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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-38220

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason data is missing from the Mental Health Act Monitoring Report 2023-24 on the number of individuals who were taken to either a healthcare facility or a police station under a place of safety order.

Question reference: S6W-38219

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that healthcare facilities have physical capacity for individuals detained under a place of safety order.

The Scottish Government published the Core Standards for Mental Health to help improve the quality of mental health services. The standards highlight that people, including those in crisis, should have timely access to mental health services, with clear communication about available services and any alternative support if needed.

Health Boards are expected to place significant emphasis on the quality and safety of all clinical environments, particularly those where individuals need to be assessed and may be admitted where a place of safety orders is in force. Responsibility for designating a healthcare facility a Place of Safety should be agreed by local partners and outlined in their Psychiatric Emergency Plan.

Question reference: S6W-38221

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people under 18 have been detained in police stations under section 297 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-38208

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the possibility of introducing anonymity rules in domestic violence cases.

An open and transparent criminal justice system is important to allow for justice to be delivered and seen to be delivered so communities can have confidence in how offending behaviour is being dealt with. However, there can be areas of the operation of the criminal justice system where it is considered appropriate to allow certain individuals to remain anonymous to protect their dignity and privacy while still ensuring justice is able to be delivered.

The issue of anonymity in respect of domestic abuse criminal cases has been raised in the past with the Scottish Government. In considering whether victims of domestic abuse should receive anonymity, a key consideration has been that if anonymity is afforded to victims then, given the nature of domestic abuse, it may be that anonymity would be required for the accused too. This is because identification of the accused may reveal the identity of the victim. This inherently creates a challenging scenario within which to develop anonymity protections.

While the Scottish Government has no current plans in this area, we keep all policy relating to anonymity within the justice system under review.

Question reference: S6W-38206

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid in her role as chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38207

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of work towards developing misogyny law in the current parliamentary session.

The total cost of work considering and progressing misogyny legislation by the Scottish Government was £143,668.13. This includes:

The fee paid to Baroness Helena Kennedy KC in her role as Chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland;
Costs associated with Working Group;
Publication of the Scottish Government consultation paper on draft legislation to implement the Working Group’s recommendations;
Analysis of the responses received to the consultation; and
Publication of consultation analysis.

This does not include the cost of time spent by Scottish Government civil servants as the work was carried out by staff working on a range of different areas including but not limited to misogyny legislative policy. As such, it is not possible to quantify the cost of staff time involved.

Question reference: S6W-38205

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was provided to the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland during its lifetime.

Question reference: S6W-38224

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals were taken to police stations under section 297 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6O-04827

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Orkney Islands Council regarding any support needed to allow development projects to be taken forward to tackle the reported growing demand for housing in the islands.

Question reference: S6W-38114

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific (a) trauma-informed safeguards and (b) survivor protections are in place to prevent re-traumatisation where staff have institutional links to bodies under direct investigation by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Information on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry’s (SCAI) trauma informed approach to taking evidence is available on its’s website - Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry | Investigating the abuse of children in care in Scotland. SCAI have adopted a Trauma-Informed Approach, guided by specialist input and the NHS Education for Scotland's Trauma-Informed Justice and Skills Framework for working with victims and witnesses.