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: S6W-42371

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41729 by Angela Constance on 18 November 2025, how many prisoners mistakenly released from Scotland's prisons have not been returned to prison, in each of the last five years, including 2025-26 to date.

Question reference: S6W-42370

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to increase awareness of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in light of a recent survey by Crohn's & Colitis UK, which found that around half of respondents from Scotland are not very familiar with IBD, and over three in five do not know that IBD can be life-threatening.

Question reference: S6W-42129

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-02727 by Jim Fairlie on 4 November 2025, when it will publish further details of the awards made under the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-42039 and S6W-42047 on 1 December 2025.

Regarding the allocation of funding to island based businesses, priority status alone did not guarantee funding; investments also had to demonstrate strong alignment with scheme objectives and deliver measurable outcomes. Delivering on the scheme objectives was the most important element of scoring and this approach was designed with stakeholders, including the NFUS.

Many applicants from priority groups applied for standard items of agricultural equipment, mainly for general livestock management, which, while not deemed ineligible, when assessed against other capital investments did not demonstrate strong delivery against the scheme’s objectives. Examples included cattle clippers, sheep shearing machines, footbaths, water troughs, creep feeders, self-locking feed barriers, and feed storage bins.

Although these items are useful for routine livestock management, they were assessed as providing limited measurable benefit in terms of improving environmental performance, resource efficiency, or climate outcomes. For smaller businesses, these capital investments can represent meaningful improvements, however within a competitive assessment framework they did not score as highly as proposals that delivered more substantial benefits in line with the schemes purpose and objectives.

Many people will be disappointed if they were not successful, but there are many others who were and will share in £21 million that will make a real difference to their business. The following table provides a summary of items grant offers were issued for, demonstrating positive investment in the sector and supply chains to deliver on environmental performance, resource efficiency, and climate outcomes.

Category	Number of Investments Supported	Total Grant Value (£)
Livestock Handling and Weighing Equipment	915	£ 5,694,830.39
Precision Farming Equipment	284	£ 2,530,230.36
Soil Health Equipment	145	£ 1,695,552.90
Slurry Handling and Spreading Equipment	108	£ 1,410,649.63
Water Efficiency Equipment	177	£ 1,477,182.74
Efficient Feeding of Livestock Equipment	84	£ 1,178,298.11
Livestock Comfort Equipment	165	£ 1,535,480.88
Sustainable Grassland Improvement Equipment	189	£ 1,293,011.92
Livestock Feeding and Feed Handling Equipment	353	£ 1,299,048.96
Biodiversity and Habitat Enhancement	293	£ 800,281.81
Livestock Health Monitoring Equipment	76	£ 589,051.32
Crop Management - Moisture and Temperature Monitoring	114	£ 590,782.22
Environmental Management - Livestock Grazing Control	58	£ 475,468.00
Grazing Management Equipment	207	£ 405,462.87
Livestock Improved Ventilation Equipment	48	£ 320,395.37
Livestock EID Equipment	305	£ 281,858.42
Efficient Dairy Farming Equipment	19	£ 153,504.50
Livestock Standard Management and Care Equipment	113	£ 127,337.91
Energy Efficiency Equipment - Grassland Management	52	£ 107,511.18
Livestock Management Remote Monitoring Equipment - Cameras	56	£ 61,162.45
Livestock Management Remote Monitoring Equipment - Drones	23	£ 58,651.68
Energy Efficiency Equipment - Lighting	28	£ 33,790.67
Efficient Livestock Health Treatment Equipment	32	£ 26,403.00
Environment Monitoring Equipment	9	£ 16,294.98
Livestock Improved Welfare Equipment	28	£ 12,564.20
Wildlife Monitoring Equipment	3	£ 1,800.00

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-42282

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the 15% increase in thefts from shops, as reported in the latest Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics, and what its position is on future funding for the Retail Crime Taskforce.

Question reference: S6W-42215

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, on what date in 2026 it will launch its new app to “help people access personalised public services more easily”.

Question reference: S6W-42217

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, for what purposes its planned digital public services app will require digital proof of age, and what specifically the app will allow users to access by providing such proof.

Question reference: S6W-42219

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, whether installation and use of its planned digital public services app will be mandatory, or optional, following its introduction.

Question reference: S6W-42214

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, whether it has undertaken any impact assessment of how its planned digital public services app could affect (a)(i) older and (ii) disabled people and (b) people living in rural communities.

Question reference: S6W-42220

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, what “further functionality” it has planned for its digital public services app.

Question reference: S6W-42218

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, whether people not installing or using its planned digital public services app will result in them not being able to access certain public services.