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 1651 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-29854

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress is being made with the proposal to improve access at (a) Blairhill, (b) Elgin, (c) Hamilton Central, (d) Kilmarnock, (e) Kilwinning and (f) Westerton railway station.

The Scottish Government provides regular updates on the Access for All programme through Transport Scotland who chair the Scottish Rail Accessibility Forum. This forum brings together the Scottish Government, rail industry and organisations representing disabled and other passengers.

The Access for All programme will deliver improved access at a further six Scottish stations by April 2019. The station upgrades are being delivered by Network Rail and progress is being made as follows:

Work has begun on site to construct a new, compliant footbridge served by lifts to both platforms at Elgin. The £2.5 million facilities are expected to be complete and open for use in summer 2016. The existing footbridge will then be removed. These substantial access improvements will compliment wider Scottish Government investment to improve rail services through the £170 million Aberdeen to Inverness Improvement Project.

Work has also begun on site at Blairhill station, to construct a new compliant footbridge served by lifts to both platforms. It is expected work will be complete and the new facilities open before the end of 2016. Proposals to construct a new footbridge, lifts and ticket office at Hamilton Central are at the design stage and works are planned to be completed in 2017.

Network Rail is beginning initial feasibility studies to explore the most suitable access solutions at Kilmarnock, Kilwinning and Westerton stations. It is anticipated works will begin at these stations in 2017.

Question reference: S4W-29853

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when its accessible transport strategy will be published and how it is engaging with disabled people during the consultation period.

The Scottish Government plans to publish a national accessible travel framework and action plan later in 2016.

The approach taken involves engagement which goes beyond a traditionally defined consultation.

We have consulted disabled people face-to-face and through their representative organisations, firstly (along with transport providers and local and central government) to co–produce the first transport accessibility summit which took place in March 2015 and from which a report was produced which included feedback and commentary from disabled people.

One of the priorities identified by disabled people at the summit was to continue to work with them and through their organisations and so the transport accessibility steering group was established with the same representation which co-produced the summit. The steering group is now working to co–produce the accessible travel framework and action plan.

Engagement with disabled people will continue during this development of the framework and action plan. Further face-to-face meetings and online communications with disabled people are planned before it is finalised, to discuss the vision, outcomes and key actions.

The aim thereafter is to ensure a continued conversation with disabled people over the lifespan of the framework.

Question reference: S4W-29834

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 4 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the option of a passenger ferry across the Firth of Forth with a bus link was not explored during the recent closure of the Forth Road Bridge.

Transport Scotland fully explored all of the ferries options and engaged in discussions and practical trials with ferry operators on possible services. Available infrastructure, comparable journey times and likely passenger carrying capacity, particularly when compared to other public transport options, were the key factors in considering this. Ultimately it was not deemed practical to pursue such a service. However, all options were kept under review throughout the closure period.

The use of a hovercraft was also considered although ruled out under the same criteria plus taking into account the time required to make a vessel available to enter service.

Question reference: S4O-05634

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support culture in the Highland and Islands.

Question reference: S4W-29602

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether Transport Scotland will evaluate its methodology for predicting passenger numbers, given that the number of passengers using the Borders Railway is higher than it predicted, as has reportedly previously been the case with other projects.

The Borders Railway service has proved popular since it opened in September 2015, with passenger numbers exceeding expectations. The forecasting methodology used is in line with industry practice and incorporates evidence gathered in the Borders Railway region. An element of uncertainty is always present with forecasting, especially for a new railway. Transport Scotland keeps forecasting methodology under constant review to ensure best practice.

Question reference: S4O-05589

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many da Vinci surgical systems for the treatment of prostate cancer there are in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-29582

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has conducted to ascertain whether CalMac’s Mallaig/Armadale revised ferry service would cope with the predicted increase in demand as a result of the road equivalent tariff and whether any such research confirmed the predicted increase.

The Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan: Annual Report 2014 was published on the Transport Scotland website on 2 October 2015. The plan sets out the long-term forecast in demand across all Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services routes, including Mallaig-Armadale.

The forecasts are currently being reviewed in light of a further year of traffic information and vessel redeployment changes. It is anticipated that an updated 2015 annual report will be published in summer 2016.

The Ferries Plan, published in December 2012, states that the operator has the opportunity to bring forward proposals to manage demand in the short-term, where the introduction of road-equivalent tariff (RET) is forecast to cause capacity issues. CalMac engaged closely with local stakeholders on the proposed changes to the summer 2016 Mallaig-Armadale timetable and listened to their concerns regarding capacity at peak times. Additional sailings, including the use of a third vessel on the route, are planned for over the peak summer period. CalMac expect that the capacity will meet the expected demand from the introduction of RET across the day. Demand and capacity levels on the route will be closely monitored by the operator during the summer 2016 timetable period.

Question reference: S4W-29529

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the roll-out of the Scottish wide area network on a customer-by-customer basis.

The contract for the Scottish wide area network was signed in February 2014 with the core network and services available in July 2014. The roll-out of the individual network circuits to customers has been progressing since then with 3,756 circuits having been delivered to the 10 member organisations who have live implementations. A further seven members are at the planning stages for the roll-out of their circuits and their implementations have yet to commence.

The breakdown of circuits already rolled-out on a customer-by-customer basis is:

Customer Organisation or Hub	Circuits delivered as at 3 February 2016
NHS Scotland (hub covering all 22 Scottish Health Organisations)	3,121
Pathfinder South (hub acting for Dumfries and Galloway Council and Scottish Borders Council)	251
Education Scotland	49
Historic Environment Scotland	56
West Lothian Council	140
Skills Development Scotland (hub covering Skills Development Scotland, Highland and Island Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise)	78
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency	16
Inverclyde Council	30
Scottish Natural Heritage	10
University of the Highlands Council and Islands	5
	3,756

Aberdeen City Council, East Renfrewshire Council, the Pathfinder North Hub (acting for Highland Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Moray Council, Orkney Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar), the Scottish Government, North Lanarkshire Council, Creative Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority are in the process of planning their implementations.

Question reference: S4W-29460

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 4 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions there are for landlords who fail to comply with the tenancy deposit schemes regulations that came into force in March 2011 and how many have been penalised each year for non-compliance, broken down by local authority area.

A tenant may make a summary application to the sheriff where the landlord has not complied with the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011.

If satisfied that the landlord has failed to comply with any duty under the regulations, the sheriff must order the landlord to pay the tenant up to three times the amount of the tenancy deposit and may, as the sheriff considers appropriate, order the landlord to pay the deposit to an approved scheme, or provide the tenant with required information. The sheriff will have discretion to take the individual circumstances of each application into account when deciding what amount of financial penalty should apply.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of landlords penalised for non-compliance.

Question reference: S4W-29476

Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 4 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the public sector has met the savings targets highlighted by John McClelland in his 2010 report, Review of ICT Infrastucture in the Public Sector in Scotland.

The Review of ICT Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland by John McClelland CBE, published in June 2011, confirmed the public sector could start to realise a reduction in ICT spend from 2012-13, and continue to do so over a five year period. I can confirm that by end 2013-14, the latest period for which figures are available, we have achieved a cumulative reduction in ICT spend of £237 million. We plan to reassess the methodology used for identifying efficiencies in ICT expenditure to ensure that it truly reflects the impact of changes in our approach to procurement and the development of our digital public services strategy since the publication of John McClelland’s report.