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: S5T-02535

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will reduce the amount of waste that it exports, in light of reports that 1.7 million tonnes left the country in 2018, including almost all plastics, for recycling.

Question reference: S5W-33016

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 16 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it currently supports individuals leaving prison who need emergency housing.

In Scotland, local authorities have a legal duty to offer a minimum of advice, assistance and temporary accommodation to all homeless households and those at risk of homelessness, this includes people leaving prison.

Local authorities continue to implement the Sustainable Housing Upon Release for Everyone (SHORE) standards as a part of a pre-liberation process in order to minimise as far as possible instances of emergency homelessness upon liberation.

We are working closely with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Criminal Justice Scotland, COSLA, ALACHO and local authorities to review the SHORE Standards, particularly in light of the COVID pandemic and to ensure SHORE continues to be embedded consistently across Scotland.

The SPS has data sharing arrangements in place with all 32 Councils in Scotland which ensures that Social Work and Housing are notified of individuals entering and being liberated from prison to their local communities. Liberation information is provided 12 weeks in advance to enable local authorities to take the necessary steps to prevent homelessness on release.

Question reference: S5W-33093

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for support through the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme have been received in each of the last five years, broken down by eligibility criteria, and how many (a) have been approved, (b) have been rejected and (c) are awaiting a decision.

The following table shows the number of referrals made to Warmer Homes Scotland and a) the number of installs completed, b) the number of applications that were cancelled and c) the number of applications currently being processed that are either waiting for a survey or have agreed to an installation under the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme for the last five years.

Scheme Year	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21 (to date)
Referrals received from HES	4,071	8,939	6,799	5,728	5,598	2,929
Completed installations	1,372	5,354	4,903	3,818	3,607	1,273
Cancelled applications	1,402	2,612	2,260	1,901	1,616	612
Customers waiting/booked survey	-	-	-	-	-	756*
Customers that have agreed to an installation	-	-	-	-	-	1,441*

*The current year is unique given the impact of COVID-19 on customers and the related process changes (e.g. DocuSign process for Offer Letters). With that in mind, it is important to draw out the following:

Of the 756 customers awaiting survey, 557 of them have a survey booked. Of the remaining customers in that number, 38 of them are on hold for a COVID related reason, for example they are shielding or self isolating
Of the 1,441 customers who have agreed to an installation, we have 91 on hold for a COVID related reason and a further 238 who have still to return either eligibility proofs or their Offer Letter (DocuSign) .

Question reference: S5W-33092

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reintroduce the Energy Efficiency (Domestic Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations, and when it expects these will come into force.

On 11 March, Parliament approved the affirmative Energy Efficiency (Domestic Private Rented Property) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which were due to come into force on 1 April, prohibiting the letting of properties with new tenancies that fall below the minimum energy efficiency standards from 1 October 2020. On
‎ 25 March it was agreed to stop these Regulations coming in to force on 1 April 2020 as a direct result of the impact of Covid-19, with a commitment made at that time to reintroduce once conditions under the pandemic allowed.

As we emerge from the pandemic, these Regulations will now be brought back as quickly as possible, and within this parliamentary session. The Regulations are planned to come in to force on 1 April 2021, with any new tenancies let from that date requiring to meet an energy efficiency standard of EPC D, or hold a valid exemption. All properties will be required to meet this standard of EPC D by 31 March 2025.

Question reference: S5T-02521

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the mental health support available to police officers and staff, in light of the service reporting increasing numbers of absences.

Question reference: S5W-32625

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 4 November 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of its fuel poverty strategy, and when it expects to be able to publish a final version.

Question reference: S5T-02472

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of organisations with whom Test and Protect data can be shared, and for what purposes.

Question reference: S5W-32324

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the response by the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands on 20 August 2020 (Official Report, c.41) on the introduction of road equivalent tariff (RET) on ferry routes across the Pentland Firth, when further work on fares to establish an agreed mechanism for delivering RET for Orkney and Shetland will be completed.

Further to my answer to your previous question S5O-04489 on 20 August 2020, I can confirm that we have been able to restart work to consider fares on ferry routes across the Pentland Firth. However, this work is at an early stage and is subject to the continued resource pressures of COVID-19. I therefore do not have a material update to provide at this time, nor am I in a position to provide a completion date.

I reiterate my undertaking to keep you updated as this work progresses.

All answers to oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's Official Report website, the link for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=12750&i=115321

Question reference: S5W-31864

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what targets it has set for the electrification of ferry services; what progress has been made since 2016, and what contribution the electrification of ferries can make to achieving the plan for net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan states that we will increase the number of low emission ferries in the Scottish Government fleet by 30% by 2032 and we remain committed to achieving this target. Investigations have begun into the electrification of ferries via both the ‘Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan’ and the ‘Island Connectivity Plan’. This builds on the successful introduction of three world leading hybrid diesel/electric vessels through which we have been able to accrue considerable experience and data concerning the use of battery power in the marine environment and the supply of electricity for recharging in remote locations.

Question reference: S5W-32366

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what rate of cycles Scotland’s polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19 are being run at, and for what reason they are being run at this rate.