	68	48	117	136	124		32
Argyll and Bute	33	161	110	113	98	69	153	118	122		12
City of Edinburgh	60	284	285	219	188	165	346	394	272		75
Clackmannanshire	15	54	33	31	34	20	39	64	35		10
Dumfries and Galloway	65	209	227	170	140	90	187	184	179		32
Dundee City	57	193	211	136	100	108	175	202	132		47
East Ayrshire	41	113	93	67	89	58	133	113	64		46
East Dunbartonshire	25	80	68	60	69	60	112	80	80		36
East Lothian	22	71	54	57	56	34	65	106	82		20
East Renfrewshire	28	72	74	80	53	47	85	74	35		16
Falkirk	36	106	109	81	94	80	130	129	84		51
Fife	107	367	353	267	235	218	375	444	284		79
Glasgow City	138	450	461	418	373	367	620	534	293		168
Highland	82	493	358	270	225	155	261	254	211		48
Inverclyde	27	223	150	111	130	68	146	129	76		27
Midlothian	20	76	83	68	59	42	82	92	68		18
Moray	18	96	81	54	62	47	78	86	75		19
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	6	116	177	105	111	75	76	73	81		0
North Ayrshire	45	148	105	76	93	56	152	156	114		47
North Lanarkshire	87	338	273	247	263	247	387	374	216		131
Orkney Islands	6	35	39	35	28	17	33	35	45		0
Perth and Kinross	44	134	130	100	83	68	124	148	125		35
Renfrewshire	57	173	181	130	140	86	188	192	114		73
Scottish Borders	22	103	120	79	69	48	85	107	78		36
Shetland Islands	1	9	56	30	47	23	56	48	56		5
South Ayrshire	31	143	120	67	86	57	125	141	98		39
South Lanarkshire	88	338	319	189	236	234	373	387	190		88
Stirling	25	73	72	36	48	29	54	69	47		18
West Dunbartonshire	18	81	59	61	55	50	93	67	41		23
West Lothian	35	133	134	125	92	79	159	200	126		67
Grand Total	1,372	5,354	4,903	3,818	3,607	2,904	5,311	5,478	3,800		1,355

Question reference: S6O-03292

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what new financial support will be available to farmers and land managers to manage water, including to prevent flooding of homes.

Question reference: S6W-26042

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the funding to remove fees from secondary school music tuition, which was announced in 2021, whether it engages with local authorities on the level of music tuition that they provide, and, if so, whether it is aware of any reduction in provision since 2021.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Local Authority Heads of Instrumental Music, COSLA and the Improvement Service to support and monitor the ongoing delivery of free instrumental music tuition.

The annual Instrumental Music Services: Results from the IMS Survey 2023 (improvementservice.org.uk) undertaken by the Improvement Service and most recently published in December 2023 confirmed that 61,715 pupils participated in instrumental music lessons in academic year 2022-23, the highest number since the annual survey began 11 years ago.

Question reference: S6W-26043

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any local authority ceasing its funding for secondary school music tuition and relying on the funding provided by the Scottish Government following the 2021 announcement of the removal of fees to fund this service.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any local authority ceasing its funding for secondary school music tuition and relying solely on the additional funding provided by the Scottish Government. The most recent Instrumental Music Services: Results from the IMS Survey 2023 (improvementservice.org.uk) confirmed that 61,715 pupils participated in instrumental music lessons in academic year 2022-23, the highest number since the annual survey began 11 years ago.

The policy of free instrumental tuition has now firmly been established across all Local Authority Music Services. The Scottish Government continues to support local authorities to deliver free instrumental music tuition in schools, with £12 million allocated this financial year alone. The purpose of this funding is to enhance the instrumental music tuition offer that is provided through Local Authority budgets.

Question reference: S6W-26041

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a reduction in the provision of secondary school music tuition would breach the 2021 arrangement to remove fees from such provision.

There is no evidence of an overall reduction in the provision of secondary school music tuition. In fact the most recent Instrumental Music Services: Results from the IMS Survey 2023 (improvementservice.org.uk) published in December 2023 confirmed that 61,715 pupils participated in instrumental music lessons in academic year 2022-23, the highest number since the annual survey began 11 years ago.

The policy of free instrumental tuition has now been firmly established across all Local Authority Music Services. The Scottish Government continues to support local authorities to deliver free instrumental music tuition in schools, removing financial barriers to learning an instrument.

Question reference: S6O-03093

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what financial and advisory support is available to farmers to better manage land and rivers, including to prevent flooding.

Question reference: S6O-03038

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will deliver its commitment to reduce teacher class contact time by 90 minutes per week.

Question reference: S6T-01721

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide funding for grants for those households and businesses flooded during Storm Gerrit, in light of it providing such funding for those affected by Storm Babet.

Question reference: S6W-23591

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure the sustainability of modern languages teaching in (a) schools, (b) universities and (c) colleges.

In relation to (a)

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of learning additional languages, as it equips our young people with the skills they need in an increasingly globalised world. This is why since 2013, we have invested over £50 m to support schools and local authorities to deliver language learning, including through provision of professional learning, one of the aims of which is to get children engaged with and interested in languages early.

Language teachers are clearly needed if schools are to be able to offer languages in secondary schools. Modern languages are classified as a priority subject for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) intakes by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Both the Scottish Government and SFC have offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which are classified as a priority subjects. The Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is also considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

In relation to (b) and (c)

Despite the Scottish Government facing the most challenging financial environment since devolution, we have continued to support our colleges and universities through almost £2 billion in annual investment.

Operational decisions on course provision are for individual colleges, however it is our expectation that this should be done with the needs of students, the local region and the wider economy, in mind. Universities, as autonomous institutions, are also responsible for their own course provision, and it is for them to decide how to distribute the allocation of funded places between faculties and courses. In line with our Purpose and Principles for the post-school education and skills system, Scottish Government will continue to work with the university sector to ensure that it delivers the best outcomes and impact for learners, the economy and society.

Question reference: S6W-23590

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the University of Aberdeen is considering withdrawing its honours degrees in languages, cultures and societies.

The Scottish Government is clear that access to learning modern languages is vital at all stages of education, to equip children and young people with the skills they need in an increasingly globalised world.

Universities, as autonomous institutions, are responsible for their own course provision, and it is for them to decide how to distribute the allocation of funded places between faculties and courses. In any reform of provision, Scottish Government expects the University of Aberdeen to adhere to Fair Work principles. This includes meaningful consultation and constructive dialogue with any staff affected by the proposals to reduce modern languages provision.

In line with our Purpose and Principles for the post-school education and skills system, the Scottish Government will continue to work with the university sector to deliver the best outcomes and impact for learners, the economy and society.