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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.

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Question reference: S5W-05298

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2016
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.

Question reference: S5W-04652

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 21 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to participate in mediation with tenant farmers and landowners who face eviction as a result of the outcome of the Salvesen v Riddell case.

The service established and funded by the Scottish Government provides for mediation between those tenant farmers and landlords affected by the outcome of the Salvesen v Riddell case and who are presently involved in litigation.

Mediation is a private matter between parties and is an entirely confidential process. While the Scottish Government will pay for the costs of the parties, up to set limits, it is neither a party to the mediation nor privy to it, therefore will not have any knowledge of the details of any mediation, including any outcome.

Question reference: S5W-04347

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to re-advertise the post of chief executive of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), what the period of appointment will be and whether an HIE board will be constituted.

Following the announcement of an Enterprise and Skills Review by the First Minister on 25 May 2016 Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) appointed an interim Chief Executive. This followed the departure of Alex Paterson and was agreed pending the outcome of the review. The interim Chief Executive was appointed on 26 August.

The phase 1 report of the Enterprise and Skills review published on 25 October confirmed that we will maintain dedicated support which is locally based, managed and directed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. We are engaging with Highlands and Islands Enterprise to agree the appropriate time to commence recruitment and the approach to the recruitment process.

Question reference: S5W-04162

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether Rio Tinto has provided it with information regarding its consultation with (a) stakeholders of and (b) staff at Kinlochleven power station.

Question reference: S5W-04476

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of its winter preparedness plans.

The variability in Scotland’s weather means that we must be prepared to manage the impacts of a variety of severe weather conditions throughout the year. In the face of such changeability, the Scottish Government works closely with local authorities and key resilience stakeholders to ensure robust resilience arrangements are in place all year round.

There are 3 Regional Resilience Partnerships in Scotland, covering the East, West and North of the country. Together they build strong and mutually supportive relationships between the emergency services and responder community, including utility companies and the voluntary sector, which enable them to prepare for and respond to emergencies in a co-ordinated way. These arrangements come to the fore during any period of severe weather. They proved extremely beneficial in terms of information sharing and co-ordination at the start of the year when storms Abigail, Desmond, Frank and others brought repeated and prolonged challenges to communities across much of the country. Each partnership has made extensive preparations for the winter period, to ensure adequate arrangements are in place.

This work is supported by Scotland’s national resilience marketing campaign, which launched earlier this month. The campaign focusses on raising awareness of the measures that the public can take to be risk aware, to be well prepared, and to be a good neighbour to people around them who might find coping with wintry conditions particularly challenging. Just like Scotland’s broader resilience arrangements, it is delivered in close partnership with a wide range of organisations, in the public, private and third sectors. Key partners include Scotland’s local authorities, other emergency responders, and, of course the Met Office. This year the name of the campaign has been changed from “Ready for Winter” to “Ready Scotland”, in order to better reflect the need for year-round preparedness. I would encourage the public to go to ReadyScotland.org for advice about how best to prepare for and cope with severe weather conditions over the coming months.

Transport Scotland’s Multi-Agency Response Team arrangements enable a strategic overview of event and incident handling for severe weather and other challenges to the country’s transport infrastructure. This is a joint process with Police Scotland and includes trunk road operating companies, rail operators, the Met Office and others, as well as seconded personnel from Police Scotland and the Met Office to enhance closer partnership working.

I would also encourage people to sign up to tools such as Floodline and consult the Traffic Scotland website when planning to travel.

Question reference: S5W-04369

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will monitor the phased-in landing obligation requirements (a) overall and (b) for North Sea cod in 2017 to ensure that no illegal discarding or high grading is occurring, also broken down by the amount of (i) observer and (ii) electronic monitoring coverage it plans.

In Scottish waters responsibility for ensuring compliance with the Landing Obligation (LO) rests with Marine Scotland, working with Defra and the UK’s other Devolved Administrations to ensure compliance across the UK. After an advisory period, and for the vessels for which it is responsible, Marine Scotland will seek to ensure that fishing vessels comply with LO requirements while working at sea and on landing through inspections.

Fishing vessels are selected for inspection at sea using a risk-based and intelligence-led approach. Any illegal discarding or high grading discovered is dealt with in line with Marine Scotland’s compliance strategy. Marine Scotland Fishery Officers have received guidance and instruction on the LO, covering both pelagic and demersal fisheries. This guidance is updated in line with regulatory changes every year, and Fishery Officers monitor fish markets and landings.

Question reference: S5W-03285

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-01873 by Roseanna Cunningham on 10 August 2016, how long the vessel remained in port before resuming duties on each of the nine occasions that mariners had to be put ashore, also broken down by how many times (a) suitably qualified replacement mariners were hired and (b) the vessel resumed sailing without a full complement of crew.

Marine Scotland vessels are certificated by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency with a Safe Manning Document. This specifies the safe manning complement for each vessel. At no time has Marine Scotland sailed any of its vessels below the safe manning complement.

In addition to the safe manning complement each vessel has an operational complement. This is set higher than the safe manning complement to ensure operational flexibility. This allows Marine Scotland to sail vessels when a crew member calls off at the last minute or requires to be landed during the course of a voyage. The occasions where mariners had to be put ashore, from the start of April 2016 to date, are listed in the following table. No delays in sailing have occurred due to shortage of operational complement.

Vessel	Date From	Date To	Number of days	Delays / replacements
Minna	29-4-16	9-5-16	10	No delay or replacement. Cover provided by existing crew member.
Minna	8-6-16	13-6-16	5	No delay. Replacement crew member put on board vessel after 5 days to complete voyage.
Hirta	5-6-16	22-6-16	17	No delay or replacement.
Hirta	5-7-16	13-7-16	8	No delay or replacement.
Jura	5-4-16	8-4-16	3	No delay or replacement.
Jura	7-5-16	19-5-17	13	No delay or replacement.
Jura	10-7-16	21-7-16	11	No delay or replacement.
Jura	3-8-16	11-8-16	8	No delay or replacement.
Scotia	5-7-16	16-7-16	12	No delay or replacement.