Liam McArthur

7 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21539 by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2019, whether the data provided on the prison population, disaggregated by ethnicity, can be broken down further, by (a) age and (b) location.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This document has been placed with the Parliaments reference centre, bib number 60545.

7 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21538 by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2019, when it expects to have agreed a mechanism to publish data captured by operational databases with the Scottish Prison Service. 

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service aims to have agreed a shared approach to publishing further data by end March 2019. Timelines for publishing this further data will be shared following formal agreement of the approach and once accompan…

6 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its response to the Freedom of Information request FOI/19/00340, regarding the provision of a breakdown of the time delay between the imposition and start of community payback order work placements for 2017-18, how many of the orders referred to in the response were delayed e…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The information is provided in the following table:     Time between imposition of order and start  of work placement Reason for work placement starting later than 7 working days after order imposed Person currently on order or  supervision Person ill(1…

6 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-01532 by Humza Yousaf on 5 March 2019 (Official Report, c. 3), what monitoring it carries out to assess the extent of sectarian and violent behaviour associated with football.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: While Police Scotland collects data in relation to behaviour at and around football matches and the Scottish FA and the SPFL collate data on unacceptable conduct inside football grounds, the Scottish Government does not directly monitor unacceptable conduct a…

4 Mar 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what new measures it is considering to address sectarianism and violent behaviour associated with football.

4 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in providing all primary school pupils with an opportunity to visit a farm to increase awareness about how food is produced; what resources it will allocate over each of the next three years to meet this objective, and what milestones have been set.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is making good progress in its plans to meet its Programme for Government commitment and increase farm visits for school children in Scotland. Discussions have taken place with potential providers and proposals are being developed. We …

27 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S5T-01518 by Ash Denham on 26 February 2019 (Official Report, c. 8), whether the review will consider (a) the whole fatal accident inquiry process, including the protracted timescales, structural barriers and public confidenc…

Answer · Ash Denham: As previously stated, the commitment given was that the issue of legal aid for families involved in fatal accident inquiries will be considered as part of wider planned reforms to legal aid legislation arising from the Independent Review of Legal Aid. The Sco…

20 Feb 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the principle of fair funding for internal ferry services in Orkney and Shetland.

15 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) cholesterol and (b) prostate checks are publicly available, and what programmes are in place to encourage people to undertake these.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) an independent expert advisory group. The UK NSC does not currently recommend screening for prostate or cholesterol a…

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the Saltire Prize Committee has met since its establishment, and whether it will place a copy of the minutes of all of these meetings in SPICe.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Saltire Prize Committee has met or held teleconference discussions with officials on the following dates:03 October 200802 December 200822 & 23 April 200907 October 201022 March 201122 March 201218 March 201317 May 201318 March 201424 April 201508 May 201…

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the home page of the Saltire Prize website continues to state that “the competition guidelines are currently under review”.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund was launched on 10 February 2019 and so the website could not be updated before this date. The Saltire Prize website was subsequently updated on 12 February 2019 to provide details of the new fund.

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Scottish Government has spent on the Saltire Prize in each year since it was launched, broken down by the costs for its (a) launch, (b) events, (c) administration, (d) rebranding, (e) rescoping, (f) staffing, (g) expenses and (h) other functions.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Whilst our aim is to provide the information requested whenever possible, unfortunately in this instance the Scottish Government does not have all of the information you have requested. This is because the Scottish Government Enterprise Accounting System (SEA…

11 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date funds from the Saltire Fund will be distributed.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund is open for applications until 06 December 2019 or until the fund is exhausted. A total of up to £10 million is available through the fund. Individual applications are invited for funding of up to £5 million which must…

7 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a demographic breakdown of the current prison population, disaggregated by ethnicity.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The following table shows the prison population on 18 th February 2019, disaggregated by ethnicity: Ethnicity Number of prisoners % of total prison population African 53 1% Asian, Asian ScottishOr Asian British 130 2% Caribbean Or Black 45 1% Mix…

7 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the "technical issue" that is currently affecting data from 2014-15 on its Crime and Justice – Publications – Prisons webpage.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government holds detailed historical prison population data up to 2014. This dataset was used to produce the annual prison statistics reports published on the Scottish Government website. As explained in the answer to S5W-20884 on 30 January 201…

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-01479 by Humza Yousaf on 5 February 2019 (Official Report, c 7), whether it will provide an update on its scrutiny of the reported allegations of mismanagement and a cover-up at the former Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency after the relevan…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This is an operational policing matter and it is important to let Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority determine their response before considering any further options around the scrutiny or investigation of these allegations. The Chief Constable…

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-01479 by Humza Yousaf on 5 February 2019 (Official Report, c 7), how many complaints it has received regarding the reported allegations of mismanagement and a cover-up at the former Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has found no record of any historic complaint on this issue, but this would have been a matter for SCDEA at that time, which was accountable to the board of the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA). Complaints against the Police a…

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government under what protocol might it invite another police force to carry out an investigation into policing in Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable but I will be seeking assurances from the SPA, as the body responsible for the governance of Police Scotland, that it is satisfied that this matter is being investigated appropriately and that Police Scotl…

4 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the document, Thematic Review of Police Scotland’s approach to the development and operational delivery of the Annual Police Plan (2018-19), regarding the impact of reductions to police staffing levels.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s report Thematic Review of Police Scotland’s approach to the development and operational delivery of the Annual Police Plan (2018-19) makes recommendations for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Pol…

4 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police staff have been employed by Police Scotland each year, broken down by division and unit.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Information on the number of support staff employed by Police Scotland is not held centrally. Police Scotland have recently started to publish the number of support staff working across each of the 13 local policing divisions as part of the Police Officer Num…

4 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the Scottish Police Authority and (b) Police Scotland regarding (i) pay for and (ii) the retention of police staff.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Regular Scottish Government discussions with Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland have noted that they expect to receive a pay claim from Trade Unions in due course. Recent discussions have focused on the Staff Pay Reward and Modernisation project (S…

4 Feb 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported allegations of mismanagement and a cover-up at the former Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

1 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20018 by Clare Haughey on 28 November 2018, when the proportional allocation of mental health professionals will be made public.

Answer · Clare Haughey: Based on the information received from the Integration Authorities in respect of the first quarterly update on Action 15, 106 additional mental health workers have been recruited as of 1 January 2019. The settings these workers are based in are as follows: A…

22 Jan 2019 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will conclude procurement of the R100 programme, and whether it expects to meet the target of 100% superfast broadband coverage by 2021.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Procurement for the R100 programme will conclude this year. We will inform Parliament, once specific timescales for contract award become clearer. We have specified a target for completion by the end of 2021.

22 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which prisons have operational multi-disciplinary mental health teams, and how many members they have, broken down by their (a) role and (b) job title.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: Each prison in Scotland, including the 2 privately run prisons, has a multi-disciplinary mental health team (MDMHT) in place. The MDM…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NFU Scotland regarding the potential for developing anaerobic digestion projects.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: As part of our Agri-Renewable Strategy, the Scottish Government has engaged in the Renewables Development Initiative led by National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS). This was a three year programme aiming to provide practical knowledge to land managers and farm…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what strategy it has for the development of anaerobic digestion projects.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: In Scotland's Energy Strategy, published in December 2017, we commited to developing a Bioenergy Action Plan for Scotland. This will provide clearer scope for the development of bioenergy in the Scottish energy system, including Anaerobic Digestion. Our appro…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for groups that want to take forward anaerobic digestion projects.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging and promoting renewable technologies, such as anaerobic digestion in Scotland. We recognise that energy from anaerobic digestion, as part of a diverse energy mix, can contribute to our renewable targets, and…

15 Jan 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many anaerobic digestion projects there are, and what targets have been set for the development of projects over the next (a) five and (b) 10 years.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Based on research recently commissioned to support the development of a Bioenergy Action Plan for Scotland, there are currently a reported 38 biogas to CHP sites in Scotland (excluding those at sewage treatment plants). Of these sites, 16 are waste fed and 22…

14 Jan 2019 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its projections are for the prison population, in light of statistics showing that the majority are at or above capacity.