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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: S4W-27517

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Frank Mulholland QC on 29 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what changes have been introduced since 2011 to the process for considering diversions from prosecution.

The Prosecution Code of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service sets out the criteria for decision making and the range of options available to prosecutors dealing with reports of crime (http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/images/Documents/Prosecution_Policy_Guidance/Prosecution20Code20_Final20180412__1.pdf). The process for considering diversion from prosecution is a matter for prosecutors considering the full facts and circumstances of a case and the availability locally of a suitable diversion scheme. There has been no change in process for prosecutors since 2011.

In appropriate cases, prosecutors will also consider statutory alternatives to prosecution including fiscal fines and fiscal work orders.

Question reference: S4W-27553

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 25 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the introduction of a tax on food with a high sugar content and what action it has taken to consider the evidence relating to the effect of food taxes in improving dietary choices.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce a sugar tax at this time. Furthermore, the creation of new taxes is broadly reserved to Westminster, and while the Scotland Act 2012 does give the Scottish Parliament the power to create new taxes, a sugar tax would require the approval of the UK Parliament.

Three Cochrane reviews on the health effects of taxes on unsaturated fat, sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages are currently underway. Scottish Ministers await the outcome of those reviews, due in 2016, with interest.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of action to improve diet. We are spending over £10 million in the four years to 2016 on projects to encourage healthy eating. These include the Healthy Living Award, the Healthy Living Programme, the Healthier Scotland Cooking Bus and Community Food and Health Scotland. The Scottish Government is also engaging with the food and drink industry through our Supporting Healthy Choices Voluntary Framework, to support consumers to make healthier choices and press for action to reduce sugar intake. Key areas for action are around labelling, rebalancing promotions, responsible marketing of food and drink and reformulation of products, including a focus to reduce calories, salt, fats and added sugar in foods.

Question reference: S4W-27672

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-27404

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how the local authority joint working agreements will be updated when the new body, Historic Environment Scotland, starts on 1 October 2015.

Acting as an Executive Agency on behalf of Scottish Ministers, Historic Scotland currently has a Joint Working Agreement (JWA) with every local planning authority in Scotland. On the 1 October, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) will take on its full powers as lead body on the historic environment. In anticipation of this change, Historic Scotland, working under the authority of the HES Board, has been working with Dumfries and Galloway Council on a new version of the JWA. This new version reflects changes in statutory processes and responsibilities that will take place at that date. A draft version of this Agreement is available on Historic Scotland’s website. All local authorities were informed about these changes on 27 August. In the coming weeks, HES will be developing a programme of work to engage directly with each local authority to review their respective joint working agreements.

Question reference: S4W-27405

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 22 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how planning authorities’ conservation capacity is monitored.

Question reference: S4W-26775

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government in how many primary (a) 1, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 4, (e) 5, (f) 6, and (g) 7 classes team teaching is used, and which year groups are taught in composite classes, broken down by local authority.

The numbers of classes in which team teaching is used, by local authority and by year group, are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of classes with two or more teachers, 2014*

Local authority	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	Composite Classes
Aberdeen City	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Angus	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	3
Argyll and Bute	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Dumfries and Galloway	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
East Ayrshire	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	0
Edinburgh City	17	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Glasgow City	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Highland	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	11
Inverclyde	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	1
Midlothian	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Moray	2	3	2	2	1	1	0	10
North Ayrshire	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2
North Lanarkshire	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	4
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Renfrewshire	0	1	4	0	3	1	1	3
Scottish Borders	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	4
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
South Lanarkshire	9	2	3	3	0	1	0	27
Stirling	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0
West Lothian	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Scotland	52	13	17	8	7	10	11	81

All local authorities have pupils in all primary year groups in composite classes. The numbers of pupils in composite classes, by local authority and by year group, are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Number of pupils in composite classes by stage, 2014*

Local Authority	P1	P2	P3	P4	P5	P6	P7	Total Number of Composite Classes
Aberdeen City	265	551	536	593	452	348	185	133
Aberdeenshire	988	1336	1219	1175	1257	1385	937	415
Angus	215	339	399	328	324	277	226	110
Argyll and Bute	309	401	387	373	394	508	349	168
Clackmannanshire	87	186	201	162	163	146	98	50
Dumfries and Galloway	572	886	759	808	812	771	606	257
Dundee City	197	326	331	353	271	355	228	89
East Ayrshire	199	407	380	395	331	303	238	104
East Dunbartonshire	127	186	218	261	356	367	191	80
East Lothian	155	277	288	265	331	256	136	83
East Renfrewshire	10	15	22	11	7	31	30	7
Edinburgh City	267	599	383	452	443	402	244	133
Eilean Siar	194	245	211	220	239	190	167	89
Falkirk	158	374	375	252	328	259	115	92
Fife	806	1532	1477	1281	1350	1234	716	397
Glasgow City	782	1498	1300	1341	1240	1219	634	364
Highland	1002	1385	1309	1213	1140	1232	867	448
Inverclyde	97	173	145	192	137	148	58	41
Midlothian	87	162	178	188	210	170	105	56
Moray	275	462	486	373	448	352	234	123
North Ayrshire	265	523	498	486	473	392	263	131
North Lanarkshire	599	1514	1262	1231	1116	1296	617	351
Orkney Islands	79	122	95	88	65	58	60	37
Perth and Kinross	485	617	570	595	666	723	379	205
Renfrewshire	178	472	471	496	397	317	93	112
Scottish Borders	405	564	467	452	489	525	481	169
Shetland Islands	133	169	132	160	157	157	131	56
South Ayrshire	90	224	231	203	219	201	145	73
South Lanarkshire	886	1338	1414	1356	1216	1313	871	407
Stirling	183	291	300	314	297	247	160	92
West Dunbartonshire	86	210	209	230	300	303	177	74
West Lothian	298	529	469	426	427	434	329	143
Scotland	10479	17913	16722	16273	16055	15919	10070	5089

*As recorded in the September 2014 Pupil Census

Question reference: S4W-26740

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to raising the rate of the Air Discount Scheme from 40% to 50%.

Question reference: S4W-26742

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the European Commission in the last two years regarding the (a) eligibility criteria and (b) scope of the Air Discount Scheme.

None. The Air Discount Scheme, SA. 40925, was notified to the commission under the General Block Exemption Regulation Article 51 – Social aid for transport for residents of remote regions. This is valid from 1 April 2015 until 31 March 2019, and replaces the full notification to the commission for SA.32497 - Aid of a Social Character for Air Services. This notification was made electronically and did not require any discussion with the European Commission.

Question reference: S4W-26741

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the rate of the Air Discount Scheme from 40% to 50%.

Question reference: S4W-26743

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 5 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Highlands and Islands Airports Limited in the last three months regarding landing charges.