- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what role private sector investment plays in funding (a) ScotRail and (b) Caledonian Sleeper services.
Answer
All of ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper carriages are leased from private sector companies. The locomotives for Caledonian Sleeper trains are provided and operated by GB Railfreight Ltd. The cost of these leases and service provision is funded by passenger revenue and the Scottish Government subsidy.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of ScotRail’s operational costs are covered by (a) passenger fares and (b) subsidies.
Answer
The level of subsidy and ScotRail revenue for the current year will be published in Transport Scotland and ScotRail accounts.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what quantity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) it estimates will be required to supply MV Glen Sannox each week, once the vessel enters service on 13 January 2025.
Answer
As operator, CalMac have estimated 44tonnes (this equates to two HGV tankers) of LNG per week during vessel operation. However this is being reviewed as part of the network trials which are currently being undertaken.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a cost-benefit analysis of hybrid trains as an interim solution to the decarbonisation of the railway network.
Answer
An individual business case, including socio-economic analysis, is prepared for each route being considered for decarbonisation. These business cases include technical and economic examinations of the case for of different types of rail traction including bi-mode diesel-electric, battery-electric and hydrogen.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that public subsidies to ScotRail are delivering value for money for taxpayers.
Answer
Transport Scotland is working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings, who is responsible for overseeing ScotRail, to ensure that ScotRail services are delivered efficiently. This includes discussions on the regular monitoring of ScotRail financial performance and delivery.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered alternative funding models for the Caledonian Sleeper to reduce any reliance on public subsidies.
Answer
Caledonian Sleeper services are funded through a combination of passenger revenue and Scottish Government subsidy. This was true when operated by Serco and remains true under public ownership. There are no plans to change that funding model.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total cost was of the recent replacement of the heating and window control systems in MSP offices in the Parliament building.
Answer
The works referred to in your question is part of an existing project to upgrade the Parliament’s Building and Energy Management System (BEMS). The BEMS is a business-critical tool which provides visibility and control of building services, principally the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and domestic hot water systems in all areas of the Holyrood site. The new BEMS replaces an existing system which was installed 20 years ago and at end of life.
The estimated total value for the BEMS project is £3,900,000. This information is published on the Scottish Parliaments Contracts Register under the contract reference NIC-SER-486 at the following link - Contract register | Scottish Parliament Website.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S6W-31550 by Claire Baker on 11 December 2024, how many email and domain accounts for MSP spouses who are not in paid employment by MSPs there are on the Parliament IT system, and what the average annual cost is of administering any such accounts.
Answer
In line with data protection legislation the personal data processed by the SPCB is minimised to only that which is necessary, and there is no business reason to hold spousal information of those who work for MSPs in an unpaid capacity. The average annual licencing cost to provide email and productivity applications to Parliament network users is approximately £280 per user.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it has spent on electric hand dryers in the Parliament building in each of the last three years.
Answer
The general maintenance of hand driers is included within the Building Maintenance Contract and the only spend is on replacement parts or replacement hand driers if they fail. Below is spend for last 3 financial years and note on current year.
· 21/22 – No Spend
· 22/23 – No Spend
· 23/24 – £1560.87 – Spend is on parts & machines only as labour is included within planned maintenance.
· 24/25 – No spend to date.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 14 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the cost of maintaining the Parliament's bees has been in each of the last five years.
Answer
The total cost of maintaining the Parliament’s bees on-site for the last five years in total is £20,219.68. This includes the installation and maintenance of 15 beehives since March 2020.
The costs per year are given in the table below:
Hoods Honey Costs per year | | |
Year | Ex VAT | Gross Amount |
2023/24 | £ 4,349.90 | £ 5,219.88 |
2022/23 | £ 3,199.92 | £ 3,839.90 |
2021/22 | £ 3,199.92 | £ 3,839.90 |
2020/21 | £ 3,600.00 | £ 4,320.00 |
2019/20 | £ 2,500.00 | £ 3,000.00 |