WILLIE Rennie has claimed that Liberal Democrats have been shown to be the most rigorous in scrutinising the Scottish Government, after new figures revealed his MSPs asked more questions than their counterparts from any other party.

The most up to date statistics show that LibDems asked 2,416 written questions in the first four-and-a-half years of the last Holyrood term, translating to 483 queries each for its five MSPs.

Scottish Labour MSPs asked 13,019 questions, but as the party had far more representation in the Parliament, the average questions per MSP was 342. The Scottish Tories asked 201 questions on average each, while for SNP members, the figure was 38.

MSPs are able to submit questions to Scottish ministers on any topic they want, with the queries typically answered within 10 days in which parliament is sitting. It is estimated that each question costs on average £100 to answer, meaning a total bill across all parties of more than £2 million.

Mr Rennie said: "These figures are testament to just how much Scottish Liberal Democrats MSPs punched above their weight in the last Parliament.

"Voters want elected representatives who can be trusted to hold the government to account. Instead, what they got in the last election was a herd of backbenchers who nodded through £500 million in council cuts and the creation of Police Scotland without a single voice dissenting

"MSPs should be making sure government is working for voters. These figures prove Liberal Democrats have the strongest record in parliament of making sure ministers are actually doing that. We have the guts to challenge ministers and provide the scrutiny government so desperately needs."