Liam McArthur

12 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the reported criminal trials backlog had been cleared as of March 2025, and, if it does not consider it has been cleared, when it anticipates it will be.

Answer · Angela Constance: The total number of scheduled trials outstanding peaked at 43,606 in January 2022 (from c18,000 pre-pandemic) and had reduced to 18,355 in the most current SCTS publication (May 2025). This significantly reduces the waiting time in which victims, witnesses an…

12 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what metric it would use to determine (a) whether and (b) when any criminal trials backlog has been cleared.

Answer · Angela Constance: Court scheduling is a matter for SCTS and as a result there is no metric set by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service publish monthly criminal case data, including volumes, trends, and outstanding trials. They also publish informa…

12 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the definition of "backlog" as referring to "the outstanding scheduled trials that are above the normal operating capacity of 20,000", as set out in the 2023 Auditor General report, Criminal courts backlog.

Answer · Angela Constance: The definition of “backlog” in this context is referred to by the Auditor General report as the increase in criminal court cases waiting to be heard during the Covid 19 pandemic. At its peak, this reached 43,606 cases in January 2022.The number of…

12 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the reported statement by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service that the "normal volume" of scheduled criminal trials for an "efficient system" is 20,000 is (a) accurate and (b) reasonable.

Answer · Angela Constance: SCTS is independent of Scottish Government and therefore entrusted to make determinations of what an efficient system for them looks like and what a normal volume of scheduled criminal trials would be.

12 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service regarding reports that the number of scheduled criminal trails has fallen below 20,000.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service meet on a regular basis to discuss the data that SCTS publish monthly in terms of court business. The current publication is showing the number of outstanding scheduled trials at the end of…

11 Jun 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Orkney Islands Council regarding any support needed to allow development projects to be taken forward to tackle the reported growing demand for housing in the islands.

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals were taken to police stations under section 297 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in 2024-25.

Answer · Maree Todd: The data for 2024-25 is not yet available; the Mental Welfare Commission is currently in the process of extracting and validating this data. It will be included in the Commission’s Mental Health Act Monitoring report 2024-25 which is due to be published…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many place of safety orders were made in 2024-25.

Answer · Maree Todd: The data for 2024-25 is not yet available; the Mental Welfare Commission is currently in the process of extracting and validating this data. It will be included in the Commission’s Mental Health Act Monitoring report 2024-25 which is due to be published…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 18 have been taken to healthcare facilities under a place of safety order in each of the last five years.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Mental Welfare Commission publishes percentage of all place of safety orders under 18 but not the numbers.In addition, the Commission does not publish numbers that small: as a rule it suppresses any figures equal to and under 5 and in some cases it uses s…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 18 have been detained in police stations under section 297 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in each of the last five years.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Mental Welfare Commission publishes percentage of all place of safety orders under 18 but not the numbers.In addition, the Commission does not publish numbers that small: as a rule it suppresses any figures equal to and under 5 and in some cases it uses s…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason data is missing from the Mental Health Act Monitoring Report 2023-24 on the number of individuals who were taken to either a healthcare facility or a police station under a place of safety order.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland continues to work collaboratively with Police Scotland to understand why a proportion of data is missing and to resolve this issue.

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that healthcare facilities have physical capacity for individuals detained under a place of safety order.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government published the Core Standards for Mental Health to help improve the quality of mental health services. The standards highlight that people, including those in crisis, should have timely access to mental health services, with clear commu…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it plans to do to ensure a reduction in the number of people detained in police stations under a place of safety order.

Answer · Maree Todd: The proportion of orders where an individual was taken to a police station as a place of safety has differed over the years but has decreased from 6.6% in 2014-15 to 1.8% in 2023-24.Additionally, following the publication of HMICS’ thematic review of po…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the reported relative slowdown of heat pump installations in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government has made significant early progress through our delivery schemes, with heat pump deployment increasing year on year. The rest of the UK is now catching up on pace of delivery, having adopted a similar approach to our existing grant off…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether current heat pump installation rates are on track to meet Scotland’s goals on decarbonisation.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Our goal remains to decarbonise the heat in Scotland’s buildings by 2045. We are taking action in pursuit of this target, including the allocation of £1.63 billion of funding through our Heat in Buildings schemes this Parliamentary Session so far.…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there was a reported reduction of 13% in the installation of air source heat pumps in the first three months of 2025.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Numerous factors will affect heat pump installation rates, including consumer demand, installer availability, and electricity load upgrades by district network operators.We have allocated £1.63bn of funding through our Heat in Buildings schemes this Par…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to changing the rules on anonymity and reporting in the criminal justice system.

Answer · Angela Constance: An open and transparent criminal justice system is important to allow for justice to be delivered and seen to be delivered so communities can have confidence in how offending behaviour is being dealt with. However, there can be areas of the operation of the c…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the possibility of introducing anonymity rules in domestic violence cases.

Answer · Angela Constance: An open and transparent criminal justice system is important to allow for justice to be delivered and seen to be delivered so communities can have confidence in how offending behaviour is being dealt with. However, there can be areas of the operation of the c…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of work towards developing misogyny law in the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Angela Constance: The total cost of work considering and progressing misogyny legislation by the Scottish Government was £143,668.13. This includes:The fee paid to Baroness Helena Kennedy KC in her role as Chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal J…

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid in her role as chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland.

Answer · Angela Constance: In her role as Chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid £109,117.20.

29 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was provided to the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland during its lifetime.

Answer · Angela Constance: In her role as Chair of the Working Group, Baroness Kennedy was paid £109,117.20.Publication costs associated with Working Group totalled £8,182.18, and a further £600 was spent on venue hire for the Report findings launch.Aside from Barones…

27 May 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic importance of festivals to local communities.

27 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) formal vetting procedures and (b) conflict of interest assessments are conducted before appointing staff, particularly former police officers, to survivor-facing roles within the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), like all public inquiries, is independent of all organisations including the Scottish Government. Under s17 of the Inquiries Act, procedure and conduct of the inquiry is a matter for the Chair. The appointment of inqui…

27 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what specific (a) trauma-informed safeguards and (b) survivor protections are in place to prevent re-traumatisation where staff have institutional links to bodies under direct investigation by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Information on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry’s (SCAI) trauma informed approach to taking evidence is available on its’s website - Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry | Investigating the abuse of children in care in Scotland. SCAI have adopted a Trauma…

7 May 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has undertaken with the education sector in island communities, such as Orkney, which are reportedly seeing increasing pressures around funding and staff retention, particularly in relation to the provision of additional support for learning.

29 Apr 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to introduce a cruise ship levy, including the option for local authorities to apply a "point of entry" levy.

25 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to provide continuity of funding through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund.

12 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is adequate access to support in schools for children with additional support needs in island areas, including the Orkney constituency.

5 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact of proposed employer national insurance charge increases on GP practices in Scotland, including whether there is an option for applying exemption thresholds.

Answer · Neil Gray: Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government for analysis and mitigation of the impact of National Insurance changes on all commissioned services in the public sector, including GP practices.Since the Autumn Statement published on 30 October 202…

5 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to renegotiate the current GP contract.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government remains committed to the current GP contract that was agreed with the Scottish GP Committee (SGPC) of the British Medical Association in 2018, and to ensuring the stability and sustainability of general practice. We continue to regular…