BANFFSHIRE and BUCHAN COAST Liberal Democrats

Responding to the Scottish Government's publication of its consultation on prisoner voting, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said:

"A blanket ban on prisoner voting flouts international law so change is long overdue.

"The change in heart by the SNP is welcome, after they voted down Liberal Democrat amendments that would have given some prisoners on short term sentences the vote in both the independence referendum and the last Holyrood elections.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Tavish Scott has today welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment on the Scottish Parliament's continuity bill.

Commenting on the judgment, Mr Scott said:

"I welcome this judgement from the Supreme Court and the clarity it brings.

"The judgement confirms 'the Scottish bill as a whole would not be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament', when we voted it through. What's more, the difference between the situation "before" and "after" passage of the UK Act gives weight to the view that the UK reduced the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called for the CAMHS budget to be boosted and for new mental health beds to be provided north of Dundee as a new report showed a rise in number of young people with mental illness being treated in non-specialist wards.

A new report from the Mental Welfare Commission published today states that 103 admissions were recorded nationally, involving 90 young people under the age of 18. This compares with 71 admissions involving 66 young people in the previous year. Almost all of these admissions were to adult wards, with five admissions to general paediatric wards.

Despite a decade of promises from the First Minister and the Scottish Government, communities that use the Argyll Ferries service from Dunoon to Gourock will be forced to rely on the good will of CalMac to continue the service.

In a session of First Minister Questions today, however, the SNP Leader failed to offer any reassurances for the route when quizzed by Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles. Instead she referred the issue to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport.

Responding to Fife council voting 41-26 in favour of abolishing P1 national testing in the region, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie said:

"Two months on from the Scottish Parliament's vote to end the SNP's national tests for P1s, and in the face of criticism from campaigners, teachers, parents and the EIS union, the Education Secretary continues to stubbornly plod on.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has today called for a Scottish budget which invests in people through education and mental health, and delivers a fair settlement for teachers and local government as he warned that the budget fails to address the challenges holding Scotland back.

Speaking after the Finance Secretary presented his budget to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Rennie said:

Speaking ahead of the publication of the draft Scottish budget the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie said:

"The Liberal Democrats have put forward constructive proposals for investing in mental health services, for a good pay deal for teachers and investment in local government services.

Responding to the publication of a GP headcount, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

"While the headcount has been steady, we know more GPs are opting to work part-time because of the pressures of the job.

"Earlier this year the Primary Care Workforce Survey showed a 'consistent decline' in the number of full-time GPs and the number of practices reporting stubborn vacancies soaring. I found posts lying vacant for two years.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today reprimanded the Scottish Government for poor planning and leaving NHS staff "in the lurch" as new statistics reveal A&E performance has dropped back well below the 90% target.

Official figures released today show performance against the 4-hour waiting time target at 87.9% - the lowest level since April.

Responding to the publication of data on the achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Tavish Scott MSP:

"The SNP Government scrapped the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy because it showed year after year of decline.

"Teachers and education experts have warned that it will now take years to build up the evidence of how our pupils are really getting on because of its replacement with a new system, underpinned by damaging national testing.