Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-02339

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the second appliance at Methil Fire Station will be withdrawn from service by 4 September 2023.

Question reference: S6W-18164

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the extension of the Delivering Equally Safe Fund until March 2025, whether it has taken steps to ensure that rape crisis centres are able to apply for additional funding before the introduction of its proposed new funding model for specialist services for women and girls affected by gender-based violence.

In March 2022, the Scottish Government agreed that the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) funding period should be extended beyond September 2023, to allow suitable lead in time for a new funding model to be developed, following the conclusion of the Independent Strategic Funding Review.

Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) and its centres will continue to receive Delivering Equally Safe (DES) Funding until March 2025, along with all the other DES funded projects.

Ministers will consider the Funding Review findings when they are published on 6 June.

Question reference: S6O-02307

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it will take to reverse the reported decline of NHS dentistry.

Question reference: S6W-18072

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what year it anticipates ending fuel poverty, and whether it has set any interim targets to meet this aim.

Our Fuel Poverty (Scotland) Act 2019 came into law in July 2019.

It is the most ambitious fuel poverty legislation in the UK and sets challenging targets that in 2040 (including at local authority level) as far as reasonably possible:

no more than 5% of households in Scotland are fuel poor,
no more than 1% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £250 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

This includes interim targets for 2035 and 2030 (which only require to be met at national level).

2035:

no more than 10% of households in Scotland are in fuel poverty,
no more than 3% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £300 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

2030:

no more than 15% of households in Scotland are in fuel poverty,
no more than 5% of households in Scotland are in extreme fuel poverty,
the median fuel poverty gap of households in Scotland in fuel poverty is no more than £350 adjusted to take account of changes in the value of money.

Our Fuel Poverty Strategy published in December 2021 sets out a comprehensive range of actions to address the four drivers of fuel poverty, especially for those at highest risk, and in working towards meeting our statutory targets. These actions have been informed by evidence, including lived experience, and learning from the changing context in response to the global pandemic and climate emergency.

In addition, we are presently consulting on the strategy’s next steps with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, established under the 2019 Act, and appointed in January 2022, to provide independent advice to Scottish Ministers on fuel poverty and scrutiny of our progress towards delivering 2040 fuel poverty targets.

The Scottish Government will continue to use the powers available to them to tackle fuel poverty, and has called on the UK government to assist in that goal by reforming energy regulation to address the root cause of fuel poverty which is the cost of fuel to households. The Scottish Government can mitigate some of the impacts of this root cause, but urgent action is required in reserved areas to bring the cost of fuel bills down.

Question reference: S6W-17815

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 24 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason referrals to Warmer Homes Scotland have been paused from 31 March 2023 until October 2023.

The current Warmer Homes Scotland contract is drawing to a close and new applications for the scheme have now ended to allow for the current customer journeys to be completed before the end of the contract. All applications received from 1 April 2023 will be assessed by Home Energy Scotland under the eligibility criteria for the successor scheme and will be passed to the managing agent for delivery when the new contract goes live on 2 October 2023. The successor scheme will run for a minimum of 5 years and the contract includes the option to extend a further 2 years which would see the programme run until October 2030.

Warmer Homes Scotland is continuing to provide energy efficiency measures to fuel poor households. Improvements will continue to be installed up until the end of the current Warmer Homes Scotland contract on 29 September 2023.

The successor scheme expands significantly on the offer of the previous scheme with a greater focus on deep, whole-house retrofit and zero emissions heating where this is not detrimental to the fuel poverty objectives. This new approach requires significant preparation from the managing agent and sub-contractors which will take place between now and October.

Scottish Goernment funded support for households is still available through the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loans Scheme, Area Based Schemes and the Fuel Insecurity Fund.

Question reference: S6W-17247

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Information Commissioner's Office finding that North Ayrshire Council's use of facial recognition in schools was "deployed in a manner that is likely to have infringed data protection law", whether it will consider a ban on the use of biometric technology in schools.

The introduction of biometric identification systems is a matter for local authorities and schools to decide upon at local level.

Our position is clear that the views of parents, pupils and school staff should be taken into account as part of any decision-making process to introduce and implement biometric identification systems. Furthermore, information collected through a biometric system must, like all personal data, be processed fairly and lawfully in line with data protection law.

Question reference: S6O-02191

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to reverse the reported decline of NHS dentistry.

Question reference: S6W-15927

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the national service specification for secure transport that it is developing jointly with COSLA, whether it plans to appoint the Care Inspectorate to monitor compliance with the specification.

The Care Inspectorate are members of the working group which is exploring how to address issues facing local authorities in relation to secure transport.

The service specification for secure transport is still in development. Multi-agency discussions are ongoing about how that will be used in local authority commissioning arrangements.

We will consider the implications of changing the legislative and regulatory framework to make it possible to bring scrutiny of secure transport arrangements within the remit of the Care Inspectorate.

Question reference: S6W-15785

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has made available to implement the Data Strategy for health and social care; for how long it plans to fund the implementation of the strategy, and by when it expects the actions in the strategy to be implemented.

Scotland's first Data Strategy for Health & Social Care brings together a range of existing activity, along with its associated funding. The Strategy provides a framework for how improvements to data will be driven forward to the benefit of the people of Scotland.

A newly formed Data Board for Health and Social Care will oversee the delivery of the Strategy and any investment cases required to progress specific actions. The Board will also consider what further work is required for the next iterations of the Data Strategy.

Delivering the principles and priorities set out in the Strategy should be seen as a long term commitment of the Scottish Government and COSLA. Implementation of each iteration of the Strategy will be accompanied by a delivery plan.

Question reference: S6O-02076

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to deliver superfast broadband to 100% of premises by 2021.

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