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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: S6W-21395

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06805 by Keith Brown on 3 March 2022, how many hours of purposeful activity prisoners had, on average, per week in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023, broken down by prison.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The table below details the average number of purposeful activity hours per week for convicted prisoners across the prison estate, in each financial year that incorporates 2021, 2022 and 2023:

Year	April 2020 – March 2021	April 2021– March 2022	April 2022 – March 2023	April 2023 – August 2023
Establishment	Average PA hours	Average PA hours	Average PA hours	Average PA hours
Barlinnie	10	12	13	12
Bella	N/A	N/A	18	24
Cornton Vale/Stirling	20	17	18	18
Dumfries	8	11	16	16
Edinburgh	9	10	13	14
Glenochil	11	12	13	12
Grampian	19	19	20	21
Greenock	19	20	26	23
Inverness	24	21	27	33
Lilias	N/A	N/A	20	27
Low Moss	16	21	21	21
Castle Huntly	20	23	23	24
Perth	9	20	20	22
Polmont	14	24	29	29
Shotts	9	14	13	19

HMP Addiewell and HMP Kilmarnock are privately operated prisons and are not required to provide PA hours on a monthly basis. The delivery of PA hours within these two establishments is monitored through contractual arrangements with SPS Controllers and Contract Managers to ensure compliance.

Question reference: S6W-21353

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people made a non-directed kidney donation in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-21351

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government in how many cases family members overrode their relatives' (a) express and (b) deemed authorisation for organ donation after death, in each of the last 10 years.

The number of family members who overrode their relative’s express authorisation for organ donation after that relative’s death, in each of the last 10 years, is set out in the following table. Express authorisation is where someone, in life, has documented their donation decision either on the NHS Organ Donor Register or in some other form of writing.

Families who overrode their relatives expressed authorisation
Financial year	Families approached but no authorisation given
2013-14	9
2014-15	21
2015-16	18
2016-17	16
2017-18	13
2018-19	12
2019-20	15
2020-21	5
2021-22	9
2022-23	13

The number of family members who overrode their relatives' deemed authorisation for organ donation after that relative’s death, in each of the last three years, is set out in the following table. The Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019, which set up the legal framework for deemed authorisation, came into effect in March 2021. This means that there is only data available on deemed authorisation for the last three years.

Families who overrode their relatives deemed authorisation
Financial year	Families approached but no authorisation given
2020-21	0
2021-22	11
2022-23	13

Question reference: S6W-21403

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 18 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated for the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme in (a) total and (b) each year since the scheme was introduced.

Question reference: S6W-20883

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the introduction of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, whether there are any recommendations of the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing that it anticipates will not be implemented.

The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill is part of a programme of work to respond to the recommendations made in the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issue in Relation to Policing. The Bill addresses recommendations that require primary legislation, and continues to build on improvements made through the delivery of a number of non-legislative improvements (set out in the most recent Thematic Progress Report ).

However, in Scottish Ministers commitment to broadly accepting the majority of the recommendations from the Review, they also made clear that the Scottish Government would explore options where other routes or mechanisms may achieve the desired outcome. Following the Scottish Government’s engagement with stakeholders, and due to improvements already made by policing partners, the following recommendations are not being implemented at this stage:

Recommendation 35. This is because current provisions within the Police Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 already provide appropriate and proportionate lines of accountability to Scottish Ministers, and in turn to the Scottish Parliament. This is in line with the governance and accountability arrangements in place for other office-holders the Parliament oversees.

Other recommendations, taken forward in secondary legislation, may also need to be taken forward in a manner that best takes account of circumstances at the time, therefore we are committed to working with policing partners and stakeholders as we develop secondary legislation and the written guidance that will underpin delivery of legislation.

Question reference: S6W-20884

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the introduction of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, whether it plans to implement Recommendation 52, which relates to holding gross misconduct proceedings in public, of the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing.

Recommendation 52, the holding of gross misconduct proceedings in public, will be addressed through secondary legislation following the anticipated passing of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill. The relevant section of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill that relates to this is Section 8, Procedures for misconduct: senior officers which sets out the enabling power for a panel independent of the SPA to oversee hearings.

Question reference: S6W-20885

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 01 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce secondary legislation regarding police scrutiny that is not currently provided for by the Police (Ethics, Conduct, and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, but is conditional on the passage of the Bill.

The non-legislative changes delivered to date and as a result of Dame Elish Angiolini’s review are bringing greater transparency, fairness and accessibility to systems, policies and processes that underpin the police complaints and misconduct processes. These improvements are helping to make the police complaints system easier to navigate for members of the public, as well as increasing consistency, efficiency and swifter resolution for all those involved in complaints, investigations or misconduct procedures. They provide a firm foundation on which to deliver legislative improvements and enhance scrutiny by giving more powers to the PIRC.

The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill continues that process for improvement. It provides the framework for, and helps focus attention on, the cultural and behavioural changes that are necessary at all levels of policing. Recommendations 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57 and 58, relating to Police Conduct regulations and enhancing the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner’s scrutiny role, are able to be delivered in Secondary legislation from powers already held by Scottish Ministers under the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.

Recommendations requiring secondary legislation in the Bill are detailed in the Delegated Powers Memorandum , and will be developed in conjunction with policing partners, dependent on the expected parliamentary passage of the Bill.

Question reference: S6O-02582

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to engage with Regional Screen Scotland regarding their call for funding for a new Screen Machine vehicle, in light of concerns that a lack of funding could lead to the end of the service.

Question reference: S6W-21127

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further information on the commitment in its Programme for Government 2023-24 to "provide additional targeted investment to enhance the capacity of our renewables supply chain to trade internationally and identify critical markets to export to".

Question reference: S6W-20468

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners are being held in (a) individual cells and (b) cells holding more than one person, and how many are being "doubled-up" in individual cells.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

On 7 August 2023 the prison population was 7859. A breakdown is provided below in relation to the accommodation the individuals were located in:

4800 people were accommodated alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person;
165 people were accommodated alone in a cell that is designed to be double occupancy;
1098 people were accommodated in a cell, or dormitory, intended for more than one person; and
1796 people were accommodated with another person in a cell intended for one person.