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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-05080

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to safeguard the pensions of workers at the Clydebridge and Dalzell steel plants, and how much this has cost.

Question reference: S5W-05081

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how its purchase and sale of the Clydebridge and Dalzell steel plants will impact on the pension arrangements of (a) current and (b) future pensioners.

The purchase and sale of the plants by Scottish Government in no way affected workers pension arrangements. The workers at the Clydebridge and Dalzell steel plants were made redundant by Tata Steel. I understand that at the point they were made redundant, those employees who had elected to join the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) would have ceased to be contributing members of the BSPS although their accrued benefits would not be affected. Liberty Steel will be offering all of their new employees an appropriate pension scheme.

Question reference: S5F-00616

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5W-04732

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the company, SinoFortone, asked it for an advisory team to be established to assist its investment planning in Scotland, but it did not do so.

Question reference: S5F-00558

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5F-00472

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5F-00435

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2016

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

Question reference: S5W-03448

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many consultation events were held regarding the report, Consultation on Social Security in Scotland; how many of these events were open to the public, and how many members of the public attended each event.

Just over 120 events have been held as part of the engagement in relation to Consultation on Social Security in Scotland.

Many of the events were hosted by partner organisations with a view to ensuring those with lived experience and those who support them were able to have their say. It was important for many of the engagement activities that individuals were able to have their say in a safe space therefore these were not public facing. However, there were other events which were widely promoted and that were open to the public.

On occasions, where individuals asked to attend events, the Scottish Government worked closely with partners to ensure that appropriate events were identified where possible.

The engagement has reached thousands of people across Scotland with the Scottish Government working in partnership with key organisations to engage fully with those who receive benefits and have experience of the current system.

The events have been a mix of large events, some with over 350 attendees, and smaller focus groups where we have been able to talk in depth about people’s experiences and our plans for social security in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-03447

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 3 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholder groups were invited to consultation events regarding the report, Consultation on Social Security in Scotland, and to which of these groups it provides funding.

We have worked in partnership with a range of organisations during the consultation on social security to ensure we reached people with lived experience and those that support them.

As part of our commitment to host an inclusive and accessible consultation, funding was provided to organisations working with individuals who will be directly impacted by the powers to come such as Inclusion Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, Glasgow Disability Alliance and Engender amongst others, to ensure that key people and organisations were given the opportunity to have their say and input fully into the different parts of the consultation.

Funding was primarily provided to organisations when it was a requirement in order for the event to go ahead and to ensure engagement was accessible and people had the chance to have their say.

By the consultation’s conclusion, at least 494 responses have been received and just over 120 events have been held as part of the engagement process. Part of the success of the response was down to the support of the wide range of stakeholder groups and the audiences they were able to reach.

We plan to include information about the events held in our report on responses to the consultation.

Question reference: S5W-03777

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 14 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03362 by Keith Brown on 12 October 2016, for what reason the answer did not address the matter of similar schemes that was referred to in the question, and whether it will now provide an answer.