Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28221

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions (a) Transport Scotland, (b) CalMac Ferries and (c) CMAL has had with Pentland Ferries regarding the safe management system on the MV Alfred prior to time chartering the vessel.

Question reference: S6W-28224

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value is of the time charter agreements that it has signed with Pentland Ferries for the MV Alfred between April 2023 and July 2024.

The Scottish Government have not entered into, or signed, any agreement with Pentland Ferries.

The charter agreements of the MV Alfred from Pentland Ferries, vessel owner, for use on Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract (CHFS) have all been undertaken by the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd. The Scottish Government has provided funding to CalMac Ferries Ltd to enable the charter of the MV Alfred and this was confirmed as £15.1m, in the Freedom of Information request published on 8 February 2024: Information relating to Scottish ferries costs and upgrades: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-28226

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a crew fatigue management plan was in place on the MV Alfred when it was time chartered from Pentland Ferries in April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-28220

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what fees have been charged by all private consultants for advising Transport Scotland regarding the Ardrossan Harbour upgrade.

Question reference: S6W-28217

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the annual payments that the operator of the current Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract has made to Transport Scotland since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-28149

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many producers applied for an exemption from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme before it was delayed in June 2023, and what percentage of these producers used glass packaging.

The Deposit Return Scheme requires all drinks producers to register with SEPA before their products may be sold in Scotland. There are no exemptions for producers under the scheme. Data on producer registration is held by SEPA.

As an industry-run scheme, data on individual product lines were held by the private sector scheme administrator.

Producers may choose to register product lines with less than 5000 units placed on the market each year as a ‘Low Volume Product’. Producers of Low Volume Products must still register and report the number of products placed on the market, but products will be exempt from the requirement to apply deposits.

Question reference: S6W-28150

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of (a) processing and (b) any projected lost revenue resulting from each of the exemptions granted to producers from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme.

The Deposit Return Scheme requires all drinks producers to register with SEPA before their products may be sold in Scotland. There are no exemptions for producers under the scheme. Data on producer registration is held by SEPA.

As an industry-led scheme, the Scottish Government receives no revenue from producers as a result of DRS.

Producers may choose to register product lines with less than 5000 units placed on the market each year as a ‘Low Volume Product’. Producers of Low Volume Products must still register and report the number of products placed on the market, but products will be exempt from the requirement to apply deposits.

Question reference: S6W-28152

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 14 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was for each producer of applying for an exemption from the proposed Deposit Return Scheme before it was delayed in June 2023.

The Deposit Return Scheme requires all drinks producers to register with SEPA before their products may be sold in Scotland. There are no exemptions for producers under the scheme. Data on producer registration is held by SEPA.

Producers may choose to register product lines with less than 5000 units placed on the market each year as a ‘Low Volume Product’. Producers of Low Volume Products must still register and report the number of products placed on the market, but products will be exempt from the requirement to apply deposits. There are no legislated costs associated with registering a product line as a low volume product.

Question reference: S6W-27990

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on its rail freight strategy, what discussions it has had with the UK Government to ensure that any upgrade to rail connections between Wembley and the Channel Tunnel rail freight depot would benefit rail freight transportation from Scotland to continental Europe.

The Scottish Government’s leadership in support for rail freight is outlined in our rail freight strategy and put into practice with significant investment and our first of a kind regulatory growth targets. Benefits for rail freight are included in our rail projects and we will continue to maximise these benefits in our future investment in the rail network in Scotland. Rail connections between Wembley and the Channel Tunnel have not been specifically discussed, but the Scottish Government meets the UK Government regularly to consider how to maximise the potential for rail freight growth and these discussions include the importance of sufficient capacity and power supply for cross-border rail freight services.

Question reference: S6O-03602

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that scheduled care transport provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service is accessible to all patients who need it.

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