Questions and answers

Question reference: S5F-03145

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-21887

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 8 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that lenders’ confidence in the (a) social housing and (b) other sectors will continue following Brexit, and what contingency measures are planned to mitigate any adverse outcomes.

In the face of the UK Government’s continuing reckless approach, a no deal exit increasingly appears to be the most likely outcome and therefore as a responsible government we have stepped up our no deal preparations. Ministers and senior government officials are in regular contact with banks operating in Scotland to discuss the implications of Brexit and wider economic issues. The Scottish Housing Regulator, who is accountable to Scottish Ministers, is responsible for the regulation of social housing and one of its key functions is to monitor and assess the financial well-being of Registered Social Landlords. It has an explicit objective to help to maintain lender, investor and public funder confidence in social housing. In December 2018, UK Finance, the representative body for private lenders and investors in social housing noted that : “Funders to Scottish RSLs take great comfort from the current approach of the Scottish Housing Regulator, which is risk-based and proportionate.”

A £30 million deal between Swedish lender Handelsbanken and Southside Housing Association in Glasgow to finance new build properties and improvements announced on 5 March demonstrates lenders continuing confidence. This is the banks debut in Scotland’s social housing market.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to safeguarding, as far as we are able to do so, the interests of all sectors and businesses in Scotland at this uncertain time. Our focus is about mitigating any drop in economic activity, ensuring access to finance remains open so we can seek to keep businesses operating and removing constraints for businesses to trade. In February the Scottish Government launched a public information website to provide important advice around issues such as transport, food, medicines and citizens’ rights. It is available at www.mygov.scot/euexit . This will be regularly reviewed and updated, in order to ensure that the latest information is made available.

As part of our support for business, the multi-agency Prepare for Brexit website www.prepareforbrexit.scot offers practical advice which can help to safeguard, as much as possible in these circumstances, a company’s own growth, and that of the Scottish economy. Businesses can access advice, online self-assessment toolkits, book onto learning events, and apply for a £4000 readiness preparation grant.

While we are doing everything we can to prepare, we will not be able to mitigate all of the impacts following Brexit. It is therefore vital that all sectors, including the housing sector, make the necessary preparations and are as resilient as they can be.

Question reference: S5O-02950

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to reduce the amount of plastic nurdles on beaches.

Question reference: S5F-03088

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-03063

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 18 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-21098

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 31 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been saved each year by the NHS following the introduction of altruistic kidney donations under the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006.

It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the savings to the NHS each year following the introduction of altruistic kidney donations under the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 as circumstances will vary from patient to patient. In particular, the level of savings in Scotland will vary depending on: whether the recipient of the transplant lives in Scotland and whether and for how long their transplanted kidney continues to function effectively.

However, in general terms, NHS National Services Scotland’s National Services Division estimated in its publication Commissioning Transplantation to 2020 that the average living donor transplant costs £55,532 and that on average dialysis costs £33,000 per patient per year (estimates as at 2014). Therefore, in cases where the a transplant is successful, this would normally lead to savings for the NHS for that particular transplant recipient within two years.

Since 2006, there have been 64 recipients of altruistic living donor transplants in Scotland.

Question reference: S5F-03016

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 January 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-02991

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 21 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 January 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-02929

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2019

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-20492

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what results and outcomes of primary 1 assessments it received from Fife Council in 2018, and what its response was.

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