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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-31292

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding the vandalism of war memorials, and whether it is considering introducing a statutory aggravation.

The Scottish Government condemns all acts of vandalism. Vandalism is a crime regardless of the motivations for it, or the targets the vandalism is aimed at. Protection of monuments is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Government fully supports them to take appropriate action to both ensure that statues are protected and that those involved in vandalism are brought to justice. There is already legislation in place to deal with the vandalism and desecration of statutes and memorials, including war memorials, and the Scottish Government has no plans to introduce new legislation specifically relating to the vandalism of war memorials at this time.

Question reference: S5W-31191

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 31 July 2020 regarding the development of a COVID-19 contact tracing app, whether it will publish its analysis of any risks from the app to people's (a) privacy and (b) human rights ahead of the national roll-out.

Question reference: S5W-31190

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 31 July 2020 regarding the development of a COVID-19 contact tracing app, whether it will publish the (a) app design and development reports and (b) documents explaining the product ahead of the national roll-out.

The Scottish proximity tracing app is currently being developed and will be available from App stores this Autumn. The App will enhance NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect system and use Bluetooth technology in smartphones to support contact tracing. The App is free and will be built on the decentralised model using the joint Apple-Google technology. It is completely anonymised, voluntary to download and is for anyone who is aged 16 and over.

Detailed information on the design, development and purpose of the App will be made available prior to launch at: www.testandprotect.nhs.scot . In addition, we will also publish a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), an ethic’s sheet and Equality Impact Assessment, which takes into account Human Rights, ahead of national roll-out.

Question reference: S5W-31160

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the capacity of each prison in Scotland has changed as a result of provisions made to ensure the safety of prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

There has been no change in the capacity of each establishment as a result of the provisions made to ensure the safety of prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I would refer the member to the response provided to S5W-31159 on 25 August 2020 which provides the occupancy level of each establishment for the past 12 months.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5W-31159

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) occupancy rate and (b) capacity of each prison has been in each of the last 12 months.

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

The tables below detail the average occupancy rate and the average design capacity of each prison over the preceding 12 months.

JULY 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	102%
Barlinnie	987	115%
Cornton Vale	109	57%
Dumfries	176	102%
Edinburgh	867	98%
Glenochil	668	86%
Grampian	552	72%
Greenock	224	84%
Inverness	93	105%
Kilmarnock	501	104%
Low Moss	785	99%
Open Estate	284	41%
Perth	631	97%
Polmont	758	47%
Shotts	538	101%

JUNE 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	100%
Barlinnie	987	108%
Cornton Vale	109	52%
Dumfries	176	100%
Edinburgh	867	96%
Glenochil	668	90%
Grampian	552	71%
Greenock	224	83%
Inverness	93	90%
Kilmarnock	501	104%
Low Moss	784	95%
Open Estate	284	46%
Perth	631	90%
Polmont	758	46%
Shotts	538	101%

MAY 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	99%
Barlinnie	987	109%
Cornton Vale	109	58%
Dumfries	176	101%
Edinburgh	867	94%
Glenochil	668	94%
Grampian	552	70%
Greenock	231	81%
Inverness	93	86%
Kilmarnock	501	105%
Low Moss	784	93%
Open Estate	284	48%
Perth	631	92%
Polmont	758	48%
Shotts	538	102%

APRIL 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	102%
Barlinnie	987	118%
Cornton Vale	109	65%
Dumfries	176	102%
Edinburgh	867	96%
Glenochil	668	103%
Grampian	552	75%
Greenock	231	82%
Inverness	93	94%
Kilmarnock	501	108%
Low Moss	784	96%
Open Estate	284	51%
Perth	631	97%
Polmont	758	52%
Shotts	538	101%

MARCH 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	111%
Barlinnie	987	134%
Cornton Vale	109	80%
Dumfries	176	107%
Edinburgh	867	103%
Glenochil	668	108%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	231	88%
Inverness	93	118%
Kilmarnock	501	117%
Low Moss	784	107%
Open Estate	284	56%
Perth	631	108%
Polmont	758	58%
Shotts	538	101%

FEBRUARY 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	112%
Barlinnie	987	133%
Cornton Vale	109	84%
Dumfries	176	109%
Edinburgh	867	103%
Glenochil	668	109%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	231	88%
Inverness	93	125%
Kilmarnock	501	119%
Low Moss	784	107%
Open Estate	284	57%
Perth	631	110%
Polmont	758	61%
Shotts	538	101%

JANUARY 2020

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	112%
Barlinnie	987	138%
Cornton Vale	109	78%
Dumfries	176	110%
Edinburgh	867	104%
Glenochil	668	106%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	231	90%
Inverness	93	124%
Kilmarnock	501	118%
Low Moss	784	108%
Open Estate	284	59%
Perth	631	111%
Polmont	758	61%
Shotts	538	101%

DECEMBER 2019

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	112%
Barlinnie	987	143%
Cornton Vale	109	86%
Dumfries	176	111%
Edinburgh	867	103%
Glenochil	668	108%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	236	89%
Inverness	93	123%
Kilmarnock	501	118%
Low Moss	784	109%
Open Estate	284	64%
Perth	631	109%
Polmont	758	61%
Shotts	538	102%

NOVEMBER 2019

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	113%
Barlinnie	987	144%
Cornton Vale	109	97%
Dumfries	176	111%
Edinburgh	867	105%
Glenochil	668	109%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	236	89%
Inverness	93	123%
Kilmarnock	501	118%
Low Moss	784	109%
Open Estate	284	66%
Perth	631	111%
Polmont	758	63%
Shotts	538	102%

OCTOBER 2019

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	113%
Barlinnie	987	145%
Cornton Vale	109	101%
Dumfries	176	112%
Edinburgh	867	105%
Glenochil	668	110%
Grampian	552	82%
Greenock	236	90%
Inverness	93	122%
Kilmarnock	501	119%
Low Moss	784	107%
Open Estate	284	67%
Perth	631	111%
Polmont	758	63%
Shotts	538	101%

SEPTEMBER 2019

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	113%
Barlinnie	987	145%
Cornton Vale	109	96%
Dumfries	176	110%
Edinburgh	867	105%
Glenochil	668	110%
Grampian	552	83%
Greenock	236	89%
Inverness	93	130%
Kilmarnock	501	118%
Low Moss	784	102%
Open Estate	284	67%
Perth	631	111%
Polmont	758	63%
Shotts	538	101%

AUGUST 2019

Establishment	Design Capacity	Occupancy Rate
Addiewell	702	113%
Barlinnie	987	148%
Cornton Vale	109	95%
Dumfries	176	111%
Edinburgh	867	106%
Glenochil	668	109%
Grampian	552	83%
Greenock	236	91%
Inverness	93	125%
Kilmarnock	501	118%
Low Moss	784	99%
Open Estate	284	67%
Perth	631	111%
Polmont	758	61%
Shotts	538	101%

Question reference: S5W-31138

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Childminding Workforce Support Fund to reopen for applications.

To help support childminders who have suffered financially throughout the pandemic, the Childminding Workforce Support Fund (CWSF) opened on 16 July to provide grants up to a maximum of £350 to eligible childminders.

The demand for the Fund was considerable and given the volume of applications the Scottish Childminding Association decided to pause for new applications on 17 July. In view of the level of demand for the Fund, the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Childminding Association to agree further funding support to childminders.

Information on further support will be made available when details have been finalised.

Question reference: S5W-30727

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of self-catering businesses that applied for financial support from the Small Business Grant Scheme were successful, and what help will be made available to those that did not receive any financial support.

The Small Business Support Grants and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants are administered and awarded by Local Authorities. The Scottish Government has collected data on a weekly basis pertaining to the total number of business support grant applications made and the total number of grants awarded by each local authority. Property or business-level data on applications or awards is not held centrally.

Our financial support exceeds the business support consequentials passed on from the UK Government and actively works to fill the gaps in the UK scheme. This includes a £185m fund to support the self-employed and SMEs is broken into three main funds for the newly self-employed, for the creative, tourism and hospitality sector and for viable but vulnerable SMEs. All three funds are now closed to new applications.

We continue to review and identify where additional support may be required, and press the UK Government for additional fiscal flexibilities which are focused, limited and temporary.

Question reference: S5W-30728

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding available under the Small Business Grant Scheme has not been allocated, and what plans are in place to ensure that any underspend is targeted at businesses still in need of support.

We are still working through calculating the final position on the Small Business Grant Scheme and there is likely to be a tail as individual Local Authorities continue to work through outstanding claims and appeals. Consequently forecast outturn on the schemes is still within a range and final figures have yet to be confirmed.

However, we have already redeployed some of the funding, as our financial support exceeds the business support consequentials passed on from the UK Government and actively worked to fill the gaps in the UK scheme. This included £185m to support the self-employed and SMEs which was allocated across three main funds for the newly self-employed, for the creative, tourism and hospitality sector and for viable but vulnerable SMEs.

We will continue to support Scotland’s businesses by passing on every penny we receive from the UK Government for this purpose, and more, directly to Scottish businesses.

We continue to review and identify where additional support may be required, and press the UK Government for additional fiscal flexibilities which are focused, limited and temporary.

Question reference: S5O-04489

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the introduction of road equivalent tariff on ferry routes across the Pentland Firth, and whether it will confirm the date that it will be introduced.

Question reference: S5W-31034

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what budget was allocated to investing in the technology required for virtual custody cases, and how that was spent.