Willie Rennie

9 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost to each local authority of road repairs following the severe 2017-18 winter weather, and what assistance it has offered to each council.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Local authorities have a statutory obligation to repair and maintain local roads, therefore individual councils must determine the funding that should be allocated on the basis of local needs and priorities. Despite continued UK Government real terms cuts to…

9 May 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it has (a) received and (b) approved from local authorities seeking funding through the Bellwin Scheme for road repairs following the severe 2017-18 winter weather; how much it (i) has provided and (ii) expects to provide, broken down by local authority, and whether…

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government activated the Bellwin Scheme on 2 March 2018 to provide councils with emergency financial assistance for any eligible costs resulting from the severe winter weather. While 18 local authorities formally notified the Scottish Government …

3 May 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

19 Apr 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

11 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its paper, Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare Evaluation Report 2017, what progress it expects to achieve in increasing the number of settings that offer funded places (a) outwith school hours and (b) during the school holidays in each of the next th…

Answer · Maree Todd: Under our new Funding Follows the Child approach, which will be introduced in 2020 as part of the national roll-out of the expanded early learning and childcare (ELC) entitlement to 1140 hours, local authorities will retain statutory responsibility for ensuri…

11 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nursery schools in each local authority area are being constructed, also broken down by the stage of construction each is at, and how many additional nurseries will be (a) completed and (b) operational by May 2021.

Answer · Maree Todd: We do not hold all the information requested centrally. Current local authority estimates are that 138 new builds will be needed. As set out in the answer to question S5W-16245 on 27 April 2018, the Scottish Government and COSLA Leaders reached agreement on a…

11 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time is to build a nursery.

Answer · Maree Todd: As part of their expansion planning, local authorities will consider how to make full use of existing buildings and how they might enhance the use of partner provider assets prior to building new nurseries. Each new build project will have its own specific re…

11 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14582 by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018, on how many occasions the general anti-tax avoidance rule has been deployed as a specific compliance tool, and what the outcome was of each use.

Answer · Derek Mackay: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member. I understand that the Chief Executive wrote previously to the member regarding the application of the general anti-avoidance r…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of 9 April 2018 regarding childcare expansion plans, what baseline it used to set the target of (a) 1,813 additional new starts for HNC college and university courses to train at practitioner level and (b) 490 places at managerial level in early learning and …

Answer · Maree Todd: The additional further and higher education places for 2018-19 are informed by the following 2014-15 baseline data, set by the Scottish Funding Council: a) 1,789 (HNC level) b) 492 (managerial level) The additional course places for 2018-19 do not include …

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of 9 April 2018 regarding childcare expansion plans, how many of the (a) 650 additional practitioner level HNC courses and (b) 350 managerial level courses in early learning and childcare were not filled in 2017-18 and what assessment it has made of the effec…

Answer · Maree Todd: a) The available data indicates that 44 HNC places were not filled for 2017-18. Following consultation with the sector we have taken the opportunity to ensure there is an appropriate pipeline for the higher level qualifications in the coming years, by realloc…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives it has launched since 2014-15 to attract people to the early learning and childcare profession, broken down by the (a) target recruitment figure set and (b) number of people recruited.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government estimates up to 11,000 additional early learning and childcare (ELC) workers will be required to meet the demands of ELC expansion. In order to attract those additional staff we are working with delivery partners on a range of initiati…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) practitioner- and (b) managerial-level training courses in early learning and childcare have been (a) unfilled and (b) uncompleted in each year since 2013-14, and how this compares with the targets that it set.

Answer · Maree Todd: (a) National enrolment targets for ELC courses were set from 2017-18 only. Information on unfilled places is therefore not available before 2017-18. As noted in my answers to S5W-15849 and S5W-15850 on 8 May 2018, final audited data for 2017-18 will be availa…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 25 February 2016 that at least 46 nurseries have been built or expanded by local authorities to help accommodate additional early learning and additional childcare hours, flexibility and children, how many nurseries in each local authority area have been (…

Answer · Maree Todd: The information requested is not held centrally. Each local authority will be able to provide the requested information for local authority run early learning and childcare settings in their respective areas.

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its letter to the Scottish Funding Council of 4 April 2018, whether it will set out the adjustments that it has made to its expectations for the provision of early learning and childcare courses to account for withdrawal rates.

Answer · Maree Todd: The additional course numbers for early learning and childcare courses in 2018-19 are based on an estimated 20% withdrawal rate. This rate was set in collaboration with the Scottish Funding Council and is based on analysis of data on course enrolment and part…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the childcare profession recruitment campaign, Shape their worlds. Shape your career, including how many people it has helped to recruit.

Answer · Maree Todd: The first phase of our national recruitment campaign, “Shape their worlds. Shape your career”, focussed on school leavers and predominantly encouraged applications to training opportunities. The national recruitment campaign is one of many initiatives underw…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15083 by Maree Todd on 20 March 2018, what progress it has made in each local authority area with recruiting the additional 435 teachers and graduates for nurseries in deprived areas, and whether each of the nurseries will have an additional graduat…

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is currently working with local authorities to deliver our commitment to provide an additional graduate in nurseries in Scotland’s most deprived areas by August 2018. Up to £18 million has been allocated in 2018-19 to cover the additio…

9 Apr 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15083 by Maree Todd on 20 March 2018, how many of the (a) 126 additional teacher training places and (b) 270 additional BA Childhood Practice places to expand the early learning and childcare workforce were filled in August 2017.

Answer · Maree Todd: a) HESA data relating to additional teacher training for 2017-18 is not held centrally, and will not be available until after the end of the academic year. b) All of the additional 270 BA places were filled in August 2017. As noted in my answers to S5W-15849…

5 Apr 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in the Chamber.

20 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it conducted an evaluation of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 (a) after one year or (b) at any other time since its introduction; whether it will publish this; which stakeholders it invited to be part of this process and how t…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Evaluation of The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Designation of Persons as Scottish Public Authorities) Order 2016 was undertaken around a year after the Order came into effect with all newly designated public authorities. It also invited the sch…

20 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 set a precedent for varying timescales for Freedom of Information requests, and whether it has any plans to pass similar legislation in future.  

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 apply exclusively to grant-aided and independent special schools. They were made, following the designation of these schools as public authorities for the purposes of Freedo…

15 Mar 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

9 Mar 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

22 Feb 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

19 Feb 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

9 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Revenue Scotland uses the general anti-avoidance rule that was established by the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, and what feedback it has received from (a) the tax authority and (b) other stakeholders regarding the (i) operation and (ii) effectiveness of this rule.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14582 on 27 February 2018. 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/parliamentarybusine…

9 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Revenue Scotland has taken action under the general anti-avoidance rule that was established by the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014; how many schemes have been challenged (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully, and what their total value was.

Answer · Derek Mackay: This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member. The Scottish Government’s approach to the devolved taxes demonstrates that we are serious about tackling tax avoidance in Sco…

31 Jan 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cupar North relief road will be funded through the Tay Cities Deal.

26 Jan 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

18 Jan 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.

4 Jan 2018 · First Minister's Question

Question to be taken in Chamber.