- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2019
Question to be taken in the Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2019
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 October 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the issues raised in the article in The Herald on 11 September 2019, "Doctor: Pension tax bill will force me to cut hours".
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the impact that Annual Allowance (AA) and Lifetime Allowance (LTA) tax charges are having on senior clinicians in Scotland. The Scottish Government is working with employers and the BMA to help mitigate this impact and has written to the UK Government on three occasions highlighting its concerns about the impact this reserved policy is having on the delivery of key NHS services in Scotland.
The level of any AA and LTA tax charges depends on an individual's circumstances. NHS pension scheme flexibilities that would allow affected senior clinicians to better manage their annual pensions growth, and therefore the impact of AA and LTA charges, are currently under consideration. These will build on the current option whereby a member can request the scheme pays their AA tax charge with a resulting deduction made to their pension. The UK Government is also undertaking a review of the impact the tapered AA is having on the delivery of public services and the Scottish Government will feed into that review.
This is under active consideration, and we are working closely with BMA Scotland and other stakeholders. If we can find a way of even partial mitigation where risk level is acceptable, we will implement any changes or option for flexibility across NHS Scotland.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2019
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2019
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 30 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue guidance to NHS employers setting out how they can provide flexibility in 2019-20 for senior clinical staff to do extra work without breaching limits for pensions tax relief, and whether it will allow affected staff to opt-out of the NHS pensions scheme mid-year with discretionary flexibility to maintain the value of clinicians’ total reward packages.
Answer
This is under active consideration, and we are working closely with BMA Scotland and other stakeholders. If we can find a way of even partial mitigation where risk level is acceptable, we will implement any changes or option for flexibility across NHS Scotland.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23958 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, how good practice and innovation will be shared across Scotland from the nine multi-agency local authority teams working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to increase uptake of the two-year-old funded early learning and childcare offer.
Answer
The Early Learning and Childcare Practicum is a 12 month programme supporting 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to increase awareness and uptake of the two-year-old funded offer, and to better understand the current barriers faced by families accessing the offer of funded ELC. The Scottish Government has been working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to support these 9 teams since September 2018.
The Practicum teams have used improvement methodology to identify practical changes that can help increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC amongst eligible families – for example improving the application process; upskilling staff; changing established practice across and within agencies; and providing additional support to parents/carers.
The Practicum will conclude later this month with a Celebration Event where each of the 9 teams will share their learning with colleagues from across their local authorities and Scottish Government. The Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative Improvement Advisors will then help to share change ideas that have successfully demonstrated improvements with all 32 local authorities, and offer further support to test in local areas and move to scale. We will also share learning from the Practicum at the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative annual Learning Session in November, and through the dedicated ELC Knowledge Hub space for local authorities.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019, what steps it is taking to increase the number of two-year-olds receiving more than 600 hours of funded ELC in order to meet the forecast figures.
Answer
The Scottish Government, COSLA, local authorities and sector organisations are working hard to increase awareness and uptake of the funded offer for 2 year olds, so that more children are able to benefit from high quality funded ELC at an earlier age. At a national level we are:
- working with the UK Government and UK Parliament to secure a legal gateway and data sharing agreement so that local authorities in Scotland can access accurate information about their eligible populations. This will help local authorities identify and promote the offer to families who are likely to be eligible;
- improving the information available to parents and carers to help them make informed decisions about ELC, for example through our new ELC Hub on Parent Club and information leaflets in BookBug bags for all 1 year olds;
- looking for opportunities to promote the offer through other services such as the Health Visiting Pathway and Financial Health Check, as well as making best use of new systems and capabilities, such as Best Start Grant, to join up our messaging about the services available to support families; and
- working with the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) to support 9 multi-agency Local Authority teams to use improvement methodology to address barriers to uptake of the offer, increase awareness and uptake of the 2 year old offer in their areas, and to share their learning with other local authorities.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of the figures set out in the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24897 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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019, what proportion of the eligible two-year-old population the 8,707 children that are forecast to take up more than 600 hours of funded ELC represents.
Answer
We estimate the eligible population to be around 14,000 children each year, based on population projections published by NRS and the eligibility criteria for the two year old offer. The Scottish Government does not have access to the full UK Government administrative data required to have a definitive figure for the number of eligible two year olds in Scotland.
The Improvement Service report published in July 2019 showed that local authorities are currently forecasting that 8,707 two year olds will access more than 600 hours of funded ELC by April 2021 – representing around 60% of the estimated eligible population. These are forecasts based on the best available information. Uptake of the funded ELC offer for eligible 2 year olds will of course depend on parental choice.
Local authorities are working in a variety of ways to increase awareness and uptake of funded ELC by eligible 2 year olds locally, working through a range of professionals and services who come into contact with potentially eligible families. My answers to S5W-24894 and S5W-24889 describe more of the work underway national and locally to help raise awareness and uptake.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23957 by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019, whether it will provide an update on the number of equity and excellence leads in post, and what additional action it is taking to fill any vacant posts.
Answer
We know that high quality early learning and childcare can play an important role in reducing the poverty related attainment gap. We have dedicated funding for 435 equity and excellent leads to work in all 32 local authorities with a focus on improving outcomes for children in the most deprived areas of Scotland.
Local authorities have reported that 92% of these posts have now been filled (398.5 full time equivalent posts).
Some posts have taken longer to recruit for than anticipated. This is partly because these roles can be very specialised and many local authorities have included additional criteria to ensure the most suitable, highly qualified candidates are in place to support children experiencing disadvantage.
With 92% of these posts filled, the Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with local authorities to fill the remaining 8% of posts by monitoring progress on a regular basis.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2019
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it received the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Progress Report dated June 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Government received the Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Delivery Report from the Improvement Service on 17 June 2019. It was discussed by the Joint Delivery Board on 25 June 2019.
