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: S5W-17593

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 July 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 July 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the payments of more than £475,000 that were reportedly made to a company by Scottish Enterprise in the last three years meet the terms of the reporting requirements of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Question reference: S5W-17328

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 27 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the fifth supplementary to question S5F-02451 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 June 2018 (Official Report, c. 18), in light of the First Minister's comment that "I am sure that the Lord Advocate will be listening carefully or, at least, that these comments [regarding progress with the inquiry into rendition flights] will be reported to him, but I will ensure that he is aware of them, and I will ask him to get in touch with John Finnie to give a progress report to the extent that he is able to", whether it will publish this progress report.

Question reference: S5F-02510

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-17204

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many radiologists have been hired by NHS Fife following the recent recruitment drive; how many posts remain vacant, and what action is being taken to fill these vacancies.

NHSScotland Boards are required to have the correct staff in place to meet the needs of the service and ensure high quality patient care. The Scottish Government works closely with Boards to support their efforts in staff recruitment.

NHS Fife have advised that as at 31st March, there were 10.7 WTE vacancies across all radiology sub specialisms.

The Scottish Government recognise that Radiology as a specialism is experiencing shortages both nationally and internationally. This is why, alongside the recruitment campaign, we have invested in increasing specialist training places, offering 10 extra radiology training places per year. Consultant staff and managers within NHS Fife continue to liaise with colleagues and the SE Deanery to identify potential candidates.

These discussions have resulted in the appointment of 1 Consultant in April 2018 and discussions are ongoing in respect of candidates who have, thus far, expressed an interest in working with NHS Fife as part of the international radiology recruitment campaign.

Question reference: S5F-02480

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 18 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 June 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5O-02242

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Fife regarding the withdrawal of primary care emergency services from St Andrews, and what action it will take to ensure that the town is considered an option for future service provision.

Question reference: S5F-02420

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-16913

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16560 by Derek Mackay on 21 May 2018, what information it has regarding the average time it takes for local authorities to apply for assistance under the Bellwin Scheme.

Local authorities have four months from the date of the incident to submit any interim Bellwin claim to the Scottish Government and 8 months from the date of the incident to submit a final fully audited claim. These dates can be extended with the agreement of Scottish Ministers. The average time is therefore in excess of eight months for any claim to be finally settled which in this case would have been 1 November 2018 at the earliest.

Question reference: S5W-16914

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16560 by Derek Mackay on 21 May 2018, how the amount allocated to each local authority to assist with the cost of road repairs following the 2017-18 severe weather compares with the amount that each advised they required.

Question reference: S5W-16912

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16560 by Derek Mackay on 21 May 2018, what information it has regarding why no local authority proceeded to apply for funding under the Bellwin Scheme, and whether it is aware of any that were considering such a claim prior to 6 April 2018, and, if so, (a) which council and (b) how much they were considering.

The Scottish Government acted swiftly and decisively in confirming an additional £10 million provided to all 32 local authorities for winter maintenance and road repairs. This provided early certainty and removed the need for any local authority to compile a claim under the Bellwin Scheme saving local authorities a considerable saving in administrative costs without any guarantee that any claim would be eligible under the terms of the Scheme. The Scottish Government had received an initial notification from 18 local authorities registering that they may have wished to make a claim under the Bellwin scheme if their extra expenditure to assist with the immediate, and unforeseen costs in dealing with the aftermath of the emergency incident had exceeded 0.2% of a local authority's budgeted net revenue expenditure for 2017-18. The 18 local authorities concerned were as follows: Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, East Lothian, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian Councils. No actual claims or estimated claims had been received by the Scottish Government.