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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-01171

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the owner of Pentland Ferries, regarding the Fair Work Framework.

Question reference: S6W-01169

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 15 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it last measured its public procurement policies in the ferries sector against the National Performance Framework, and what the outcomes were in each category.

Transport Scotland’s Procurement Strategy plays a key role in achieving Transport Scotland’s Vision to create a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system, which in turn will help to deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors. It aligns to the Scottish Government’s procurement policy and assists in achieving its national outcomes.

Although Transport Scotland does not regularly measure its public procurement policies in the ferries sector against the National Performance Framework specifically, it publishes an Annual Procurement Report, which reports on Transport Scotland’s regulated procurements.

The Transport Scotland’s Annual Procurement Report 2020 was published in January 2021 and reported on compliance with commitments made in our Corporate Procurement Strategy and includes a summary of community benefits generated through Transport Scotland ferries contracts.

Question reference: S6W-01170

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the performance recorded for 2020 against the Employee Voice indicator in the National Performance Framework includes workers across all sectors of the transport industry.

The Employee Voice indicator in the National Performance Framework draws on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is run by the Office for National Statistics. This is the largest household study in the UK and provides the official measures of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.

Performance of the Employee Voice indicator is determined by a change of ±1.5 percentage points between the current year’s headline (i.e. all of Scotland) figure and the previous year’s headline figure.

The system of sampling used for the LFS provides a representative sample of the population at a regional level, but provides no guarantee of adequate coverage of any individual industry (as the survey is not industrially stratified). Industry category is self-reported by respondents participating in the survey and questions relating to collective agreements on pay are asked in the October to December survey period.

As a result, the Employee Voice indicator is based on a sample that is representative for Scotland as a whole, but may or may not be representative for any particular industry within Scotland.

Therefore, the Employee Voice indicator will have sampled workers from the transport industry, but those included in the sample may not cover all the sectors within that industry.

Question reference: S6W-00755

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been done to quantify the reliability of PCR test kits that can be bought privately.

Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is investigating potential options to ensure that consumers and the wider public can have confidence in the reliability of private PCR tests.

We have issued guidance for employers on setting up private testing programmes which includes information on seeking assurances around test quality: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - employee testing programmes: guidance for employers - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

UK Government legislation regulating the Coronavirus test devices can be found here: The Medical Devices (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk) .

Question reference: S6W-00756

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government upon which scientific evidence it has based its decision to restrict travellers arriving from green and amber list countries to purchasing NHS test kits.

Travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

Travellers arriving into England from green and amber list countries are allowed to book private sector tests.

To date, there are concerns with the flow of data from private sector providers into Public Health England/Public Health Scotland to help with contact tracing and to identify Variants of Concern (VoCs). The UK Government has recently introduced key performance indicators (KPIs) for private providers to meet and is increasing the requirements on such providers to try to address these problems in England.

There are risks associated with the use of private sector tests. In particular, there have been concerns with the data flow from private laboratories into relevant contact tracing systems on either side of the border. There have been examples of it taking 30 days for positive test results to be transferred, making it impossible for contact tracing to be undertaken to interrupt chains of transmission.

We are currently exploring options to allow the use of private sector tests, provided this can be done safely and we can be assured that there aren’t any issues with the flow of data from the testing provider to Public Health Scotland regarding test results, as well as the need for positive test results to be analysed for evidence of any variants of concern. No decision has been made yet on this, however this is under review.

Question reference: S6W-00757

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Scotland regarding the price that people arriving in Scotland are being charged for PCR tests, compared to people arriving in England.

Travellers returning to Scotland from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace.

NHS Scotland has no role in setting the price of the kits. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Question reference: S6W-00753

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it last had discussions with (a) airport, (b) airline operators, regarding the cost of PCR tests for those entering Scotland from green and amber list countries.

The Scottish Government has remained engaged with the aviation sector throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so, including on testing of international travellers.

Travellers returning from green and amber list countries must use the NHS tests, which can be booked through the UK Government’s booking portal for international travel. These kits are home test PCR kits provided by NHS Test & Trace. The cost of the kits is set by the UK Government and the process managed through its contract with the travel management company, so our ability to reduce costs unilaterally is limited.

Currently, we are not using private test providers for international travellers arriving into Scotland from green and amber list countries due to concerns about the speed and reliability of the flow of data from private companies. We are having on-going discussion with the UK government on any issues with using private test providers and any risks attached to this. We are keen to understand fully the key performance indicators (KPIs) that have been recently set for these companies and the process should these not be met.

Question reference: S6W-00356

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when Transport Scotland first considered chartering the MV Pentalina for service on routes set out in the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract.

Question reference: S6W-00353

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Holding Answer by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, (b) CalMac Ferries, (c) passenger groups and (d) trade unions regarding the chartering of additional vessels to operate on routes set out in the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract.

Question reference: S6W-00358

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd on the procurement of the next generation of ferries on the Clyde and Hebrides network.

Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with their counterparts at Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries Ltd to discuss future investment in vessels and harbours for the Clyde and Hebrides network, primarily but not exclusively at a formal bi-monthly programme board. Discussions have produced a forward programme which was summarised for the next five years in Annex D of the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 and is also reflected in the CMAL Business Plan 2021-2024 published 9 April 2021.