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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: S6F-00095

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2021

To ask the First Minister, in light of the growth in short-term teaching contracts, how many of the 3,500 teaching and classroom assistant posts that the Scottish Government has committed to creating will be given permanent contracts.

Question reference: S6W-00197

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 3 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to return funds to Jamaica held by the Dick Bequest Trust, which were reportedly made in slave trading.

We recognise Scotland’s part in historic injustices like the transatlantic slave trade and Empire. We are determined to acknowledge and learn from our past and the role Scotland played. We must also focus on making sure we deliver positive outcomes for the minority ethnic people of Scotland now. A number of our Programme for Government 2020 – 21 commitments focus on recognising Scotland’s role, how we educate ourselves about our past and raise awareness of these events to the wider public.

Scottish Ministers are not aware of any powers that they have which would allow them to direct a charity such as the Dick Bequest Trust to require any return of money in the way that is being suggested. Scottish Ministers are actively considering the associated issues raised in a recent Press and Journal article as well as a letter addressed to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and will respond in due course.

Question reference: S6O-00016

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to reports of Danish and Swedish boats intensively fishing for sand eels just off the Firth of Forth.

Question reference: S6W-00175

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 11 February 2021 from the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy to the Finance and Constitution Committee, whether it will provide a breakdown of the commercial fees (a) received and (b) it expects to receive in future, and the dates and value of these fees.

Question reference: S6W-00172

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the milestone payment scheduled for March 2021 was delivered by the GRG Alliance to the Scottish Government-controlled project account, as reported to the Finance and Constitution Committee by the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy in a letter of 11 February 2021; how much the payment was scheduled to be worth, and whether this was met in full.

Milestone payments are inter-company payments related to planned investment at the Lochaber smelter and are not payments due to the Scottish Government. No payments due from GFG Alliance companies to the Scottish Government are outstanding. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, we do not publish details of compliance with commercial contractual terms although such information may be shared in confidence with the Finance and Constitution Committee where appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-00173

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence it undertook prior to agreeing (a) the initial Lochaber Contingent Liability with the GFG Alliance and (b) the revised business plan.

Question reference: S6W-00174

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will immediately conduct a review of its agreements, documentation and contacts with the GFG Alliance in light of reports that the Serious Fraud Office has initiated an investigation into the GFG Alliance.

Question reference: S6W-00171

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 11 February 2021 from the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy to the Finance and Constitution Committee, whether it will provide an update on the progress since that date of (a) Project Silver, (b) Project Corpach and (c) Project Loch; how many additional jobs it anticipates each will create, and how this compares to the original business plan.

The GFG Alliance continues to invest in and progress its expansion plans for its Fort Williams operations and has published details on the ALVANCE Aluminium website https://alvancealuminiumgroup.com/news/expansion-plans-fort-william/ .

The GFG Alliance’s new investment plans still require to go through the formal planning approval process with the Highland Council. Depending planning approvals, the business has indicated that the new integrated business plan and associated developments will secure the long-term future of the Fort William aluminium smelter, safeguarding 200 direct local jobs and creating 70 new direct high quality roles.

Question reference: S6T-00019

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 May 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the reported security flaw in the vaccination status letter has been resolved, and whether it will provide an update on the provision and use of vaccine passports for both international and domestic purposes.

Question reference: S5W-35016

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, by what date it will provide a substantive response to question S5W-33758, which received a holding answer on 17 December 2020.

With reference to question S5W-33758: To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects people with cancer to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, we refer the member to the previous answer:

To save lives, The Scottish Government is following the vaccination priority list published by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on 2nd December. Individuals with cancer are considered a priority and are due to be vaccinated in cohort 4 in the below priority list where they are considered clinically extremely vulnerable to the severe effects of COVID. The full JCVI priority list is currently:

1) residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

2) all those 80 years of age and over, and frontline health and social care workers

3) all those 75 years of age and over

4) all those 70 years of age and over, and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

5) all those 65 years of age and over

6) all those 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

7) all those 60 years of age and over

8) all those 55 years of age and over

9) all those 50 years of age and over

Patients with cancer may also be prioritised more quickly for the vaccine depending on their age, and individual circumstances.

Decisions to prioritise one population group over another are not taken lightly, nor are they straightforward. That is why our prioritisation decisions have been, and will continue to be, guided by the independent expert advice from the JCVI.

We are working to get vaccines to everyone as quickly as we can, and hope to have vaccinated all those on the JCVI prioritisation list by the end of spring 2021, vaccine supplies permitting.