Scottish Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on education, economy and social justice
Willie Rennie MSP
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I questioned the education secretary about the provision of support for children with additional support needs.
The headline figures include a great variety of different needs, and the availability of skilled professional support staff has not kept up with demand for their services.
Willie Rennie MSP
Frequent changes to bus routes or the withdrawal of services altogether is disruptive to people's lives, making it difficult to get to work or to take up educational opportunities. That's why I want to see greater use of powers to franchise local bus services... 1/2
The substantial contracts which are being tendered for dualling the remaining sections of the A9 must include real community benefit and supply chain benefit along the route. I asked the business minister what lessons the government has learned from previous projects to achieve this.
Staff at the University of Dundee who are at risk of losing their jobs are facing terrible uncertainty. They have been living under that uncertainty for years now. 1/3
While there were acute and terrible failures of leadership at Dundee, the whole university sector is under pressure after years of underfunding from the Scottish Government and being forced into a risky reliance on income from international students. 2/3
That is why ministers need to be serious about fixing the funding model so that Dundee and other institutions can be put on stable foundations. 3/3
Sir Ian Boyd's report into the future of SRUC at Elmwood has been submitted to its board. While the report and his recommendations have not yet been published I hope that this will be a real opportunity for SRUC to commit to a long-term vision for the site, which has... 1/2
...been sorely lacking over recent years.
I asked the tertiary education minister to get behind the report when it is published and to make sure that it becomes a reality. 2/2
...so that local communities have greater control.
I have also welcomed the government's plans to cap the cost of bus fares, but ministers need to make sure that funding meets the needs of rural areas and doesn't inadvertently lead to a reduction in routes. 2/2
