Parliamentary questions
Liam McArthur
3,644 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which training and learning opportunities it has delivered to develop the role of nurse sexual offence examiners.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to developing the role of nurse sexual offence examiners.The Scottish Government and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have together supported a test of change involving Queen Margaret University nurse graduat…
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Scottish Police Federation regarding the issue of post-traumatic support for officers.
Answer · Angela Constance: The welfare of officers within Police Scotland are a matter for the Chief Constable.Post-traumatic support is offered to all officers and staff who are directly involved in potentially traumatic incidents. I am aware that on 29 May Police Scotland indicated t…
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Police Scotland to discuss the reported issue of minimum police staffing levels not being met, and what was discussed.
Answer · Angela Constance: The deployment of officers and staff are a matter for the Chief Constable.I have regular meetings with the Chief Constable where we discuss relevant issues. Minutes of these meetings can be found at: Police Scotland and Scottish Government meeting: June 2025 …
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted on the issue of minimum police staffing levels not being met, which has reportedly had a detrimental impact on the mental health of the police force.
Answer · Angela Constance: The deployment and management of police officers are matters for the Chief Constable.The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26, an increase of almost £90 million of additional funding from the 2024-25 budge…
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Scottish Police Federation to discuss the reported impact of police officers’ rest days being cancelled, and what was discussed.
Answer · Angela Constance: While deployment of resources and any subsequent impact are operational matters for Police Scotland, I regularly meet with the Scottish Police Federation and previously met them on 11 June 2025, where we discussed the health and wellbeing of the workforce and…
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted on the issue of the cancellation of police officers’ rest days, which has reportedly had a detrimental impact on officers’ mental health.
Answer · Angela Constance: The deployment and management of Police Officers are matters for the Chief Constable. However, I am aware that the cancellation of rest days can be due to a number of reasons, including attendance at court and the policing of events.The Scottish Government is…
7 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Police Scotland officers have been signed off work for mental health reasons in each of the last five years.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold this information as this is a matter for the Chief Constable.I am pleased that Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, direct ac…
1 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what structures are in place for determining the allocation of public funding to inquiries.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Public Inquiries which are established under the Inquiries Act 2005 are independent of the Scottish Government. Public Inquiries relevant costs under the Inquiries Act 2005 are funded via the sponsoring Ministerial portfolio within the Scottish Government, bu…
1 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, for the purpose of Freedom of Information, which public body is considered to "hold" information relating to the direct staffing and remuneration costs associated with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, if not the Scottish Government itself.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005 are not designated as Scottish public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). As the member may be aware, information held by other authorities about the…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38831 by Tom Arthur on 4 July 2025, what its position is on whether (a) section 298 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 sets out a legal obligation on (i) Police Scotland as a corporate body or (ii) the individual police of…
Answer · Tom Arthur: Section 298 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 establishes a legal obligation which applies at both at an organisational level to Police Scotland, and to the individual officer carrying out a place of safety removal. The constable w…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £98.7 million core running costs for the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) to date, by (a) secretariat costs, (b) legal team fees, (c) expert adviser fees, (d) overheads and (e) other.
Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to information recently submitted to the Finance & Public Administration Committee which is available on the parliament website at Costeffectiveness of Scottish public inquiries Letter from SCAI of 22 May 2025 | Scottish Parliament Webs…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the air weapon certificates applied for in 2024 under section 3 of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, are still to be processed as of 31 July 2025.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: Air Weapons licensing statistics are published by Police Scotland annually, including details of outstanding applications. As of 7 August 2025 there are currently 12 applications that remain outstanding from 2024 for a variety of reasons. Police Scotland will…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many offences involving air weapons were recordedbetween (a) 2009 and 2016 and (b) 2017 and 2024.
Answer · Angela Constance: The following table shows the number of offences involving the alleged use of an air weapon (where identified) between 2009-10 and 2021-22. This has been split into two time periods, 2009-10 to 2014-15 and 2015-16 to 2021-22. The reason for this specific spli…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many air weapon certificate applications were rejected under section 5 of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, in each year since 2017.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: Air Weapons licensing statistics are published by Police Scotland annually. Available data only reaches as far back as 2018, Police Scotland have rejected the following amounts of applications for each year from 2018, including renewal applications:2018-19 - …
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many air weapon certificate applications were granted under section 5 of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, in each year since 2017.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: Air Weapons licensing statistics are published by Police Scotland annually. Available data only reaches as far back as 2018, Police Scotland have granted the following amounts of applications for each year from 2018, including renewal applications:2018-19 - 7…
31 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many air weapon certificates were applied for under section 3 of the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, in each year since 2017.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: Air Weapons licensing statistics are published by Police Scotland annually. Available data only reaches as far back as 2018, Police Scotland have received the following amounts of applications for each year from 2018, including renewal applications:2018-19 - …
3 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reviewing and updating the cross-compliance requirements for semi-natural grasslands, in light of new cross-compliance requirements coming into effect for peatlands and wetlands under the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions standards.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: There are no plans at this time to introduce new requirements for semi-natural grasslands. Semi-natural grasslands sit within the definition of ‘rough grazing or other semi-natural areas’ which are currently protected under Cross Compliance. Requi…
18 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38218 by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025, what analysis it has undertaken to explore to what extent the reported reduction in the number of people detained in police stations under a place of safety order may simply reflect missing data, rather than an a…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of individuals detained in police custody under place of safety orders. This data is collected and held by Police Scotland.The Scottish Government is taking steps to strengthen data collection and evalu…
18 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38218 by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025, whether it has attempted to estimate the "true" proportion of people detained in police stations under a place of safety order, adjusting for any missing data and data collection practices, and, if so, what estim…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of individuals detained in police custody under place of safety orders. This data is collected and held by Police Scotland.The Scottish Government is taking steps to strengthen data collection and evalu…
18 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38220 by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025, what analysis it has carried out of whether missing data may reflect a failure to fulfil the legal obligations set out in section 298 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, and, in the eve…
Answer · Tom Arthur: Section 298 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 sets out a legal obligation on Police Scotland to notify the Mental Welfare Commission of instances when a relevant person is removed to a place of safety under section 297 of this Act.…
18 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-38221 and S6W-38222 by Marie Todd on 17 June 2025, whether its answer means that fewer than five people under 18 have been subject to a place of safety order in each of the last five years, and, if this is not the case, in which of the last five y…
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Mental Welfare Commission publish an annual monitoring report on the use of the Mental Health Act which breaks down the percentage of individuals subject to a place of safety order by age. The publication does not provide the number of people subject to a…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38210 by Alasdair Allan on 9 June 2025, what analysis it has undertaken regarding the factors cited; whether those factors will affect the achievement of its heat in buildings decarbonisation goals, and what action it plans to take to affect pattern…
Answer · Mairi McAllan: In 2023 we published a Heat in Buildings Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (Heat in buildings monitoring and evaluation Framework - gov.scot). This described the different elements that need to come together to enable us to deliver the heat transition and i…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38212 by Alasdair Allan on 9 June 2025, what its position is on whether the reported relative slowdown of heat pump installations in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK is compatible with the trajectory required to install enough heat pumps to…
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Emissions in the buildings sector have decreased 31% since 1990 - mainly due to heating system and energy efficiency improvements. However, we know we need to go further and faster. That is why we will introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill this year which sets a…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include any provisions in the proposed Heat in Buildings Bill specifically relating to buildings in rural and island areas.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: In April, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, former Minister for Climate Action, made a statement to Parliament that set out the Scottish Government’s plans to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill later this session. He outlined that the Bill would include provisions…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to ensure that owners of traditional and listed buildings will receive sufficient support to retrofit these buildings in advance of any move to higher energy performance certificate (EPC) standards.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is committed to improving energy efficiency and decarbonising heating systems in Scotland’s buildings to support improvements in fuel poverty and to help meet our climate target to reach net zero by 2045.We have committed to inve…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has carried out regarding retrofitting traditional or listed buildings in rural and island areas.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Scottish Government officials have engaged with analytical specialists and key stakeholders, such as Historic Environment Scotland, to ensure that any proposals for retrofitting traditional buildings or listed buildings in rural and island areas are flexible …
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22416 by Patrick Harvie on 8 November 2023, which stakeholders it (a) has subsequently had and (b) plans to have discussions with on this topic.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: We discuss the Scottish Government’s commitment to improving energy efficiency and decarbonising heating systems in Scotland’s buildings with a range of stakeholders on a regular basis to support improvements in fuel poverty and to help meet our c…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22415 by Patrick Harvie on 8 November 2023, what discussions it has subsequently had with Historic Environment Scotland on this topic.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: We are continuing to engage with Historic Environment Scotland to consider the particular needs of Scotland’s traditionally constructed homes, protected, and historic buildings in taking forward our commitments to decarbonise.The Scottish Government is …
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding virtual attendance at criminal court, whether it remains its position that "all stakeholders are of the view that the provisions…work well as currently framed", in light of the comments by the (a) Faculty of Advocates that "valuable court time is regularly lost due to d…
Answer · Angela Constance: The provisions of the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill will make permanent the legislative framework for virtual attendance at criminal courts first introduced over five years ago. This approach has been ex…
12 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs’ letter of 3 June 2025 to the Criminal Justice Committee, which partners and stakeholders have been engaged with regarding the issue of virtual attendance at criminal court, since the conclusion of the stage 1 debate on…
Answer · Angela Constance: The Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Bill seeks to make permanent a number of measures introduced over five years ago through emergency legislation designed to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Thi…