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-07691

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been subject to electronic monitoring in each local authority area in each year since 2013.

The total number of individual instances of electronic monitoring in each Local Authority in each financial year of the current contract, which commenced in April 2013, are set out in the following table. An individual may have been subject to electronic monitoring on more than one occasion. Figures for 2016-2017 cover the period from April 2016 to February 2017.

Local Authority	2013-2014	2014-2015	2016-2016	2016-2017
Aberdeen City	185	134	83	119
Aberdeenshire	46	46	38	54
Angus	52	39	56	38
Argyll & Bute	27	27	26	35
Clackmannanshire	51	46	32	33
Dumfries & Galloway	110	68	62	82
Dundee City	245	247	300	288
East Ayrshire	99	117	151	156
East Dunbartonshire	31	25	27	41
East Lothian	48	45	42	38
East Renfrewshire	18	15	18	13
Edinburgh	210	155	206	274
Falkirk	50	38	31	65
Fife	353	413	339	379
Glasgow	440	490	562	642
Highland	72	94	89	61
Inverclyde	47	60	62	76
Midlothian	31	49	33	33
Moray	18	29	40	57
North Ayrshire	71	117	202	173
North Lanarkshire	263	255	305	277
Orkney Islands	10	3	8	4
Perth & Kinross	68	85	80	69
Renfrewshire	63	90	92	94
Scottish Borders	48	35	35	59
Shetland Islands	15	5	26	13
South Ayrshire	120	155	111	100
South Lanarkshire	223	306	351	343
Stirling	59	48	21	30
West Dunbartonshire	81	59	79	91
West Lothian	133	170	145	116
Western Isles	25	41	23	15
Total	3312	3506	3675	3868

Question reference: S5W-07695

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) organisations and (b) individuals can access data under the current electronic monitoring scheme and whether (i) their and (ii) other's access will change following the consultation, Electronic Monitoring in Scotland.

Individuals and organisations can currently access data held under the current electronic monitoring scheme in accordance with, and subject to the provisions of, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Data Protection Act 1998.

"A Consultation on Proposals for Legislation" ends on 19 May. This includes specific questions on about information and data sharing and retentions. We cannot pre-empt responses to these.

Question reference: S5W-07693

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to carry out a risk assessment on the use of GPS for electronic monitoring.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring electronic monitoring is tailored to reflect the needs, risks and circumstances of the individual. The expansion of electronic monitoring, including use of GPS, will increase the options available to manage and monitor those who offend in the community and to further protect public safety.

GPS technology to monitor those who offend is used in a number of other jurisdictions. The introduction of GPS will depend on the outcome of the consultation and any subsequent parliamentary process.

Question reference: S5W-07779

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a list of the members of the rural economy hub and the minutes of any meetings.

Question reference: S5W-07702

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the statement in the publication, On Board: A Guide for Board Members of Public Bodies in Scotland, that, if a board member fundamentally disagrees "with the decision taken by the Board, they have the option of recording their concerns in the minutes", what its position is on this practice being followed during Scottish Police Authority meetings.

Question reference: S5W-07701

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the statement in the publication, On Board: A Guide for Board Members of Public Bodies in Scotland, that the "Chief Executive of the public body is employed and appointed by the Board (with approval of Scottish Ministers)", whether it considers that the recommendation in Professor Crerar's report, Proposals on Governance and the Creation of a Strategic Board, that ministers should appoint members to the proposed Strategic Board, as well as agency chairs, (a) will have an impact on the autonomy of the agencies and (b) is consistent with the guide.

The Scottish Government is considering the detail of the proposals outlined by Professor Crerar, the views of the Ministerial Review Group and wider interests in taking forward the development of the Strategic Board. In line with “On Board” guidance, we have confirmed that individual Agencies will continue to employ and appoint Chief Executives to undertake their formal responsibilities in delivering the functions of the agencies. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work has committed to make a statement to Parliament in the coming weeks.

Question reference: S5W-07703

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the statement in the publication, On Board: A Guide for Board Members of Public Bodies in Scotland, that it is the responsibility of boards to participate "in shared services and/or collaborative service delivery arrangements", what its position is on boards having the right to refuse to participate in collaborative service delivery arrangements if they deem them to be damaging to their own roles and responsibilities.

Question reference: S5W-07780

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide to the rural economy hub.

Question reference: S5W-07698

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided toward supervised bail services in each year since 2007.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05429 on 14 December 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Further to the information previously provided, an additional £1.5m has been allocated for distribution amongst the 32 local authorities to support bail services for women in 2017-18.

Question reference: S5W-07781

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders have been notified about the creation of the rural economy hub, and how they will engage with the hub in future.