Parliamentary questions

Liam McArthur

3,644 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

29 May 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the provision of mental health services in Orkney.

7 May 2019 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when road equivalent tariff will be fully introduced on Orkney and Shetland ferry routes.

7 May 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that firearms police were deployed to routine incidents that did not require a weapon more than 5,000 times in the last year.

29 Apr 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Police Federation describing some of the buildings in the police estate as being “unfit for human habitation”.

23 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of (a) the Victim Surcharge Fund and (b) Police Restitution Orders, and on what date each will be operational.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Regarding the Victim Surcharge Fund, and as set out in my answer to question S5O-02577 on 21 November 2018, we are seeking an Order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 to facilitate recovery of the surcharge via deduction from benefits and bring Scotla…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20504 by Humza Yousaf on 8 January 2019, whether it will provide the same data for (a) January, (b) February, (c) March and (d) April 2019.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: The following tables provide a breakdown of the average occupancy, design capacity and occupancy rate at each Scottish prison in 2019.…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15871 by Michael Matheson on 8 May 2018, whether it will provide the equivalent figures for (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The available information is provided in the following table, which has been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database . Please note: Information for 2018-19 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in S…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the recommendations in the report, Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland: review of implementation, should have led to Police Scotland making sectarian a mandatory marker for crime reporting and recording.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Professor Morrow’s report recommended that a review of hate crime legislation should consider how sectarianism and sectarian incidents could be integrated into a more general approach. Following the Justice Committee’s recommendation, in January 2018, that a…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in the report, Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland: review of implementation, that “a baseline study to enable a monitoring framework should be established by agreement with the Scottish Government, the football authorities, Police Scotland and other relevant…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Following discussions with the Scottish FA, SPFL, Police Scotland and other stakeholders, the football authorities agreed to collate data on unacceptable conduct in Scottish football for the first time from the start of season 2017-18. This data provides a b…

17 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has implemented the recommendations in the report, Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland: review of implementation, and whether it will provide a progress report on each recommendation.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Professor Morrow’s review itself provided an excellent independent evaluation of the progress that the Scottish Government and its partners have made in implementing the recommendations from the Advisory Group’s report – and, as such, the Scottish Government …

16 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21528 by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2019, what discussions it has had with the chief constable regarding the findings in DCC Taylor's report, and whether it will publish the outcome of these (a) discussions and (b) findings.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the Chief Constable regarding the content of DCC Taylor’s report. The investigation the report relates to will be for the Scottish Police Authority to take forward.

16 Apr 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that freight capacity on Northern Isles ferry routes meets future demand.

11 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21968 by Humza Yousaf on 21 March 2019, whether it will provide the data broken down by (a) white and (b) non-white, in addition to age and location.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Tables a) and b) show the prison population disaggregated by ethnicity and broken down further by age and prison establishment. Figures relate to a snapshot extracted from the Scottish Prison Service live operational database on 12th March 2019. Table a) Pr…

11 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many offences have been recorded under section (a) 2, (b) 3 and (c) 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in each local authority area in each year since 2013, and how many subsequent (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there were.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: (a), (c) The data received from Police Scotland for producing the National Statistics on Recorded Crime, is a simple count of the number of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded and cleared up. The nature of this data i…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21969 by Humza Yousaf on 20 March 2019, whether the shared approach with the Scottish Prison Service has been agreed and, if so, when the (a) plans for delivery will be in place and (b) data will be published.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service have agreed the outline of a shared approach to publishing further data. The content of these data and information will be based on user needs and policy requirements and published on an easily accessibl…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is promoting the development of zero waste shops.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government provides funding to Zero Waste Scotland, who distribute grants to zero waste shops and other organisations through the Zero Waste Town Development Fund and the Waste Prevention Implementation Fund. Zero Waste shops in St. Andrews, Glas…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide guidance to environmental health officers on what is permitted in zero waste shops to promote procedural consistency and minimise the use of plastics and other packaging materials.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Food Standard Scotland (FSS) provides Local Authorities’ Officers with relevant guidance and training and attends liaison group meetings in order to support the application of food law requirements. FSS also produces the Food Law Code of Practice, which has b…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of inconsistencies in the application of rules by environmental health departments or officers in relation to (a) food safety and (b) the use of containers at zero waste shops.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Food Standards Scotland (FSS) works closely with Local Authorities to ensure effective and consistent enforcement of food laws across all food businesses in Scotland. FSS is also responsible for producing and updating the Food Law Code of Practice, the latest…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available in each of the last five years to promote zero waste shops, and how much of this was distributed.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government provides funding to Zero Waste Scotland who distribute grants to various businesses through the Waste Prevention Implementation Fund (WPIF). The Waste Prevention Implementation Fund started in 2016 and has distributed in excess of £100…

5 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any complaints regarding the application of rules by environmental health departments or officers in relation to food safety or procedures at zero waste shops.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Food Standards Scotland (FSS) produces the Food Law Code of Practice, which has been updated and published in January 2019. FSS provides Local Authorities’ Officers with relevant guidance and training and attends liaison group meetings in order to support the…

3 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21910 by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2019, by what date it will announce details of its plans for school children's farm visits.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is continuing to progress with plans to meet the Programme for Government commitment and increase farm visits for school children in Scotland. Discussions are ongoing with potential providers and proposals are being developed. We plan …

1 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-18658 and S5W-18659 by Kevin Stewart on 7 September 2018, how much has been spent to date; how many homes (a) have been and (b) are being built, and how much of the fund it estimates will be spent by March 2021.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: £485,000 has been spent to date from the Islands Housing Fund. A total of four homes have been completed, with project approvals for a further eleven homes. Several Island Housing projects are completing their feasibility work and working towards full applica…