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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-10498

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which minister signed off the Island Communities Impact Assessment carried out as part of its consultation on proposals for the regulation of short-term lets, published on 10 December 2020.

Question reference: S6W-10213

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report July 2022, which states that "Observers in Scotland noted an increase in the proportion of criminally exploited children who were charged with crimes and underscored that more trafficking victims faced criminal justice processes than traffickers".

Child trafficking and exploitation is abuse. When there is reason to believe that a child may have been trafficked or exploited an immediate child protection response is required and an inter-agency referral discussion (IRD) should be undertaken. In cases where a child or young person has been subject to any form of exploitation or trafficking their safety and protection is paramount. Child trafficking and exploitation victims must be cared for and supported within the context of Scotland’s child protection system and the national Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) approach.

In September 2021 Scottish Government published the revised National Guidance for Child Protection which includes detailed advice for all practitioners who support children and families on identifying and supporting victims of human trafficking and exploitation, including criminal and sexual exploitation.

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 required the Lord Advocate to issue instructions regarding the prosecution of persons who are, or appear to be, the victims of trafficking, slavery, servitude or forced or compulsory labour and who have allegedly committed a criminal offence. The instructions set a strong presumption against prosecution of child victims who have committed an offence in the course of, or as a consequence of, being trafficked or exploited.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with operational partners to better understand what child protection procedures are followed in cases of trafficking and exploitation, and ensure that child protection procedures are activated immediately.

Question reference: S6O-01363

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Orkney Islands Council to discuss its budget settlement.

Question reference: S6W-10628

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when 4G masts in Rackwick and Stronsay in Orkney, as part of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, will go live.

Construction of the masts at Rackwick and Stronsay is complete. Both masts are being developed in collaboration with the Home Office’s Emergency Services Network (ESN). 4G service will, ultimately, be provided on these sites by mobile network operator EE. To move these sites to activation requires the Home Office to execute a Change Request as part of their ESN programme. The Scottish Government is aware of a substantial delay in the Home Office enacting this Change Request which is preventing these masts from moving to service activation.

All efforts are being made by the Scottish Government to expedite this issue which, once resolved, will enable a number of masts including Rackwick and Stronsay proceed to activation.

Question reference: S6O-01322

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Orkney and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6W-10377

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 29 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the prioritised recommendation of the United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report that Scotland, in particular, must "vigorously prosecute and convict suspected traffickers".

Any form of human trafficking is completely unacceptable.

Action Area 2 of the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy is led by Police Scotland’s National Human Trafficking Unit and membership includes a range of law enforcement partners, including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The group is focused on the identification of human trafficking and exploitation perpetrators with the intention of disrupting their criminal activity. Key areas of focus include the development of local, national and international intelligence sharing and utilising all available powers at the disposal of prosecuting authorities to bring offenders to justice.

This includes the National Human Trafficking Unit within Police Scotland enhancing its investigative capability and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service maintaining its internal structure of local lead human trafficking prosecutors as well as reviewing and updating training for prosecutors and case preparers.

Decisions in relation to prosecution are taken independent of Government by the Lord Advocate and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, in line with the published Prosecution Code. The guilt of accused persons is determined by a Sheriff or Jury having heard and considered all of the evidence in each case. Sentencing in any given case is a matter for the independent court.

Question reference: S6W-10212

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 29 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle human trafficking, in light of the findings of the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report July 2022.

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament, gives police and prosecutors greater powers to detect and bring to justice those responsible for trafficking as well as strengthening protections for survivors.

Scotland’s first Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy was published in 2017, focusing on the identification of and support for victims; disruption of perpetrators and addressing the underlying conditions which foster human trafficking and exploitation.

Working in partnership, significant action has taken place and continues to be delivered across each of these strands and this is set out in more detail in the published annual progress reports, with the most recent published in January 2022 - Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy – Fourth Annual Progress Report (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-10197

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many new connections of superfast broadband have been delivered to properties in the North Scotland Lot, as part of the Reaching 100 Programme, in each month from 1 January to 31 July 2022, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows all superfast broadband connections delivered to properties in the North Lot via the R100 Programme each month from 1 January to 31 July 2022. As requested these are broken down by local authority area.

	R100 Programme North Lot Connections 2022
Local Authority	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Total
Aberdeen City			1		8	20	5	34
Aberdeenshire	37	23	118	185	103	152	142	760
Angus	18	9	31	19	25	8	4	114
Argyll and Bute	36	12	67	159	81	227	53	635
Highland	21	10	80	139	185	110	102	647
Moray	9	5	23	5	9	4	1	56
Orkney Islands			8	13	4	3	10	38
Perth and Kinross	4	2	8	3	5	4	11	37
Shetland Islands					104	41	79	224
Total	125	61	336	523	524	569	407	2545

Question reference: S6W-09983

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to mitigate the reported rising input costs of fertiliser, feed and fuel being experienced by the farming industry.

The war in Ukraine has sent shockwaves through the global food system and the impacts are being felt by producers and consumers in Scotland. This has compounded the challenging operating environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit.

I committed to support active farming and food production with direct payments - which provides certainty to the industry - and we delivered 2021 Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) payments to schedule with over £564 million issued to date. In addition, this year, to support farmers with the cost of living, the Scottish Government has brought forward the advance payment start date to as early in the year as is practicably possible. The intention is to support businesses, as far as possible, with immediate cash flow challenges.

The Scottish Government is also monitoring the impacts of energy prices and other input costs on agriculture, fisheries and food sectors. For example, in March, we set up the Short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce jointly with industry to monitor, identify and respond to any potential disruption to food security and supply, as a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Its report was published in June 2022: www.gov.scot/news/safeguarding-food-security .

The First Minister has issued a letter to the Prime Minister calling for an emergency meeting of the 4 Nations’ Heads of Government Council and has convened the Scottish Government Resilience Committee, which will now meet weekly. However, it remains the case that the powers and resources needed to tackle this emergency on the scale required - access to borrowing, welfare, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits, regulation of the energy market - lie with the UK Government. Scottish Ministers have repeatedly called for the UK Government to urgently take further, tangible action.

Question reference: S6W-09903

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the Fair Fares Review will be published,

The Fair Fares Review was established to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares as we recover from the pandemic.

The review is being undertaken in a phased approach, to enable options to be considered and announced/ trialled or delivered throughout the course of the review. I expect interim options to be presented by Transport Scotland this year, given the cost of living crisis. The full review will conclude in early 2023.