Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 1784 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-33018

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that anti-theft strategies for railways align with broader transport and infrastructure security policies.

Question reference: S6W-32931

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of thefts from railway lines and stations on (a) rail service disruptions and (b) passenger safety.

Question reference: S6W-33027

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures collaboration between railway operators in Scotland and law enforcement agencies to prevent thefts.

Question reference: S6W-33017

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider adopting a national strategy to address thefts from railways, and, if so, how it would ensure consistency across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-33008

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with (a) railway operators, (b) local authorities and (c) Police Scotland to develop a coordinated strategy to reduce theft from railways.

Question reference: S6W-33022

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with railway unions regarding the safety of workers at railway depots in areas affected by theft.

Question reference: S6W-32988

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing enhanced surveillance measures at railway (a) depots and (b) stations to deter theft.

Question reference: S6W-33108

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what projects being considered for Transport Scotland funding are expected to have the largest economic impact.

Question reference: S6W-33160

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on maintenance and upgrades of the A90 in each of the last five years.

Over the last 5 financial years the following has been spent on the maintenance and improvement of the A90 trunk road.

2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
£12,486,316	£20,673,965	£23,045,538	22,484,864	£21,571,032

The above figures exclude expenditure on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route / Balmedie to Tipperty section of the A90. The contract with the DBFO Company, Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL) requires it to fulfil the contractual obligations in respect of maintenance at ARL’s own cost. These associated costs are not shared with Transport Scotland.

The Scottish Government also remains committed to delivering a new grade-separated junction on the A90 at Laurencekirk as part of the package of additional investment alongside the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

Transport Scotland has been taking forward the necessary design and assessment work, and the project is currently going through the statutory authorisation process, having recently published supplementary draft Orders for formal comment.

As with all infrastructure projects, delivery of the Laurencekirk scheme can only commence when the relevant statutory authorisation powers to do so have been secured. Following completion of the statutory authorisation process we will then be in a position to set a timetable for delivery of the scheme in line with available budgets.

In terms of spend for this scheme in the last five years we record £1,807,404.64

Question reference: S6W-33106

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to monitor and report on the economic impact of Transport Scotland-funded projects after their completion.

Evaluation is essential to the work of Transport Scotland to assess whether policies and interventions are being delivered as intended, and to help identify ways to improve them.

Transport Scotland follows published evaluation guidance for both rail and road projects. This includes frameworks for the evaluation of road and rail schemes and recommended timescales for each. These are typically at one-, three- and five-years following completion of projects. These reports and data sets are published on the Transport Scotland website and include evaluation of economic impact where relevant.

For projects out with rail and road schemes, Transport Scotland follows general evaluation guidance published by the UK Government which advises on evaluation following project completion. The evaluation approach is tailored to ensure it is proportionate to the scale of the project and will include evaluation of economic impacts where relevant. Reports and data sets from these evaluations are also published on the Transport Scotland website.