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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-03748

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

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-24891

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-23961 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, whether it expects the near doubling of uptake of the two-year-old offer to be achieved by the end of the funding agreement with local government in 2021-22, or whether an alternative deadline has been set.

The Scottish Government and local government reached a multi-year funding package to enable the near doubling of the statutory entitlement to funded early learning and childcare from 600 to 1140 hours each for all 3 and 4 year olds and eligible 2 year olds from August 2020. Our funding agreement includes the resources sufficient to deliver the welcome commitment from local authorities to nearly doubling the uptake of funded early learning and childcare among eligible 2 year olds in 2021-22.

The recent ELC Delivery Progress Report published by the Improvement Service showed that over 2,000 2 year olds are already accessing more than 600 hours of funded ELC as a result of early phasing. Local authorities are working hard to reach their forecast uptake levels in 2021-22 through raising awareness and uptake locally, supported by the national actions described in my answer to S5W 24894 on 23 September 2019.

Having the same access to UK Government administrative data about potentially eligible households as English local authorities will make a real difference to Scottish local authorities’ ability to promote the 2 year old funded early learning and childcare offer. We continue to work with the UK Government to secure the necessary legal data-sharing gateway, in line with UK Parliament timescales.

It is of course for families to choose whether they wish to take up some or all of their child’s entitlement to funded early learning and childcare – it is an offer rather than a mandatory requirement, and families must be allowed to make the best decision for their child. We are working with our partners to ensure that all families with eligible children are aware of the offer and the benefits of funded ELC, so they can make an informed choice for their family.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

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.

Question reference: S5W-24894

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 steps it is taking to increase the number of two-year-olds receiving more than 600 hours of funded ELC in order to meet the forecast figures.

The Scottish Government, COSLA, local authorities and sector organisations are working hard to increase awareness and uptake of the funded offer for 2 year olds, so that more children are able to benefit from high quality funded ELC at an earlier age. At a national level we are:

working with the UK Government and UK Parliament to secure a legal gateway and data sharing agreement so that local authorities in Scotland can access accurate information about their eligible populations. This will help local authorities identify and promote the offer to families who are likely to be eligible;
improving the information available to parents and carers to help them make informed decisions about ELC, for example through our new ELC Hub on Parent Club and information leaflets in BookBug bags for all 1 year olds;
looking for opportunities to promote the offer through other services such as the Health Visiting Pathway and Financial Health Check, as well as making best use of new systems and capabilities, such as Best Start Grant, to join up our messaging about the services available to support families; and
working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) to support 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to address barriers to uptake of the offer, increase awareness and uptake of the 2 year old offer in their areas, and to share their learning with other local authorities.