Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S6O-01237

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what priority it attaches to developing relationships with other European countries.

Question reference: S6W-08769

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Islands Bond will be introduced by summer 2022, as committed to in its 2021-22 Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-08768

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the Islands Bond consultation will be published.

Question reference: S6W-08767

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the Islands Bond will be distributed between island groups.

Question reference: S6O-01207

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how island communities in Orkney can be involved in decisions about how superfast broadband is rolled out in their areas.

Question reference: S6W-08394

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates a shortfall in future staffing levels among Police Scotland officers (a) at each rank and (b) in each area as a result of the McCloud remedy, and, if so, what impact it anticipates this will have on officer capacity (i) at each rank and (ii) in each area.

Question reference: S6W-08395

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to safeguard Police Scotland's future capacity in the event of potential officer shortages resulting from the implementation of the McCloud remedy.

The Scottish Government is aware that changes to officer pensions have resulted in an increase in the numbers currently retiring.

The recruitment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, who is actively managing workforce challenges and is committed to recruiting 300 new officers each quarter to help return officer numbers to appropriate levels. Implementation began in April when a larger than usual intake of approximately 300 probationers joined the service.

Question reference: S6W-08307

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 29 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 13 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of dwellings in each local authority area use (a) oil, (b) mains gas, (c) electricity, (d) community heating schemes, (e) heat pumps and (f) other sources as the main fuel type or method of central heating.

This information is not available in the form requested.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) explores the physical condition of Scotland’s homes as well as the experiences of householders. Data from the SHCS provides estimates of the main heating fuel used and method of central heating across the housing stock at national level, based on a single year of data. Due to sample sizes, analysis at the local authority level requires three years of data averaged to produce an overall figure. Due to the impact of Covid–19 the 2020 SHCS was postponed and there was no 2020 SHCS publication, therefore the most recent local authority data set is from 2017 to 2019. Additionally, due to sample sizes and low prevalence, it is not possible to produce robust local authority level estimates of all the above heating fuels and methods of central heating distinctly. As such heating fuels have been grouped into 4 categories: Gas, Oil, Electricity, and Other which mirrors the groups used in the SHCS annual publication while the percentage of dwellings which have heat pumps or are part of communal heating are given at the national level only.

Percentage of dwellings by Local Authority by primary heating fuel

Average 2017-2019.

Local Authority	% LA with Gas heat	% LA with oil heat	% LA with electric heat	% LA with Other fuel type heat	Sample
Aberdeen City	88%	-	7%	6%	248
Aberdeenshire	61%	24%	13%	2%	245
Angus	73%	10%	14%	2%	257
Argyll and Bute	46%	15%	33%	7%	232
Clackmannanshire	95%	1%	4%	-	220
Dumfries and Galloway	57%	20%	16%	6%	270
Dundee City	82%	-	16%	2%	256
East Ayrshire	93%	3%	2%	2%	252
East Dunbartonshire	95%	*	4%	*	253
East Lothian	82%	5%	10%	3%	238
East Renfrewshire	93%	*	5%	*	233
Edinburgh, City of	87%	1%	11%	1%	613
Na h-Eileanan Siar	11%	48%	36%	5%	273
Falkirk	90%	2%	7%	2%	251
Fife	91%	3%	6%	1%	443
Glasgow City	85%	-	12%	3%	644
Highland	46%	24%	23%	7%	261
Inverclyde	88%	-	8%	4%	219
Midlothian	92%	2%	3%	3%	275
Moray	70%	16%	10%	5%	206
North Ayrshire	90%	1%	7%	2%	227
North Lanarkshire	92%	*	6%	*	335
Orkney Islands	-	42%	53%	5%	265
Perth and Kinross	69%	14%	14%	3%	262
Renfrewshire	94%	-	5%	*	190
Scottish Borders	70%	14%	13%	3%	213
Shetland Islands	*	31%	57%	*	274
South Ayrshire	83%	9%	*	*	236
South Lanarkshire	83%	4%	10%	3%	329
Stirling	81%	7%	11%	2%	246
West Dunbartonshire	92%	*	5%	*	229
West Lothian	95%	1%	3%	1%	268
Scotland	81%	6%	11%	3%	8963

Percentage of dwellings in Scotland with a heat pump or community heating

Average 2017-2019.

Area	% with heat pump	% community heating
Scotland	0.9%	1.3%

Notes

1. Source Scottish House Condition Survey 2017-19.

2. The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size. A statistical tool for calculating 95% confidence intervals around these estimates can be found at .

3. The rates shown in this answer are an average over 2017-19 to match the local authority data and will differ from that found in the main SHCS Key Findings report which relates to a single year, most recently 2019. Available at

4. Numbers may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

5. In some columns, percentages or figures may have been removed from cells and replaced with ‘*’. This is where the base on which the percentage or figure are calculated is less than 30. These data are judged to be insufficiently reliable for publication. Zero values are shown as a dash (-).

Question reference: S6O-01105

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to increase and retain the population of Scotland’s islands.

Question reference: S6W-08226

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Ferguson Marine should adhere to the Scottish Government publication, Guidance on due diligence: human rights, before engaging in any investment relationship involving the construction of sea vessels, and, if it considers that Ferguson Marine should adhere to the publication, which investment relationships might not require this guidance to be followed.