Parliamentary questions
Willie Rennie
1,353 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
5 Jun 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12259 by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2022, whether any of the £7 million loan has been paid back, and on what date the last repayment was made by Liberty Steel.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The current capital balance owed to Scottish Enterprise remains at £7 million and Scottish Enterprise remains in negotiation with the company over repayment. In the interim, the company is meeting the current interest repayments due on the loan.
27 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many P1 children have taken (a) one part and (b) both parts of the Scottish National Standardised Assessment since 20 September 2018, broken down by (i) academic year and (ii) local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Table 1 provides an overview of P1 learners who have undertaken (a) one or (b) both parts of the Scottish National Standardised Assessments since 20 September 2018, broken down by (i) school year and (ii) local authority. Please note that as the 2023-24 acad…
23 May 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose a parliamentary debate on the provision of early learning and childcare.
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its decision to end funding of the National Parent Forum of Scotland will affect the statutory duty regarding parental involvement in school education.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The decision to end funding for the National Parent Forum of Scotland will not affect the statutory duty regarding parental involvement in school education. As set out in the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006, Parent Councils remain the statuto…
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects to incur any costs as a result of ending its previous arrangement with the National Parent Forum of Scotland.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not expect to incur any costs as a result of not awarding any further grants to the National Parent Forum of Scotland.
21 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to spend on its partnership with Connect to establish a new national parent panel.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Detailed costings are still being discussed but Connect have indicated that the National Parent Panel is likely to cost in the region of £50,000 - £60,000 a year to establish and run.
14 May 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will close the gap in funding for 1,140 hours of early learning and childcare between private, voluntary and independent providers and council-run facilities.
7 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing training places in medical and clinical oncology, and whether any medical workforce modelling data has recommended an increase in places.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has funded the creation of 15 additional training places in Clinical Oncology since 2015 (5 in 2015; 2 in 2020; 4 in 2022, and; 4 in 2023). Additional Medical Oncology places were also created in 2022 (3) and 2023 (3). These places wer…
7 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in improving the pathways of less survivable cancers, including shortening the time to agreeing treatment options, as set out in its Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-26.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has been making progress in several ways to improve and shorten the pathways of less survivable cancers. For example, the Scottish Government awarded the Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Network funding of £653,000 over two years to r…
7 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will begin a clinically-led review into additional or alternative cancer waiting times standards for different types of cancer and cancer treatment, as set out in its Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-26.
Answer · Neil Gray: Work will begin in late 2024 to scope and set up a project group to support a clinically led review of latest data and evidence and determine whether there is merit in specific additional or alternative cancer waiting times standards for different types of ca…
7 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on investing up to £30 million to support cancer waiting times improvements, as set out in its Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-26.
Answer · Neil Gray: £11.3 million of non-recurring Cancer Waiting Times funding has been made available in 2023-24 across NHS Scotland. The majority of funding is being directed to urology, colorectal and breast – the three most challenged tumour types. A further £11.3 million …
7 May 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it made on creating the 152 extra doctor training places in 2023 that it announced in November 2022; how many additional trainee doctors were recruited into each speciality in 2023, and whether it will maintain or increase the number of training places in 2024.
Answer · Neil Gray: The creation of 152 extra specialty training places for trainee doctors went ahead in 2023 as planned. A breakdown of these posts by specialty can be found here . The recruitment of trainee doctors in 2023 was the most successful to date; a total of 1,231 …
30 Apr 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the ending of the Bute House Agreement will have on the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
24 Apr 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26975 by Richard Lochhead on 24 April 2024, and in light of the UK Government’s publication, Project Gigabit progress update - April 2024, whether it expects Project Gigabit procurement covering Fife to launch throughout 2024.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government and Building Digital UK (BDUK) have worked together to develop a number of potential Type A (local) and Type B (regional) Project Gigabit procurements in Scotland. The Scottish Government will lead delivery of these procurements, so th…
8 Apr 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what new financial support will be available to farmers and land managers to manage water, including to prevent flooding of homes.
26 Mar 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households received support through the Warmer Homes Scotland programme in each financial year of its operation, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Patrick Harvie: The first phase of Warmer Homes Scotland began in September 2015, and closed to new applicants on 31 March 2023. The second phase of Warmer Homes Scotland was launched on 2 October 2023. The following table shows the number of households who have received su…
7 Mar 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the funding to remove fees from secondary school music tuition, which was announced in 2021, whether it engages with local authorities on the level of music tuition that they provide, and, if so, whether it is aware of any reduction in provision since 2021.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Local Authority Heads of Instrumental Music, COSLA and the Improvement Service to support and monitor the ongoing delivery of free instrumental music tuition. The annual Instrumental Music Services: Res…
7 Mar 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any local authority ceasing its funding for secondary school music tuition and relying on the funding provided by the Scottish Government following the 2021 announcement of the removal of fees to fund this service.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is not aware of any local authority ceasing its funding for secondary school music tuition and relying solely on the additional funding provided by the Scottish Government. The most recent Instrumental Music Services: Results from the…
7 Mar 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a reduction in the provision of secondary school music tuition would breach the 2021 arrangement to remove fees from such provision.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: There is no evidence of an overall reduction in the provision of secondary school music tuition. In fact the most recent Instrumental Music Services: Results from the IMS Survey 2023 (improvementservice.org.uk) published in December 2023 confirmed that 61,7…
13 Feb 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial and advisory support is available to farmers to better manage land and rivers, including to prevent flooding.
22 Jan 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will deliver its commitment to reduce teacher class contact time by 90 minutes per week.
8 Jan 2024 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide funding for grants for those households and businesses flooded during Storm Gerrit, in light of it providing such funding for those affected by Storm Babet.
4 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the University of Aberdeen is considering withdrawing its honours degrees in languages, cultures and societies.
Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government is clear that access to learning modern languages is vital at all stages of education, to equip children and young people with the skills they need in an increasingly globalised world. Universities, as autonomous institutions, are res…
4 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure the sustainability of modern languages teaching in (a) schools, (b) universities and (c) colleges.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In relation to (a) The Scottish Government recognises the importance of learning additional languages, as it equips our young people with the skills they need in an increasingly globalised world. This is why since 2013, we have invested over £50 m to support…
4 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported reduction in the number of secondary school pupils studying modern languages.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of modern languages. Since 2013, we have taken a range of steps to promote and support language learning providing more than £50 million in funding to local authorities and partners to support the teaching of …
30 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent campaign by the Royal Society of Chemistry to reduce levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water, including by reducing the cap per individual PFAS type to 10 nanograms per litre.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government recognises the potential risks posed by PFAS in drinking water and works closely with Scottish Water and the Drinking Water Quality Regulator to ensure risk is minimised. The Public Water Supply (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 we…
30 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Scottish Water regarding the utilisation of technologies for the removal of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: In line with the Public Water Supply (Scotland) Regulations 2014, Scottish Water is required to carry out risk assessments to assess the likelihood of the presence of the most widespread PFAS compounds in its drinking water supplies. Where risk is identified,…
30 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve and increase testing and monitoring for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) essential work to deliver a comprehensive monitoring programme in order to understand Scotland’s environment and the risks from emerging contaminants of concern, such as perf…
30 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will work with (a) public and (b) private sector partners to create a national inventory of historical and current sources of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is working with the UK and Welsh Governments through initiatives like the Cross-government PFAS working group to better understand current and legacy PFAS issues, regulatory approaches and compliance. Under SEPA’s Scottish Pollutant Re…
30 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to prevent perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from entering into (a) the environment and (b) water sources.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government works with the UK and Welsh Governments on UK chemicals regulation to ensure the continued protection of the environment and people’s health. We have been clear that the risks the continued use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (P…