Alison Harris

26 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with third sector and community organisations providing out-of-school care services.

13 Jan 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many house parties police have called on to disperse since the current COVID-19 lockdown was imposed.

2 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the repair work being carried out on the Glasgow-Edinburgh via Falkirk rail line.

19 Aug 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in meeting its commitment to carry out weekly COVID-19 tests on all care home workers.

26 May 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue volunteer contact with older people who have been identified and supported during the COVID-19 outbreak beyond the current lockdown.

11 Mar 2020 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Scotland’s electricity and gas networks vision for 2030.

26 Feb 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact on housing and other local government services of the recent poor weather, and what additional assistance it has offered to councils to respond to this.

18 Feb 2020 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the outcomes of city and regional growth deals.

3 Feb 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what timetable it has set to bring forward legislation to automatically entitle four-year-olds who are born between August and December to funded early learning and childcare in line with statutory provision for three- and four-year-olds when their parents use their legal right to defer …

Answer · Maree Todd: The legislation will require an affirmative Scottish Statutory instrument under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. The Scottish Government intends to bring forward legislation to this effect before the end of this parliamentary session in Spri…

29 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there was a reduction of 1,007 in estimated FTE additional local authority staff required by April 2021 for the expansion to 1,140 hours of funded childcare between the June 2019 and December 2019 delivery progress reports.

Answer · Maree Todd: Original early learning and childcare workforce expansion figures, as reported in June 2019, were based on forecasts local authorities first prepared in March 2018. Local authorities have been continually revising their expansion plans and forecasts since the…

21 Jan 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce child and adolescent mental health services waiting times.

8 Jan 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the 100% business rates relief for day nurseries will continue after 2020-21.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government introduced a new 100 per cent non-domestic rates relief from 1 April 2018 for all day nursery premises, used wholly or mainly for that purpose, in the public, private and charitable sectors. This is one of a series of actions to suppor…

17 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action that it is taking to reduce loneliness among older people.

4 Dec 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Prison Service encourages businesses to give prisoners the opportunity of employment on release.

26 Nov 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Forth Valley to discuss the board’s performance.

23 Oct 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the expansion to 1,140 hours of funded childcare.

2 Oct 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of antisocial behaviour incidents.

Answer · Ash Denham: Evidence on antisocial behaviour points towards a long-term, sustained reduction in Scotland. For example the nationally representative Scottish Crime and Justice Survey shows that the percentage of adults who think people behave in an antisocial manner in th…

17 Sep 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timeline for the devolution of the powers set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018.

30 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20524 by Maree Todd on 8 January 2019, in light the reported lack of trust between private, voluntary and independent sector childcare providers and councils, whether it would consider requiring local authorities to publish financial data relating t…

30 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the revenue funding allocated to local authorities for the expansion of funded childcare to 1,140 hours includes provision for the reported increases of up to 50% in wage costs since 2016 in private, voluntary and independent sector settings.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed a multi-year funding package which includes funding to enable the payment of sustainable rates to funded providers delivering the funded entitlement from August 2020 – including funding to enable payment of at least th…

30 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that some partner providers that deliver funded childcare, in partnership with local authorities, are receiving payments several months after delivering the entitlement.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25050 on? 30 September 2019. 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/parliamentarybus…

30 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that private, voluntary and independent childcare providers, in partnership with local authorities to deliver funded childcare, receive their payments within a consistent and sustainable timeline.

Answer · Maree Todd: Prompt and efficient payment to funded providers is an important aspect of the Funding Follows the Child approach which will be introduced in August 2020. As set out in Funding Follows the Child and the National Standard for Early Learning and Childcare Prov…

23 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that the best outcome for a child is not being delivered when a local authority denies them an extra year of funded childcare in situations where their parent has used their legal right to defer their entry into primary school for a year due to their birt…

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24909 on 23 September 2019. 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/parliamentarybusin…

23 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the issue with children who turn five between the start of the school term and the end of December not being entitled to an extra year of funded childcare, compared with those who turn five in January and February who are.

Answer · Maree Todd: For children with August to December birthdays, local authorities have discretion to fund additional early learning and childcare when parents choose to defer the school start, where this is in the best interests of the child. This should be based on an asses…

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20524 by Maree Todd on 8 January 2019, and in light of reports that there is a lack of trust between private, voluntary and independent sector childcare providers and councils, whether it would consider requiring local authorities to publish financi…

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the questioner to the answer to question S5W-20524 on 20 September 2019 and can confirm that the Scottish Government's position on this has not changed. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the sea…

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that several independent schools have pulled out of partnerships with local authorities in delivering childcare, and what impact it believes this will have on overall provision.

Answer · Maree Todd: Independent schools can continue to offer the funded early learning and childcare entitlement from August 2020, if they meet the National Standard, are willing to enter into a contract with the local authority, and they have a place available. We understand …

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many local authorities have reported that they have positive relationships with partner childcare providers in their area.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Overview of the Local Authority Support and Funding Early Learning and Childcare Providers report (bib number 60909), sets out the actions that local authorities are taking to support partnership working and the range of benefits on offer to settings wh…

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of NHS Forth Valley consistently meeting fewer of its annual national performance targets than NHS Western Isles, what its position is on NHS Forth Valley receiving a 7.5% rise in funding per head of population since 2016-17 and NHS Western Isles receiving a 13.4% rise over the…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: NHS Forth Valley’s budget has increased by £41.8 million (8.6%) since 2016-17, taking the Board’s overall funding level to £527 million. The Scottish Government allocates funding to NHS Boards based on the NRAC formula. The NRAC formula takes into account fa…

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, in each year since 2016-17, NHS boards that received higher funding per head of population met more key national performance targets than those that received lower funding per head.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24852 on 17 September 2019. 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…

21 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the impact that the amount of funding per head of population that an NHS board receives has on its ability to meet performance targets.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government allocates funding to NHS Boards based on the NRAC formula. The NRAC formula takes into account factors in addition to population levels, including relative deprivation and need for healthcare of different NHS Board areas. The Scottish…