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The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government as Rosyth to Zeebrugge is a commercial freight ferry route operated by DFDS.

Improvements to the port facility or vessel to increase the capacity and improve the environmental performance have been made by the port authority Forth Ports or ferry operator DFDS.

We understand this included improvements to the port infrastructure to allow double stacked containers to be loaded onto the vessel, as well as the installation of scrubber technology on the Finlandia Seaways to comply with Sulphur Emissions Control Area restrictions.

The Scottish Government paid 200,000 in January 2015 to DFDS, in support of the company’s operation of the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight ferry service. The Scottish Government has not provided Forth Ports with funding for the route since January 2015.

The Scottish Government is committed to securing the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry service on an environmentally and economically sustainable basis in the interests of the freight industry and businesses in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not raised the issue of seafarer pay rates on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge freight route with the UK Government or DFDS.

Scottish Ministers wrote to UK Ministers on 4 November 2016 asking the UK Government to investigate the wider issue of employment protection for seafarers, including the applicability of National Minimum Wage legislation in the maritime sector, specifically regarding seafarers working exclusively in UK waters.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-06601 on 8 February 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Data on the volume of freight transported on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry is not retained in the format you request. The figures we receive from DfT Maritime Statistics are published in the Scottish Transport Statistics. The latest figures are at Table 9.13(b) in the report at:

http://www.transport.gov.scot/report/j415388-12.htm

The Scottish Government does not hold details of the freight capacity of the vessel used on the route. There have not been any specific discussions with DFDS or Forth Ports regarding potential future increases in capacity although we continue encourage them to keep this under review and support them in their efforts to grow the volumes on the route.

This is a matter for Revenue Scotland, a non-ministerial department and officeholder in the Scottish Administration, which is responsible for the collection and management of the devolved taxes and publication of related statistics.

Statistics on residential, non-residential and aggregate LBTT revenues are published on a monthly basis by Revenue Scotland on its website.

During the last parliamentary term, a total of 1362 affordable homes were delivered by the Wheatley Housing Group.

The remit of the Joint Housing Policy and Delivery group is to promote collaboration and joint working across the sector with a specific focus on the Joint Housing Delivery Plan for Scotland, and to advise Ministers on new and existing housing policy and legislation. Although there is no specific action in the plan which directly covers the borrowing commitments of the social housing sector, access to finance is key to delivering many of the actions and, as such, may be discussed by the group in general terms from time to time.

The Joint Housing Delivery Plan for Scotland can be viewed here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/05/3392

Scottish Planning Policy (2014) sets out the Scottish Government's policy on enabling the delivery of new homes. It sets out that local authorities, through their development plans, should address the supply of land for all housing, maintaining at least a five-year supply of effective housing land at all times. Planning authorities should prepare an annual housing land audit as a tool to review and monitor the availability of effective housing land, the progress of sites through the planning process, and housing completions. This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Local authorities are not required to provide this information in their Strategic Housing Investment Plans.