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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S7O-00080

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address workforce planning challenges in staff recruitment and retention for health and social care services in Orkney.

Question reference: S7W-00633

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what timeline has been agreed for the £500 million investment to extend free childcare to children aged between nine months and 12-years-old that it announced in March 2026.

The Scottish Government is in the early stages of work to develop a future childcare expansion. This will draw on learning from the delivery of the expansion to 1140 hours, insights from our work in Early Adopter Communities, and the experience and voices of the childcare sector, parents, carers and children. Any expansion should be firmly focused on the needs of children and families.

As set out in Parliament, detailed design, delivery approaches and timelines are still being developed but our commitment is to expand childcare provision over the course of the current parliamentary term. Given the scale and complexity of the programme, further information on scope, costs and phasing will be set out as work progresses.

Question reference: S7O-00043

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the installation of electrical infrastructure in Orkney.

Question reference: S7W-00270

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to prison custody by the High Court of the Judiciary and received a verdict of (a) not guilty, (b) not proceeded against and (c) not proven for the charges for which they were remanded, and what the (i) mean, (ii) median and (iii) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00282

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to electronically monitored bail by the High Court of Justiciary, found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody, including those whose time on remand equals or exceeds their custodial sentence, and what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00287

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to electronically monitored bail by sheriff courts but given a non-custodial sentence, and what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00268

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to prison custody by sheriff courts but given a non-custodial sentence, and what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00288

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to electronically monitored bail by sheriff courts, found guilty and sentenced to immediate custody, including those whose time on remand equals or exceeds their custodial sentence, and what the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00267

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to prison custody by sheriff courts and received a verdict of (a) not guilty, (b) not proceeded against and (c) not proven for the charges for which they were remanded, and what the (i) mean, (ii) median and (iii) 90th percentile length of time on remand was for such individuals, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S7W-00271

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been remanded to prison custody by the High Court of the Judiciary but given a non-custodial sentence, and what was the (a) mean, (b) median and (c) 90th percentile length of time on remand for such individuals, in each year since 2018.