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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-27671

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £146 million superfast broadband budget it has spent on remote communities that are experiencing no internet connection.

The aim of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is to extend fibre broadband infrastructure as widely as possible across the Highlands and Islands. As the core network grows, and backhaul becomes more readily available, it will become easier to provide alternative solutions to remote communities that will not directly benefit from DSSB roll-out.

Community Broadband Scotland is working with a number of these communities to help them design and implement robust, sustainable broadband solutions.

Question reference: S4W-27670

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what broadband speeds remote island communities can expect on completion of the superfast broadband rollout in 2020.

Question reference: S4W-27669

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on securing alternative technology that will supply broadband to the projected 16% of Highlands and Islands premises not covered in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

Community Broadband Scotland is supporting a range of communities across the Highlands and Islands to develop broadband schemes using alternative technologies, notably fixed wireless solutions. The Scottish Government is also supporting a trial of TV Whitespace technology on Orkney, which could be used to deliver broadband in future.

New technologies can also be incorporated into delivery of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme. BT is currently trialling wireless to the cabinet and fibre to the remote node technologies which could potentially be used to extend the reach of the DSSB programme in future.

Question reference: S4W-27666

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £146 million superfast broadband budget it has spent on upgrading broadband in Orkney.

The Highlands and Islands Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband contract is geared towards maximising coverage across the region, rather than having specific amounts allocated to each local authority area. Therefore there is no budget allocation for Orkney and the budget is not broken down by local authority area.

By the end of September 2015, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will have paid £65 million of the project’s total £146 million budget, which can be broken down to £49.7 million on backhaul and £15.3 million on access. These figures take account of the £29.6 million spend on subsea cabling which includes the cable to Westray.

The project will reach at least 84% of premises in the HIE region by the end of 2016. This includes at least 75% of premises in Orkney. Without the intervention of the project, only 21% of premises in the HIE region would have been covered by the commercial market, with no planned commercial coverage at all in Orkney.

Question reference: S4O-04678

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding the impact of the agreement to maintain teacher numbers.

Question reference: S4W-27515

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 involvement local procurators fiscal have in discussions about potential diversions from prosecution and whether they are involved in every such decision.

Examples of diversions from prosecution include the referral of an accused to the supervision of a social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist or mediator for the purposes of support, treatment or other action as an alternative to prosecution. The use of diversion schemes by prosecutors will depend on the availability locally of a suitable diversion scheme. Prosecutors will work together with local service providers to create, operate and monitor diversion schemes. These schemes are designed to prevent the re-occurrence of offending through early or intensive intervention outwith court.

Decisions to refer an accused to a diversion scheme are taken by prosecutors after full consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case reported by the Police. There are other statutory alternatives to prosecution including fiscal fines and fiscal work orders which are similarly considered by prosecutors on a case by case basis.

Question reference: S4W-27518

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

To ask the Scottish Government how many diversions from prosecution have been agreed in each year since 2011 and what percentage of the number proposed this represents.

Table 2 of the bulletin Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland, 2013-14 (http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00474323.pdf, page 24) contains figures for the years 2009-10 to 2013-14 on the number of referrals, assessments and cases commenced for diversion from prosecution, as reported by local authority social work departments. It should be noted that referrals and assessments may not be made in the same year as the year in which the case commenced.

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