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-05194

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00370 by John Swinney on 23 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 6), whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will retain its strengthening communities remit and, if so, what action it will take to ensure that HIE will continue to exercise this function.

This Government has made it clear that we will maintain the dedicated support including HIE’s strengthening communities remit which is locally based, managed and directed by HIE and protects the unique services that HIE delivers for our Highlands and Islands economy.

HIE will retain its Chief Executive based at its headquarters in Inverness, staff will also continue to operate from the Headquarters in Inverness and HIE’s area-based locations across the area from Lerwick to Lochgilphead.

Businesses and communities will continue to access services across the Highlands and Islands area.

Similarly HIE will continue to engage with local authorities and Business Gateway to deliver effective support to businesses.

As part of the work being taken forward in Phase two of the Enterprise and Skills Review we will consider the formation, format and remit of the new Scotland-wide Statutory board. This will include what needs to be put in place in relation to budgets, appraisal, monitoring and evaluation of a range of areas including performance measures of HIE and their operational plans to ensure that HIE continues to be able to deliver an excellent service to the Highlands and Islands.

In addition we will consider areas including remuneration, risk and assurance currently carried out by current Board committees.

HIE senior management will continue to work in the same way as they do now but will benefit from the coordination provided by the new Scotland-wide Statutory board.

This Government wants to see the strongest possible links between the work of HIE, Skills Development Scotland and the Funding Council to ensure that the support we are providing to train our young people, improve the skills of our workforce, support our businesses and communities is aligned with the economic needs of the Highlands and Islands and of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-05200

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00370 by John Swinney on 23 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 6), what will happen to the functions of Highlands and Islands Enterprise's (HIE) (a) Remuneration Committee and (b) Risk and Assurance Committee following the abolition of the HIE board.

Question reference: S5W-05197

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00370 by John Swinney on 23 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 6), what impact the abolition of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) board will have on HIE's budget, and whether savings will be made.

Question reference: S5W-05195

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00370 by John Swinney on 23 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 6), what impact the abolition of the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will have on (a) businesses, (b) Business Gateway, (c) local authorities, (d) local HIE offices, (e) HIE staff, (f) social enterprises, (g) grant arrangements, (h) community leaders and (i) other stakeholders.

Question reference: S5W-05199

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00370 by John Swinney on 23 November 2016 (Official Report, c. 6), who will be responsible for appraising, monitoring and evaluating a range of performance measures of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) following the abolition of the HIE board.

Question reference: S5W-05344

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its policies on animal welfare, what its position is on a complete ban on trade in ivory products being introduced and whether it has discussed this with the UK Government; what information it has regarding trade involving ivory in Scotland over the last 10 years, and whether it has received representations regarding the UK ministers' decision to ban the trade in pre-1947 ivory products.

The trade in endangered species, including ivory and ivory products, is controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). CITES aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Although matters relating to the environment are largely devolved, CITES is reserved.

The UK Government has proposed a ban on sales of worked ivory less than 70 years old. This will complement the existing UK ban on the trade in raw ivory of any age. The UK Government intends to consult on their proposal early in 2017.

The closure of domestic ivory markets was discussed at the Conference of Parties to CITES that took place in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016. This was attended by Thérèse Coffey MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Life Opportunities. The issue has also been discussed at a number of EU-level CITES meetings. We understand that Thérèse Coffey’s predecessor, Rory Stewart MP, and his officials held discussions with representatives of the arts and antique sectors to discuss issues surrounding the sale of ivory in the UK.

As regards information on the trade in ivory in Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has considered 4 cases relating to the trade of ivory in the past ten years. No action was taken in one case due to the absence of sufficient evidence, two cases are under investigation and, most recently, a South Lanarkshire auction house was convicted and fined £1,500. Police Scotland have confirmed that since 2012 there has been a significant quantity of intelligence related to the online trade in ivory.

Question reference: S5W-05040

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what matters were discussed at its EU justice summit on 24 November 2016; what new information from experts it obtained, and whether it will publish the minutes.

The discussion followed 4 high level themes of Law Enforcement and Criminal Law; Civil Law and its impact on participation in the Single Market; EU law and the Role of the Court of Justice of the EU; and engagement with the UK government.

Contributions were welcomed from the wide range of experts in attendance from both a civil and criminal perspective, including Police Scotland, The Faculty of Advocates, the Law Society of Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Human Rights Commission. It was suggested that losing access to the European Arrest Warrant and law enforcement co-operation measures would require the Scotland’s justice system to fall back on international agreements from the late 1950s. There was uncertainty about whether such arrangements could be effective in modern times. Arrangements for the mutual recognition of judgments, provisions to prevent multiple cases in different countries, and other civil law arrangements are currently vital to the effective operation of the Single Market. There was discussion of the need to maintain security and stability in the law and consistent concerns about the risk of Scotland’s justice system being ‘left behind’ across all of the themes.

A summary of the discussion will be produced and published later this month.

Question reference: S5W-05041

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what risks for Scotland's (a) legal system, (b) police service and (c) (i) role in international and judicial cooperation and (ii) intelligence sharing post-Brexit were identified at its EU justice summit on 24 November 2016.

The Summit focused discussion around 4 high level themes of Law Enforcement and Criminal Law; Civil Law and its impact on participation in the Single Market; EU law and the Role of the Court of Justice of the EU; and engagement with the UK government as opposed to risks in any particular area. It was clear that ‘Brexit’ poses risks that Scotland’s justice systems, police service and ability to help justice systems in other countries could be hindered. Contributions were welcomed from the wide range of experts in attendance from both a civil and criminal perspective, including Police Scotland, The Faculty of Advocates, the Law Society of Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Human Rights Commission. It was highlighted that 80% of the UK contacts through the European Judicial Network on criminal matters are from Scotland. Loss of access to this network poses a considerable risk to our intelligence sharing capacity. There is also a risk that Scotland may be ‘left behind’ by not participating in the on-going process of improvements in justice co-operation across the EU.

A summary of the discussion will be produced and published online later this month.

Question reference: S5W-04972

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to enable prisoners to participate in outdoor education programmes, such as the John Muir Award.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS delivers an outdoor education programme in conjunction with the John Muir Trust at HMP Open Estate, Castle Huntly. Over the last 5 years, SPS has supported prisoners to attend the John Muir Trust on 19 separate occasions. This has resulted in 133 prisoners attaining Award status with the John Muir Trust.

SPS also delivers the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Bronze Award and part of the Silver Award in partnership with Barnardos at HM YOI Polmont. This initiative has been delivered on a continuous basis since 2011 with 150 young men participating. To date, 115 young men have achieved sectional Bronze Awards and the remaining 35 have completed the full Bronze Award and sectional Silver Awards.

Question reference: S5T-00242

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the number of “near misses” that are being recorded by police control rooms.