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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-20598

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 11 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 4 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion, in percentage terms, of the total crimes reported resulted in charges being brought by the procurator fiscal, in each of the last five years.

COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to the Procurator Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical analysis, and the information within it is structured accordingly.

The COPFS systems do not count “crimes” per se. The information we can provide is based on the total number of accused reported in criminal cases to prosecutors. Any questions relating to the overall level of reported crime should be directed to Police Scotland.

Thereafter, prosecutors do not “bring charges” per se. Where there is sufficient admissible and credible information, as set out in the Prosecution Code, prosecutors will decide what action, if any, is appropriate in the public interest. Prosecutorial action is not limited to court proceedings but includes a range of direct measures, e.g., Warning Letter, Fiscal Fine, referral to the Children’s Reporter etc.

The information provided is therefore based on the first substantive marking decision in relation to the individual accused in reported cases.

The following table sets out information relating to prosecutorial action taken as a percentage of the total number of accused receiving a first substantive marking. The numbers are broken down to show the proportion of accused marked for court proceedings and the proportion of accused receiving a direct measure. No action markings are included for comparison.

Year	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Solemn	6.8%	6.8%	8.6%	9.4%	9.2%
Summary	34.2%	37.1%	37.3%	37.3%	39.2%
JP	16.0%	15.0%	8.9%	8.5%	8.7%
Children’s Reporter	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.4%
Warning letter	3.4%	3.0%	4.3%	3.4%	2.4%
Combined Offer (Fiscal Fine + Compensation Order)	2.2%	2.3%	1.4%	1.7%	3.1%
Compensation	0.5%	0.4%	0.7%	0.4%	0.5%
Fiscal Fine	11.4%	10.6%	8.9%	7.8%	7.3%
Fiscal Work Order	0.5%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
Road Traffic Fixed Penalty	10.1%	11.1%	14.7%	16.4%	15.1%
Possible Diversion	1.9%	2.0%	2.7%	3.2%	3.1%
No Action	12.0%	10.4%	11.3%	10.8%	9.8%
COURT PROCEEDINGS TOTAL	56.9%	58.9%	54.8%	55.3%	57.1%
DIRECT MEASURES TOTAL	31.0%	30.7%	33.8%	33.9%	33.1%

Question reference: S6W-20400

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have received Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan funding for secondary improvements in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20399

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have received Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan funding for energy efficiency measures in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20402

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed through the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme for secondary improvements in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20481

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any research into regulated markets for the reduction of harm and the safe control of substances.

The Scottish Government, in preparation for it's Paper " A caring compassionate and Human Rights Informed Drug Policy for Scotland" published on July 7th 2023, researched a wide range of sources and consulted with a number of international partners to learn what other models of drug policy exist and what the evidence is for their efficacy. This included administrations who have fully or partially regulated their markets for drugs. We will continue to learn from best practice around the world to ensure Scottish Government Policies are based on the best evidence available.

Question reference: S6W-20397

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed through the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme for renewable systems, including energy storage systems and district heating scheme connections, in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) system type and (b) local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20398

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many households have received Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan funding for renewable systems, including energy storage systems and district heating scheme connections, in each of the last five years, broken down by system type.

Question reference: S6W-20401

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been distributed through the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan scheme for energy efficiency measures in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20489

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 31 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its report, A Caring, Compassionate and Human Rights Informed Drug Policy for Scotland, which are the further changes to drugs policy “not dependent on constitutional change” that it has identified.

The Scottish Government committed an additional £250 million in the term of this parliament to deliver the national mission on drugs. We also committed in January 2023 to delivering a cross government plan that addresses the systemic stigma that keeps people from seeking support as well as a number of initiatives designed to make it easier for people who use drugs to access all the services they might need to improve their lives.

Question reference: S6W-20482

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 30 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to create a specific Deaths in Custody unit within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.