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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-15648

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 16 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government who is on its expert panel to consider how to reduce single-use plastics; when the panel will report; which stakeholders the panel has engaged with, and what funding it has been given.

Question reference: S5W-15413

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with representatives of the tourism sector in (a) Orkney and (b) Shetland regarding any impact of the uncertainty regarding the date for introducing Road Equivalent Tariff on ferry routes serving the Northern Isles.

Transport Scotland officials regularly engage with a variety of stakeholders through a number of established engagement groups, which include representation from VisitScotland and the tourism sector. The impact of the introduction of RET has been discussed at these recent meetings.

I am aware that there is keen interest in the Northern Isles for further news on this issue. Details on the fares reduction and the specific timing of introduction will be made available as soon as is practicable.

Question reference: S5W-15412

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is committed to making Road Equivalent Tariff available on ferry routes serving Orkney and Shetland from the start of the summer 2018 timetable.

Question reference: S5W-14994

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14439 by Michael Matheson on 27 February 2018, whether it will place a copy of PIRC's written submissions and the Scottish Government's responses in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Question reference: S5W-14604

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions a request has been made by each prison in the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) estate seeking (a) authorisation and (b) an extension of an order to remove a prisoner from association with other inmates in accordance with section 95 of the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 in each of the last three years, also broken down by gender; how many requests were (i) declined, and for what reason and (ii) authorised by (A) ministers, and (B) SPS officials, broken down by position.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

The initial decision to remove a person from association in accordance with Rule 95(1) of the Prison and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011, is applied locally by Governors or SPS Controllers at private prisons and does not require any further authorisation. There is however no data collected centrally on this process and the information requested in the question cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

The following table provides a breakdown, by year, of all approved Rule 95 extensions:

Year (April-March)	Rule 95 Extensions
2015-16	955
2016-17	933
2017-18 (April -Jan)	876

The following table provides a breakdown of the reasons provided for refusals to extend Rule 95 applications by gender.

Reason For Refusal To Extend Rule 95 Application	April 2015- March 2016	April 2016- March 2017	April 2017- January 2018
Insufficient information contained in application	13 x Males	7 x Males	8 x Males 1 x Female
Insufficient intelligence provided to support the application	9 x Males	4 x Males	3 x Males
Application submitted after the expiry period	9 x Males 1 x Females	15 x Males	8 x Males
Errors on paperwork	8 x Males 1 x Female	7 x Males	5 x Males
Incorrect classification/ no longer required	2 x Males	3 x Males	4 x Males
Total	41 x Males 2 x Females	36 x Males	28 x Males 1 x Female

It is the responsibility of an identified senior SPS operational manager to approve or decline Rule 95(11) and (12) extension applications on behalf of Scottish Ministers. As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, SPS exercises these statutory functions on behalf of Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S5F-02117

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2018

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the capacity of the Scottish Police Authority, and whether the organisation is fit for purpose.

Question reference: S5O-01859

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 March 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what it sees as the key roles of student associations in representing the interests of students at colleges and universities.

Question reference: S5W-14439

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to the Convener of the Justice Committee on 5 February 2018, in light of the PIRC's comment that "the shortage of resources throughout 2017 has undoubtedly impacted on the speed at which the investigation team has been able to complete its work", on what dates the commissioner (a) raised concerns regarding resouces and (b) requested additional resources, broken down by (i) how much was requested on each occasion, (ii) the reason given for each request and (iii) its response to each request.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) budget for 2017-18 was set out in a letter to PIRC on 31 March 2017.

Discussion around demand and resources took place at the regular Sponsorship meetings between PIRC and the Scottish Government on 22 March, 9 August and 7 November 2017. PIRC provided written submissions seeking increases to the annual budget. In June 2017 they requested an increase of £472,202, in August a further £248,678 and in December a total of £1,067,765; there followed an exchange of correspondence in December and January about timing and quantum.

The submissions and correspondence were considered as part of the 2018-19 budget process, the outcome of which reflects the PIRC’s December 2017 submission bringing their total budget to £4,254,000, an increase of 33.5% on their 2017-18 budget.

In recognition of the increasing demand placed on PIRC in 2017, the Scottish Government was also able to offer an additional £100,000 on 6 November on a non-recurring basis, to be spent by 31 March 2018.

Question reference: S5W-14441

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 10 January 2018 (Official Report, c. 17), in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that that the timeframe for the investigation by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) into the chief constable was "within its gift" and would "take as long as is required", what its response is to the letter from the commissioner to the Convener of the Justice Committee on 5 February 2018, which stated that the organisation was "stretched to the limit" and that "the shortage of resources throughout 2017 has undoubtedly impacted on the speed at which the investigation team has been able to complete its work".

Question reference: S5W-14438

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to the Convener of the Justice Committee on 5 February 2018, when it was made aware of the PIRC's concerns that "the shortage of resources throughout 2017 has undoubtedly impacted on the speed at which the investigation team has been able to complete its work".