Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-05905

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 16 December 2016, New Group to focus on improving Far North Line, (a) who the members of the review group will be, broken down by the organisation that they will represent and (b) whether it will publish its remit.

The Far North Line Review Team will be chaired by the Rail Director, Transport Scotland and will comprise representatives of Network Rail, ScotRail, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Hitrans Regional Transport Partnership, Transport Scotland, Highland Council and Friends of the Far North Line. The Team will hold an inception meeting early in the new year at which the remit will be confirmed and subsequently published.

Question reference: S5W-05506

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how the £649,000 grant from the European Social Fund for social inclusion and to tackle discrimination, poverty and other health issues in the Highland Council area was allocated.

Question reference: S5W-05620

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what financial savings it expects to be made by a single Scotland-wide board for enterprise and skills compared with retaining the existing separate boards.

In our report on phase one of the Enterprise and Skills Review we have committed to work with agencies and other partners to strengthen our enterprise and skills system by consulting on the strategic board, including the best distribution of functions between the agencies underneath it and the associated legislative requirements. Any savings that might arise would be consequential to that commitment.

Question reference: S5W-05621

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the establishment and running costs of a single Scotland-wide board for enterprise and skills come from (a) the budgets of existing agencies or (b) a new funding source.

In our report on phase one of the Enterprise and Skills Review we have committed to work with agencies and other partners to strengthen our enterprise and skills system by consulting on the strategic board, including the best distribution of functions between the agencies underneath it and the associated legislative requirements.

As part of this work, we will also consider what running costs would be required for this and how these costs will best be met.

Question reference: S5O-00492

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle air pollution.

Question reference: S5W-05271

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in each year since 2008 to reduce journey times on each service on the Highland Main Line.

Since 2008 the Scottish Government has taken action to deliver, and continues to develop, rail enhancements on the Inverness to Glasgow and Edinburgh route with the Rail Industry. These enhancements included journey time and frequency improvements in December 2011. Additionally, we will introduce new early morning services from Sunday 11 December 2016 to further enhance connectivity.

In the current control period we have allowed for funding for Network Rail to implement infrastructure enhancements designed to facilitate our commitment to “Revolution in Rail”. These along with the introduction of High Speed Trains will see significant service improvements introduced including an average 10 minute journey time saving and an hourly service. Details of our Revolution in Rail can be found at the following link; http://news.gov.scot/news/rail-revolution-announced

Question reference: S5W-05298

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2016
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on it reinstating the direct rail link between Perth and Edinburgh, and what impact such a service would have on journey times on the Highland Main Line.

Reinstatement of the direct rail link between Perth and Edinburgh does not feature in the Scottish Government’s current £5 billion investment programme to 2019. However, we are committed to on-going improvements to rail services and connectivity and will consider projects subject to the Scottish Government’s investment priorities for the strategic transport network, a robust business case, affordability and other competing proposals. The first step for promoters of this scheme is to contact the Regional Transport Partnership (RTP), SEStran, to establish if the proposal fits with their local and regional transport strategies. Any impact on Highland Main Line journey times would need to be determined by detailed timetable analysis should the proposal emerge from a multi-modal transport appraisal.

Question reference: S5W-04866

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will complete the full business case review on a new hospital to replace St Brendan's Hospital in Barra.

Question reference: S5O-00449

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether decisions regarding Highlands and Islands Enterprise economic development and social support spending will be made locally by people who live and work in the area.

Question reference: S5W-04728

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a substantive answer to question S5W-04347, which received a holding response on 14 November 2016.

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