Chamber and committees

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-33449

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the advertised condition that projects receiving money from the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund "are deployed in Scottish waters no later than March 2020", whether a new deployment date was agreed when the closing date was extended to September 2020; whether that new deployment date applied to all projects or just those applying during the extension period, and on what date each project was deployed.

The date by which projects supported by the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund were required to be deployed in Scottish waters was changed from March 2020 to September 2020 following feedback from stakeholders. This included comments received at an information event held on 6 March 2019. The timeline for deployment was applicable to all applicants and all projects.

The anticipated deployment dates for projects awarded funding were assessed to be realistic at the time offers of grant were made. The Scottish Government subsequently offered to provide flexibility on grant conditions, if required, to allow for the potential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both funded projects have made substantial progress since being awarded funding. MeyGen’s Subsea Hub was installed in September 2020, and Orbital Marine Power are scheduled to commence turbine operational related activities in early 2021.

Question reference: S5W-33553

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 7 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the Health and Justice Collaborative Improvement Board has met in 2020, and when it will next meet.

Question reference: S5W-33434

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles have been in the ministerial fleet in each of the last five years, also broken down by how many were ultra-low emission vehicles.

Question reference: S5W-33435

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the average processing time has been for applications to the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership scheme, for applications completed in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019 and (d) each month of 2020.

With the agreement of Ministers, Disclosure Scotland invoked business continuity plans in March this year, and since then has been dealing with two separate application channels: business as usual, and coronavirus work. Applications in relation to recruitment solely for coronavirus work have been and continue to be prioritised.

The average processing time for all types of PVG applications is set out in the table below. For 2017, 2018, 2019 and January and February 2020, all applications were business as usual. From March 2020 the separate application channels are shown, with the figure for November being to the date the information was compiled.

Time period		PVG applications completed	Average processing time in calendar days
2017 – calendar year		286,866	3.38
2018 – calendar year		277,535	3.34
2019 – calendar year		282,981	8.0
2020
January		20,311	5.60
February		21,340	6.85
March	Business as Usual	21,347	7.44
March	Coronavirus Work	3,976	2.18
April	Business as Usual	631	8.57
April	Coronavirus Work	15,445	0.91
May	Business as Usual	43	6.18
May	Coronavirus Work	11,384	0.41
June	Business as Usual	57	11.44
June	Coronavirus Work	12,932	1.09
July	Business as Usual	3,526	5.71
July	Coronavirus Work	10,817	1.19
August	Business as Usual	9,907	7.98
August	Coronavirus Work	3,106	1.97
September	Business as Usual	15,030	10.34
September	Coronavirus Work	1,922	2.39
October	Business as Usual	15,317	12.62
October	Coronavirus Work	2,133	3.26
November (to 20 th )	Business as Usual	14,331	19.27
November (to 20 th )	Coronavirus Work	1,293	1.74

Note 1: Average processing days for Business as Usual incorporates the time from when an application is received to when an application is received at print house and excludes exception and customer contact times.

Note 2: Average processing days for Coronavirus Work incorporates the time from when an application is started to the time an application is sent to print house. It excludes exception and customer contact times.

Note 3: From 23-03-2020 to 09-06-2020: All applications received were provided at no cost.

Note 4: From 09-06-2020: Reintroduction of Business as Usual for basic disclosure applications.

Note 5: From 26-06-2020: Reintroduction of Business as Usual for all applications types, including for the PVG Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-33522

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the median annual income of successful applicants to the e-bike loan fund has been in each year since it was introduced.

Question reference: S5W-33523

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated each year by the interest-free loan scheme for the purchase of e-bikes since it was established, and how much was unallocated at the end of each year.

Question reference: S5W-33521

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications there have been in respect of the interest-free loan scheme for the purchase of e-bikes, broken down by each (i) year since it was launched and (ii) month in 2020.

Successful and unsuccessful applications to the E-bike Loan Fund broken down by year, and month in 2020, is summarised in the following table.

(i)	(a)	(b)
Financial Year	Successful applications	Unsuccessful applications	Notes
2018-19	298	49	E-bike loan started June 2018
2019-20	614	147
2020-21	852	89	Up until the 29th November 2020

(ii)
Month	Successful applications	Unsuccessful applications	Notes
Jan-20	65	15
Feb-20	59	10
Mar-20	39	5
Apr-20	62	10
May-20	166	19
Jun-20	182	19
Jul-20	108	10
Aug-20	112	8
Sep-20	91	10
Oct-20	69	7
Nov-20	21	1	Up until 29th November 2020

Question reference: S5W-33414

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 4 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the most recent travel restrictions, whether people living in England can travel to Scotland to attend wedding ceremonies and, if so, to which areas and levels of restrictions they are permitted to travel to for this purpose.

From 6pm on 20 November 2020, the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels (Scotland) Regulations 2020 restrict a person living in Scotland from leaving Scotland in order to travel to England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, unless they have a reasonable excuse.

Similarly, a person living in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland is restricted from entering or remaining in Scotland, unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The Regulations provide a non-exhaustive list of reasonable excuses. One example permits travel to attend a gathering which relates to a marriage ceremony or civil partnership registration.

This example permits people living in England, Northern Ireland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland to enter or remain in Scotland in order to attend such an event.

In Scotland, marriage ceremonies and civil partnership registrations can take place at all protection levels, subject to guidance on the numbers who should attend. Wedding receptions cannot currently take place in an area affected by Level 4 restrictions.

Restrictions and advice in place in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland may also affect whether an individual can or should travel to Scotland, including for a marriage or civil partnership. Restrictions and advice in place in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are not matters for the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5W-33437

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25014 by Humza Yousaf on 27 September 2019, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment regarding re-establishing the Scottish Prison Service Throughcare Support Service "when circumstances permit", what these circumstances (a) were prior to and (b) have been since the onset of COVID-19.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.

The suspension of the Throughcare Support Service (TSS) was a difficult decision for SPS to make in September 2019 and was necessitated by the need to have staff return to their original roles to manage the increasingly complex prison population.

We do however recognise the benefits that the TSS brought to those in our care and we are committed to exploring what any future throughcare support might look like as part of our recovery from COVID.

Question reference: S5W-33438

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were (a) trained and (b) employed to provide SPS Throughcare Support Services in July 2019, and how many there are currently.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond.

The suspension of the Throughcare Support Service (TSS) was a difficult decision for SPS to make, necessitated by the need to have staff return to their original roles as prison officers to manage and support the increasingly complex prison population.

In July 2019, SPS had a complement of 42 Throughcare Support Officers and 3 Throughcare Support Officer First Line Managers (FLMs) trained to deliver throughcare support.

There are currently no Throughcare Support Officers employed by SPS, however staff within prisons do continue to provide a variety of pre-release support services through engaging with individuals, their families and our partners, with the aim of supporting a smooth transition from custody to community.

We recognise the benefits that the Throughcare Support Service (TSS) brought to those in our care and we are committed to exploring what any future throughcare support will look like as part of our recovery from COVID.

Financial Year	Funding	Unallocated	Notes
2018-19	£900,000	£0
2019-20	£1,480,000	£0
2020-21	£2,786,966	£430,931	Up until 25th Nov. Full use of funding is forecast.

Year	Number of ULEV’s on fleet	Total number of vehicles on fleet (1)
15-16	2	25
16-17	3	25
17-18	4	27
18-19	13	33
19-20	21	41

Financial Year	Median Annual Income
2018-19	£28,200.00
2019-20	£27,600.00
2020-21	£28,848.00