- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 23 October 2018
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects to introduce a Road Equivalent Tariff scheme on ferry routes serving Orkney.
Answer
As the member is aware, through our precise discussions, an official complaint has been made to the European Commission. The Commission has requested further information to which we have responded to and we are fully engaging with them to establish the next steps in the process.
The Scottish Government remains committed to pursuing all avenues to deliver Road Equivalent Tariff for Orkney and Shetland.
I will update Parliament in due course once there is more clarity on the way forward.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 19 October 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18904 by Humza Yousaf on 27 September 2018, how many of the not (a) proven and (b) guilty verdicts in each year can be attributed to cases of (i) murder and (ii) rape.
Answer
The available information is provided in the following tables by financial year, which have been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database .
Number of people proceeded against in Scottish Solemn Courts with result 'not proven' for 'Murder' or 'Rape'¹, 2014-15 to 2016-17.
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Murder | 2 | 4 | 4 |
Rape (offences prior to 1 Dec 2010) | 12 | 7 | 8 |
Rape | 34 | 36 | 30 |
1 - where main crime
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
Number of people proceeded against in Scottish Solemn Courts with result 'not guilty' for 'Murder' or 'Rape'¹, 2014-15 to 2016-17.
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Murder | 6 | 5 | 7 |
Rape (offences prior to 1 Dec 2010) | 15 | 7 | 21 |
Rape | 66 | 45 | 78 |
1 - where main crime
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 October 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) appeals and (b) complaints have been made in relation to applications to the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme in each of the last five years, and how many of these have been upheld.
Answer
Since the Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme commenced 1 January 2015, Scottish Government has received,
| Complaints | Appeals |
Year | Received | Upheld | Received | Upheld |
2015 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2016 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Please note the complaint and appeal cases received in 2018 are both still under consideration.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 September 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 October 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Orkney regarding proposals to offer shift patterns to medical staff that involve two weeks on, two weeks off, and what assessment it has made of the potential impact of such an approach.
Answer
All NHS Scotland health boards have fully delegated powers in relation to employment issues including staff rostering. The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to meet patient needs and maintain high standards of care with services delivered by the right professionals, at the right time.
We understand that recent changes to rostering arrangements for some locum hospital staff are being trialled to promote service continuity, including a more settled rostering pattern. The board has advised that these changes reflect rostering patterns that were introduced for primary care staff some time ago.
In line with our existing national policy approach and position, where any mandatory changes are made to local rostering arrangements, we would expect the relevant board to consult with affected staff groups and undertake appropriate impact assessment to ensure that staff are not adversely affected.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to removing the "not proven" verdict, and what discussions it has had with the Lord Advocate regarding this.
Answer
One of Lord Bonomy’s recommendations in the Post-Corroboration Safeguards Review was that research was required to better understand the dynamics of jury decision making in the unique Scottish jury system. The Scottish Government agreed with Lord Bonomy that key components of the Scottish jury system (including the simple majority required for conviction, the three verdicts (including the not proven verdict), and the size of the jury) are inextricably linked.
This research is now underway and it is expected to complete in Autumn 2019. Any changes to the Scottish jury system, including the “not proven” verdict, should be made on an informed basis so require to await the findings of the jury research before considering further.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Lord Advocate meet regularly. However, there have been no recent discussions on the “not proven” verdict pending the outcome of the research.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 September 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, in solemn trial cases, how many (a) not proven and (b) not guilty verdicts were returned in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.
Answer
The available information is provided in the following tables by financial year, which have been produced from the Scottish Government’s criminal proceedings database . The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2017-18 will be published in late January 2019.
Number of people proceeded against in Scottish solemn courts with result 'not proven', 2014-15 to 2016-17.
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
All crimes and offences | 341 | 342 | 359 |
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
Number of people proceeded against in Scottish solemn courts with result 'not guilty', 2014-15 to 2016-17 .
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
All crimes and offences | 785 | 878 | 818 |
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 September 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to recent data that shows that the number of NHS consultant positions vacant for more than six months has risen.
Answer
The funded establishment of consultants has increased by some 46.1% under this government (September 2006 – June 2018). The Scottish Government remains fully committed to a sustainable NHS and its workforce, which continues to deliver a consistently high quality health service to the people of Scotland.
We recognise the recruitment challenges faced by NHS Scotland boards in certain shortage clinical specialties and we are supporting a range of initiatives to promote recruitment and retention across our clinical workforces, including investing over
£4 million in NHS Scotland recruitment campaigns over the next three years. A component of this investment will support activity to recruit further consultant grade specialists. Additionally, I have recently commenced discussions with the British Medical Association in relation to on-going workforce needs and future workforce supply; further discussions are planned.
We encourage all NHS Boards, as employers, to exercise discretion to offer flexibility within the consultant terms and conditions of service, in particular on job planning and programmed activities, to help attract staff in areas of clinical shortage.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last five years, how many applications have been made under the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme; how many of these have been awarded, and what the (a) average and (b) largest award was.
Answer
Please see the following table with the requested information. Please also note, the Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme commenced 01-01-2015 and the requested information is recorded by Financial Year not by calendar year.
Year | Applications | Approved | Average Award | Largest Award |
2015-16 | 645 | 270 | £2,838.10 | £24,883.60 |
2016-17 | 778 | 665 | £3,326.65 | £34,149.60 |
2017-18 | 765 | 654 | £4,241.64 | £32,343.06 |
01 April 2018 to 31 July 2018 | 330 | 276 | £4,981.09 | £65,174.08 |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 25 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) longest and (b) average time taken was to respond to a Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme application in each of the last five years.
Answer
Please see the following table with the requested information. Please also note, the Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme commenced 01-01-2015 and the requested information is recorded by Financial Year not by calendar year.
Year | Longest Processing Time | Average Processing Time |
2015-16 | 276 days | 82 days |
2016-17 | 420 days | 78 days |
2017-18 | 474 days | 63 days |
01 April 2018 to 31 July 2018 | 664 days | 52 days |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 August 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 20 September 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18009 by Clare Haughey on 29 August 2018, how many of the 800 additional mental health workers will be allocated to (a) prisons and (b) the police.
Answer
We are currently working with the Chief Officers of Integration Authorities on the development of this commitment. This includes obtaining detailed workforce plans which provide information on workforce allocation, location of workforce (which will include the settings of prisons and police custody suites) for 2018-19 and details on the trajectory toward the 800 total by 2021-22. We expect to receive these plans for further analysis by the October recess.