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: S5F-03709

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2019

Question to be taken in the Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-03685

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2019

Question to be taken in the Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-25335

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the issues raised in the article in The Herald on 11 September 2019, "Doctor: Pension tax bill will force me to cut hours".

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact that Annual Allowance (AA) and Lifetime Allowance (LTA) tax charges are having on senior clinicians in Scotland. The Scottish Government is working with employers and the BMA to help mitigate this impact and has written to the UK Government on three occasions highlighting its concerns about the impact this reserved policy is having on the delivery of key NHS services in Scotland.

The level of any AA and LTA tax charges depends on an individual's circumstances. NHS pension scheme flexibilities that would allow affected senior clinicians to better manage their annual pensions growth, and therefore the impact of AA and LTA charges, are currently under consideration. These will build on the current option whereby a member can request the scheme pays their AA tax charge with a resulting deduction made to their pension. The UK Government is also undertaking a review of the impact the tapered AA is having on the delivery of public services and the Scottish Government will feed into that review.

This is under active consideration, and we are working closely with BMA Scotland and other stakeholders. If we can find a way of even partial mitigation where risk level is acceptable, we will implement any changes or option for flexibility across NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S5F-03597

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-25334

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue guidance to NHS employers setting out how they can provide flexibility in 2019-20 for senior clinical staff to do extra work without breaching limits for pensions tax relief, and whether it will allow affected staff to opt-out of the NHS pensions scheme mid-year with discretionary flexibility to maintain the value of clinicians’ total reward packages.

Question reference: S5W-24898

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which local authority was unable to provide data for the reporting period detailed in the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019; what the reason for this was, and whether it will provide data for inclusion in the next progress report.

Question reference: S5W-24892

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23962 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, what will be (a) included and (b) excluded in the initial results of the revised ELC census in 2021.

We are planning an individual child level ELC census in May 2021 with the data to be published later in the year. Data will be collected on child characteristics (such as ethnicity, age, disability and sex), and the pattern of provision for children enrolled in funded ELC. More information on the data to be collected is available on the Scottish Government website . What is included or excluded from the published information will depend on data completeness and confidence in the quality of the data received given that this will be the first year that the census will have been conducted in this manner. Any issues identified will be addressed for subsequent releases.

Question reference: S5W-24895

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019, what proportion of the eligible two-year-old population the 8,707 children that are forecast to take up more than 600 hours of funded ELC represents.

We estimate the eligible population to be around 14,000 children each year, based on population projections published by NRS and the eligibility criteria for the two year old offer. The Scottish Government does not have access to the full UK Government administrative data required to have a definitive figure for the number of eligible two year olds in Scotland.

The Improvement Service report published in July 2019 showed that local authorities are currently forecasting that 8,707 two year olds will access more than 600 hours of funded ELC by April 2021 – representing around 60% of the estimated eligible population. These are forecasts based on the best available information. Uptake of the funded ELC offer for eligible 2 year olds will of course depend on parental choice.

Local authorities are working in a variety of ways to increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC by eligible 2 year olds locally, working through a range of professionals and services who come into contact with potentially eligible families. My answers to S5W-24894 and S5W-24889 describe more of the work underway national and locally to help raise awareness and uptake.

Question reference: S5W-24896

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019.

Question reference: S5W-24889

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23958 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, how good practice and innovation will be shared across Scotland from the nine multi-agency local authority teams working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to increase uptake of the two-year-old funded early learning and childcare offer.

The Early Learning and Childcare Practicum is a 12 month programme supporting 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to increase awareness and uptake of the two-year-old funded offer, and to better understand the current barriers faced by families accessing the offer of funded ELC. The Scottish Government has been working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to support these 9 teams since September 2018.

The Practicum teams have used improvement methodology to identify practical changes that can help increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC amongst eligible families – for example improving the application process; upskilling staff; changing established practice across and within agencies; and providing additional support to parents/carers.

The Practicum will conclude later this month with a Celebration Event where each of the 9 teams will share their learning with colleagues from across their local authorities and Scottish Government. The Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative Improvement Advisors will then help to share change ideas that have successfully demonstrated improvements with all 32 local authorities, and offer further support to test in local areas and move to scale. We will also share learning from the Practicum at the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative annual Learning Session in November, and through the dedicated ELC Knowledge Hub space for local authorities.