Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-43492

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the removal of peak ferry fares for Northern Isles ferry services will also apply to (a) cabin and (b) car bookings.

Question reference: S6W-43397

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Men’s Shed movement on the issue of men’s health in Scotland, and how it plans to work with the Men’s Shed movement and similar groups in the future, including on the introduction of a men’s health strategy.

Question reference: S6W-43365

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether the Air Discount Scheme will be continued in its current from after March 2026.

Question reference: S6W-43302

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41439 by Shona Robison on 6 November 2025, whether it will provide an update on when it will publish the results of, and response to, its consultation on a cruise ship levy.

Question reference: S6W-42788

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement by the UK Government on 19 November 2025 that it will develop a Men’s Health Strategy, what representations it has received in support of a similar strategy being developed for Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving life expectancy and tackling health inequalities across the whole population.

During the development of Scotland’s Population Health Framework in 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care met with Movember, a charity that raises awareness of men’s health issues, who expressed their support for the development of a men’s health plan for Scotland. Other organisations have also publicly called for the development of a men’s health strategy, following the UK Government’s publication of a Men’s health strategy for England.

While noting the views expressed by stakeholders, the Scottish Government is embedding action to improve men’s health across key areas, rather than developing a separate, standalone strategy. In doing so, it is focussed on delivering concrete actions to improve men’s health, by considering the impact on men’s health throughout policy development and service delivery across a range of key areas.

On 17 June 2025, the Scottish Government and COSLA published the Population Health Framework, which sets out a whole-system, cross-government and cross-sector approach to improving population health and reducing inequalities over the next decade. By focusing on prevention, early intervention, and the wider determinants of health and wellbeing, the Framework aims to reduce the persistent health inequalities experienced across all of society, recognising that social and economic disadvantage, place and other structural factors impact on long-term outcomes. The Framework includes 30 initial actions, including in areas that disproportionately affect men, such as a commitment to develop a Healthcare Inequalities Action Plan to improve access to, and equity within, healthcare services and the development of an Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan - building on the progress of the National Mission - which will be published this year. In addition, a new Suicide Prevention Action Plan, for 2026 – 2029, will be published shortly.

Moreover, in response to insights showing that men were less likely than women to contact their GP, the Scottish Government’s Be the Early Bird campaign, for detecting cancer earlier, has used specific strategies to reach men, reaching over two million men so far.

Question reference: S6W-42789

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement by the UK Government on 19 November 2025 that it will develop a Men’s Health Strategy, what consideration it has given to developing a similar strategy for Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving life expectancy and tackling health inequalities across the whole population, and delivering concrete actions to improve men’s health across key areas rather than developing a separate standalone strategy.

On 17 June 2025, the Scottish Government and COSLA published the Population Health Framework, which sets out a whole-system, cross-government and cross-sector approach to improving population health and reducing inequalities over the next decade. By focusing on prevention, early intervention, and the wider determinants of health and wellbeing, the Framework aims to reduce the persistent health inequalities experienced across all of society, recognising that social and economic disadvantage, place and other structural factors impact on long-term outcomes. The Framework includes 30 initial actions, including in areas that disproportionately affect men, such as a commitment to develop a Healthcare Inequalities Action Plan to improve access to, and equity within, healthcare services and the development of an Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan - building on the progress of the National Mission - which will be published this year. In addition, a new Suicide Prevention Action Plan, for 2026 – 2029, will be published shortly.

Moreover, in response to insights showing that men were less likely than women to contact their GP, the Scottish Government’s Be the Early Bird campaign, for detecting cancer earlier, has used specific strategies to reach men, reaching over two million men so far.

Question reference: S6W-42507

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications of the draft 2026 revaluation of non-domestic rates for local communities that rely on self-catering accommodation to support population retention and local services.

Draft rateable values for the 2026 revaluation were published on 30 November 2025 but may be subject to change. The final valuation roll will come into effect on 1 April 2026 and the Scottish Government will publish its report on changes in rateable values once final valuations are available.

In the meantime, ministers have received representations from the self-catering accommodation sector regarding the implications of changes in draft rateable values and myself met with the Chief Executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self caterers on 17 December 2025.

Decisions on non-domestic rates policy for 2026-27 including reliefs are considered in the context of the Budget in line with other government priorities and will be set out on in the budget on 13 January 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42509

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support local authorities to manage any potential increases in business distress or closures linked to the draft 2026 revaluation of non-domestic rates for self-catering properties.

The Scottish Budget 2025-26 supported local government with £14.4 billion in revenue funding and the 2026-27 local government finance settlement will be set out in the Scottish Budget on 13 January.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on local economic development teams, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-42508

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the effect of the draft rateable value increases on the long-term economic resilience of rural areas dependent on tourism.

Question reference: S6W-42371

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 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.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

A range of checks are carried out before the release of a prisoner is authorised including but not limited to, an identity check of the person, confirmation of liberation date and a check for any known outstanding warrants.

A liberation in error occurs when an individual is released from a Scottish Prison Service establishment without lawful authority. This situation typically arises due to an administrative or procedural mistake, such as incorrect interpretation of documentation, miscalculation of sentence dates or incorrect data sharing from other partners.

When such an error is identified, the Scottish Prison Service works in partnership with Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to ensure the individual is returned to custody as soon as possible. Once notified, it is the responsibility of Police Scotland to execute any live warrants.

The following table provides the numbers of total liberations, liberations in error and those still not returned to custody since 2021-2022, up to and including 5 December 2025.

Year	Total Annual Liberations	Recorded Liberations in Error*	Liberations in Error as a percentage	Liberations in Error not returned to custody**	Reason for Non Return
2021-22	13934	5	0.04%	0
2022-23	14769	8	0.05%	0
2023-24	15732	7	0.04%	1	Appeal Granted
2024-25	16387	9	0.05%	4	1 x Release by Home Office 2x Bail Granted 1 x Original Warrant Superseded
2025-26**	10751	5	0.05%	0
TOTAL	71573	34	0.05%	5

As you can see from the above table, over the period 2021 to 5 December 2025 there are a total of five individuals who have been liberated in error from prisons who have not returned to prison custody. The reasons for these non-returns are outlined below:

Date	Establishment	No Return Reason
2 May 2023	Perth	Appeal Granted
2 July 2024	Polmont	Released by Home Office
5 July 2024	Barlinnie	No Record of Return. The original warrant has been superseded by the issue of a new apprehension warrant
3 October 2024	Barlinnie	Bail
7 March 2025	Barlinnie	Bail

*All liberations in error are subject to review by the Warrants Administration Group (WAG), at which point the data may change depending on the outcome of the review.

**The figures provided are up to 5 December 2025. These figures also include individuals who have not been required to return to prison due to other factors such as Bail, Court Appeals, Deportation

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