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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-22571

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has made available in each of the last five years to promote zero waste shops, and how much of this was distributed.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Zero Waste Scotland who distribute grants to various businesses through the Waste Prevention Implementation Fund (WPIF). The Waste Prevention Implementation Fund started in 2016 and has distributed in excess of £100,000 to two zero waste shops specifically, alongside their wider financial support to SMEs looking at waste prevention measures. Zero Waste Scotland also support zero waste shops through the Zero Waste Town Development Fund, which has awarded £315,000 to the Zero Waste Edinburgh initiative, which includes a Food Sharing Hub.

Question reference: S5W-22569

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any complaints regarding the application of rules by environmental health departments or officers in relation to food safety or procedures at zero waste shops.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) produces the Food Law Code of Practice, which has been updated and published in January 2019. FSS provides Local Authorities’ Officers with relevant guidance and training and attends liaison group meetings in order to support the application of food law requirements. There have been no complaints received by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) relating to food safety or procedures at Zero Waste shops.

Question reference: S5W-22572

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide guidance to environmental health officers on what is permitted in zero waste shops to promote procedural consistency and minimise the use of plastics and other packaging materials.

Food Standard Scotland (FSS) provides Local Authorities’ Officers with relevant guidance and training and attends liaison group meetings in order to support the application of food law requirements. FSS also produces the Food Law Code of Practice, which has been updated and published in January 2019, and works closely with Local Authorities to ensure effective and consistent enforcement of food laws across all food businesses in Scotland. In addition, the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee (SFELC) assists Food Standards Scotland to achieve a clear oversight and consistent enforcement of food law in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-22573

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of inconsistencies in the application of rules by environmental health departments or officers in relation to (a) food safety and (b) the use of containers at zero waste shops.

Question reference: S5W-22570

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is promoting the development of zero waste shops.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Zero Waste Scotland, who distribute grants to zero waste shops and other organisations through the Zero Waste Town Development Fund and the Waste Prevention Implementation Fund. Zero Waste shops in St. Andrews, Glasgow and Edinburgh are one type of project that are supported through these funds in order to promote re-use, tackle the reliance on packaging, divert resources from landfill and ultimately aid waste prevention.

Question reference: S5W-22578

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21969 by Humza Yousaf on 20 March 2019, whether the shared approach with the Scottish Prison Service has been agreed and, if so, when the (a) plans for delivery will be in place and (b) data will be published.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service have agreed the outline of a shared approach to publishing further data. The content of these data and information will be based on user needs and policy requirements and published on an easily accessible central location on the SPS website.

In the short term this project will collate relevant data, currently spread across a number of sources, into a single place on the SPS website and the scope of this data and information will continually improve in the coming months, for example, the Prison Survey data will be placed there by the end of April 2019 and a summary of the Scottish Prison Service’s Strategic Assessment will be published in the Autumn 2019.

The Scottish Government will provide updates for users on these continuing developments via the Scottish Government webpages and other appropriate communication channels.

Question reference: S5W-22621

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21968 by Humza Yousaf on 21 March 2019, whether it will provide the data broken down by (a) white and (b) non-white, in addition to age and location.

Tables a) and b) show the prison population disaggregated by ethnicity and broken down further by age and prison establishment.

Figures relate to a snapshot extracted from the Scottish Prison Service live operational database on 12th March 2019.

Table a) Prison Population (12-03-19) by age and ethnicity

	White	Other ethnic group	Total	% Other ethnic group
21 years and under	450	30	480	6%
22 - 30 years	2189	95	2284	4%
31 - 40 years	2664	109	2773	4%
41 - 50 years	1416	52	1468	4%
More than 50 years	1050	30	1080	3%

Table b) Prison Population (12-03-19) by age and ethnicity

	White	Other ethnic group	Total	% Other ethnic group
Addiewell	690	13	703	2%
Barlinnie	1357	99	1456	7%
Cornton Vale	93	2	95	2%
Dumfries	175	14	189	7%
Edinburgh	873	42	915	5%
Glenochil Prison	714	26	740	4%
Grampian	441	27	468	6%
Greenock	211	4	215	2%
Inverness	119	0	119	0%
Kilmarnock	496	9	505	2%
Low Moss	760	21	781	3%
Open Estate	176	3	179	2%
Perth	701	14	715	2%
Polmont	445	26	471	6%
Shotts	518	16	534	3%

Question reference: S5W-22506

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 23 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21910 by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2019, by what date it will announce details of its plans for school children's farm visits.

Question reference: S5O-03149

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that freight capacity on Northern Isles ferry routes meets future demand.

Question reference: S5W-22457

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-18658 and S5W-18659 by Kevin Stewart on 7 September 2018, how much has been spent to date; how many homes (a) have been and (b) are being built, and how much of the fund it estimates will be spent by March 2021.

£485,000 has been spent to date from the Islands Housing Fund. A total of four homes have been completed, with project approvals for a further eleven homes. Several Island Housing projects are completing their feasibility work and working towards full applications. It is therefore difficult to estimate the spend to March 2021 until projects submit full applications, however the £5 million allocated towards the Islands Housing Fund remains in place.