Liam McArthur

8 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of its Public Wireless Programme investment by local authority area.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government launched its Public Wireless Programme in August 2015 with a remit to engage and collaborate with Scottish public bodies to develop best practice guidance on deploying wireless connectivity as well as making investment available for ne…

7 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on the exemption from business rates of rooftop solar cells and panels, particularly self-supply and what the outcome was.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has had no recent discussions with the UK Government on the existing plant and machinery exemptions relating to power generation relying on a solar power source.

7 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to exempt rooftop solar cells and panels, particularly self-supply, from business rates.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government has no plans to change the existing plant and machinery exemptions relating to power generation relying on a solar power source.

7 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of business rates on rooftop solar cells and panels, particularly self-supply.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Plant and machinery for generation relying on a solar power source is excluded from rating valuation where the power is mainly for distribution for sale to consumers or where the generation comprises micro-generation (as defined in the Climate Change and Sust…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on Erasmus+ funding for Scotland’s young people.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scotland’s participation in Erasmus+, the EU’s 2014-2020 Education, Training, Youth and Sport Programme, is in line with our aims to promote Scotland as a learning nation and to increase student and staff mobility, and brings strong educational, employability…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to work with community groups and charities to encourage people affected by (a) forced marriage and (b) domestic abuse to seek help and advice.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government works collaboratively with a range of third sector and community based organisations who provide support and advice to people affected by domestic abuse and or forced marriage. Along with our partners in the Scottish Government facilit…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce domestic abuse in areas that have seen a rise in such cases in recent years.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is taking action and investing record levels of funding to tackle domestic abuse and violence against women across Scotland. In 2016/17, we have allocated £11.8million towards initiatives to tackle violence against women, including a r…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how many phone boxes have been removed in rural areas where there is poor mobile phone coverage.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The removal of public phone boxes is a reserved issue for which the Scottish Government has no direct role or influence, and which is governed by Ofcom's regulations on BT. The Scottish Government is not consulted on phone box removal and does not hold any re…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to rural communities to install their own fibre networks when commercial and other government programmes are unable to reach their premises.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The £400M Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is delivering fibre broadband access to at least 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of next year. This is a vital first step towards our commitment to extend superfast access to 100% of p…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it is providing for costs associated with (a) health services and (b) civil legal advice and assistance, which result from the dispersal of asylum seekers to Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: Asylum seekers living in Scotland can access NHS health services and civil legal advice and assistance in the same way as anyone that is ordinarily resident here. It is for NHS Boards to provide health services that best meet the needs of their local popula…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with BT regarding the removal of phone boxes in rural areas, and what assessment it has made of the safety implications for people in areas with poor mobile phone coverage.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The removal of public phone boxes is a reserved issue for which the Scottish Government has no direct role or influence, and which is governed by Ofcom's regulations on BT. BT has indicated to the Scottish Government that it is currently consulting on the re…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that every town and village has free wireless internet by 2020, as proposed by the European Commission.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government welcomes the European Commission's commitment to extend free access to Wi-Fi connectivity in public spaces, and the associated 120M WiFi4EU scheme. We exploring how Scotland’s potential benefits can be maximised. The Scottish Governme…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of reductions in local government budgets on the provision of housing for people affected by domestic abuse.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has treated local government fairly despite the cuts to the Scottish Budget from the UK Government and is providing local government with a funding settlement of over £10.3 billion in 2016-17. There are 461 refuge spaces in Scotland. …

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the UK solar power market of the proposed rise in business rates in 2017 for organisations investing in rooftop solar power for their own consumption.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Non-domestic rates liabilities have not yet been finalised for 2017. The revaluation by independent Assessors will update the rateable value of non-domestic properties, in line with rental values. The Scottish Government will bring forward legislation for the…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to increase awareness of services such as Women’s Aid Orkney to encourage more women in Orkney to seek support following domestic abuse.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government recognises the vital role support services have in raising awareness of domestic abuse in these communities and supporting victims to have the confidence to come forward and report it. That is why we have provided an additional £1.85m …

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported increase in domestic abuse cases in Orkney between 2006-07 and 2015-16, and what steps it will take to tackle domestic abuse in Orkney.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The statistics (available at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/10/2442) indicate that between 2006-07 and 2015-16, the number of recorded domestic abuse incidents in Orkney has increased from 22 per 10,000 population in 2005-06 to 64 per 10,000 populatio…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the new Scotland-wide statutory board that will coordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will result in a reduction in HIE's budget.

Answer · Keith Brown: The purpose of the new Scotland-wide statutory board will be to drive stronger governance and alignment across a coherent and fully integrated enterprise and skills system which provides the support that businesses and users of the skills system require. Deci…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the new Scotland-wide statutory board that will coordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will change HIE's decision-making process, and whether it will result in a loss of HIE's decision-making powers.

Answer · Keith Brown: Highlands and Islands Enterprise will continue to exist. As part of our review of skills and enterprise, working closely with key stakeholders we will consider how the new Scotland-wide statutory board will operate. Current boards will continue to be involved…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will be accountable to the new Scotland-wide statutory board that will coordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise and HIE.

Answer · Keith Brown: Decisions regarding the formation, format and remit of the new Scotland-wide statutory board will be taken forward during phase two of the review process which began on 1 November.

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Joint Civil Society's criticism of the continued legality of the "justifiable assault" defence in its recent report on human rights to the UN.

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Scottish Government is opposed to the physical punishment of children. The Scottish Government does not, however, wish to see parents unnecessarily or unreasonably criminalised and we have no plans to bring forward legislation to repeal existing legal def…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the funding allocated to the Scottish Police Authority includes adequate infrastructure investment and maintenance for the infrastructure and maintenance needs of Police Scotland.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is for SPA and Police Scotland to determine the best possible use of the budget according to national and local priorities. All areas of Scotland now have more consistent access to a range of national and regional resources as a result of the creation of P…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported 43.3% real-terms reduction in capital spending in the Scottish Police Authority budget has had on the infrastructure maintenance funding of the Police Scotland estate.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is for SPA and Police Scotland to determine the best possible use of the budget according to national and local priorities. All areas of Scotland now have more consistent access to a range of national and regional resources as a result of the creation of P…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comment by the General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation that Police Scotland has "a genuine crisis coming" concerning the state of the force's estate and facilities, and what action it is taking to improve this infrastructure.

Answer · Michael Matheson: It is for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to allocate and manage their annual budget according to local and national needs and priorities. The £2 million allocated to Police Scotland as part of the Scottish Government stimulus package, annou…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical incidents the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has responded to as (a) co-responder and (b) first responder in each year since 2013-14.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The number of medical incidents which the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has responded to as co-responder/first responder in each year since 2013-14 are set out within the SFRS Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics Scotland 2015-16. These can be access…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many in-house mental health specialists there have been working in prisons in each year since 2010-11, also broken down by prison.

Answer · Shona Robison: The number of staff with a specialist expertise in mental health who are involved in the provision of services to patients within prisons, wholly or as part of their role, is not centrally held. Specific local information may be available from individual NH…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mental health training is available to (a) police officers, (b) prison officers, (c) criminal justice social workers and (d) third sector workers regarding their work with women offenders.

Answer · Maureen Watt: A range of training on mental health, including suicide prevention training, is coordinated by NHS Health Scotland, and is available to a variety of groups including police officers, prison officers, criminal justice social workers and third sector workers re…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out a review of the provision and resourcing of services for women with borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder as recommended in the final report of the Commission on Women Offenders.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The National Prisoner Healthcare Network’s workstreams on female offenders, mental health and psychological therapies will provide a range of opportunities for local services to consider the provision of services for women with borderline personality disorder…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the outcome of its consultation on the minimum age of criminal responsibility will be published.

Answer · Mark McDonald: Consultation responses have been published and engagement activity with children and young people and victims groups continued over the summer. Ministers are considering all views put forward and will respond in due course.

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the survival rate was for incidents that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service responded to as (a) co-responder and (b) first responder in each year since 2013-14.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: This information is not held centrally.

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) people and (b) full-time equivalent staff there have been working in women’s community justice centres in each year since 2010-11, also broken down by justice centre.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The requested information is not held centrally. The development and staffing of community justice services is a matter for the local leadership of public services engaged in these activities – primarily from local criminal justice social work services, but w…