Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 3507 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-02234

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01402 by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016, whether it has reconsidered any aspect of its policy on armed policing since 12 July 2016.

Question reference: S5W-02233

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01402 by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016, for what reason this did not address the matter of the remarks made on Radio Scotland on 12 July 2016.

Since 12 July 2016, the Scottish Government has received one representation from a member of the Scottish Parliament only. Senior officials from the Scottish Government meet regularly with senior officers to discuss a range of issues including armed policing. I also meet regularly with the Chief Constable to discuss a range of issues, most recently on 7 September 2016.

As I said in my statement to Parliament on 16 June 2016 Police Scotland keeps its policy on the deployment of armed police officers under constant review. The Chief Constable is advised on armed policing by its armed policing monitoring group. The Scottish Government’s position continues to be that any future consideration by Police Scotland of any proposed change to the model of deployment should be subject to wide consultation by Police Scotland and take into account the views of the public, stakeholders and Parliament. The vast majority of Scotland’s police officers are not routinely armed and we have made an unequivocal commitment that that position will not change.

Question reference: S5W-02237

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01402 by Michael Matheson on 9 August 2016, for what reason the answer did not address steps to "inform and engage the public regarding the use of armed police."

Question reference: S5W-02656

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01987 by Derek Mackay on 8 September 2016, in light of the link it supplied not providing information regarding the location of every ministerial visit, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the provision of a breakdown of all ministerial visits to (a) Orkney and (b) Shetland since May 2007, also broken down by (i) location, (ii) date and (iii) the name of the person or group that was met.

Question reference: S5W-02922

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish stand-alone guidance on de-escalation, restraint, and physical intervention of children at school and, if so, when.

This government have committed to include guidance on the use of restraint (for all children, including children with complex additional support needs), in the context of de-escalation as part of early intervention approaches in our refreshed guidance ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part two: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions’.

This refreshed guidance will be published 2016-17.

In addition, ‘Holding Safely’ (updated 2013) Scottish Government guidance on the use of restraint in residential settings (which is applicable in schools and other establishments) is available.

Question reference: S5W-02921

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to develop a system of collecting disaggregated data on the use of restraint and other restrictive interventions on children, in light of the recent report, UK Concluding Observations, by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

We have committed to incorporating guidance on restraint in school settings in our refreshed guidance ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part two: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions’. It will be clear that any incident where a decision is made to physically restrain a child or young person must be recorded and monitored. Details on how this should be undertaken should be included in a local authority’s policy on de-escalation, physical intervention and restraint.

The recording and monitoring of such incidents will help local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of their policy and practice and enable them to review and improve, where appropriate, their policy and also help identify professional learning needs.

This refreshed guidance will be published 2016-17. It will be clear that the use of physical intervention and physical restraint should be seen within the context of early intervention, positive relationships and behaviour and used only as a last resort, in line with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommendations.

In other non-school settings further work has been done and is being undertaken in relation to restraint:

Scottish Government Guidance ‘Holding Safely’ on the use of restraint in residential settings (which is applicable in schools and other establishments) was updated in 2013.

Scottish Government has asked the Care Inspectorate to gather information regarding restraint practice in secure care during 2016-17 to inform improvement.

Scottish Government also published additional guidance for child protection for disabled children (2014). This applies to all settings, and states that inappropriate restraint, sanctions, humiliation, intimidation, verbal abuse, and having needs ignored; depending on the circumstances, may also be criminal offences, acts of gross misconduct and reportable to Police Scotland and relevant professional regulatory bodies.

Question reference: S5W-02923

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on cases where restraint and other restrictive interventions on children at school have been used in each year since 2010.

Question reference: S5W-02950

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will establish a Scottish consumer taskforce, as set out in the Programme for Government.

Question reference: S5W-02949

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will set out the consumer and competition principles, as set out in the Programme for Government.

Question reference: S5W-02919

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on consulting on its proposed family justice modernisation strategy, and when it will publish the strategy.

The Scottish Government held a Family Justice Modernisation Strategy summit on 17 March 2016. The outcomes of that summit will be published shortly. The Scottish Government is still considering how best to take the Strategy forward, and an announcement will be made in due course. A key part of the Strategy is about the voice of the child being heard in family cases. The Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council, which advises on court rules and procedures, is already taking forward work on the voice of the child in family actions, following a policy paper prepared by the Scottish Government. The Committee is also in the process of commissioning research on case management to inform its work. More details of the work of the Committee can be found on the Scottish Civil Justice Council's website.