Chamber and committees

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-25981

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 21 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its estimate is of the current coverage of 4G across (a) the whole of Scotland and (b) each Scottish local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish mobile coverage data and all regulation and legislative competence in respect of mobile telecommunications, including 4G services, remains a reserved matter or responsibility for UK Ministers under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998.

Raw data on mobile coverage, including at local authority level, is published by Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, as part of its Connected Nations report. Ofcom’s latest published dataset is available at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-update-summer-2019 .

Question reference: S5W-25980

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 21 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on (a) the whole of Scotland and (b) each Scottish local authority area of the UK Government’s plans to enable an average of 95% of the UK to have 4G coverage by 2025.

Information provided by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) indicates that the Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal may deliver 85% geographic 4G coverage for Scotland and not the 95% figure that would apply to the UK as a whole. No data on expected coverage at local authority level has been provided to the Scottish Government at this time.

The final anticipated coverage prediction for Scotland will not be known until DCMS reaches agreement with the Mobile Network Operators – which we believe is likely to be in early 2020. The delivery of the SRN is also predicated on substantial UK Government investment, which will require a new state aid notification that cannot be taken for granted. This investment will be crucial if the coverage predictions shared by DCMS are to be delivered.

Question reference: S5O-03818

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Dumfries and Galloway Council's decision to bring its waste collection and disposal service fully in-house.

Question reference: S5W-26288

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS Dumfries and Galloway is taking to (a) support access to and (b) reduce waiting times for cataract surgery.

Transformational work is taking place within NHS Dumfries and Galloway with the vast majority of post cataract reviews now discharged to community optometry. This frees up capacity within the hospital eye service. An action plan has also been developed in collaboration with colleagues within West of Scotland to improve access to cataract surgery. This has included additional appointments as part of General Ophthalmic Services to support community optometrists when referring patients with a cataract to ensure that unnecessary referrals are avoided.

As part of the Scottish Governments Waiting times Improvement Plan we are making available more than £102 million to Health Boards in 2019/20, to increase capacity in the system, for example, more staffing, evening and weekend clinics and additional theatre sessions to ensure progress towards delivering the waiting times improvement plan of which more than £2.5 million has been made available to NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Question reference: S5W-25813

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 19 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its current estimate is of the costs to public funds that have resulted from the delay in delivering the (a) Glen Sannox and (b) hull 802 ferries to Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work has set up a Programme Review Board to report on the revised schedule and costs for the delivery of vessels 801 and 802 under construction at Ferguson Marine shipyard.

The report is expected to be submitted shortly. When that report has been received, and Ministers have had an opportunity to consider it, Mr Mackay will update Parliament on the content.

Question reference: S5W-25822

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 18 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its current estimate is of the dates when the (a) Glen Sannox and (b) hull 802 will be delivered to Caledonian MacBrayne for operational use.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work set up a Programme Review Board to report on the revised schedule and costs for the delivery of vessels 801 and 802 under construction at Ferguson Marine shipyard.

The report is expected to be submitted shortly. When that report has been received, and Ministers have had an opportunity to consider it, Mr Mackay will update Parliament on the content.

Question reference: S5W-26203

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25898 by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2019, whether the successor to the interim Chief Executive of the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency will be appointed by ministers or by the agency.

Question reference: S5W-26204

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25898 by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2019, by what date it will appoint the interim Chief Executive of the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency.

Question reference: S5W-25871

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to GP services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran in each of the last five years, broken down by what percentage of the NHS board's spending this represents.

The following table shows how much has been allocated by the Scottish Government to GP services in NHS Ayrshire and Arran in each of the last five years but it does not represent the full percentage of spend by NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

Table 1 - Allocations to NHS Ayrshire & Arran

Financial Year	GP Services
2014-15	£49,273,506
2015-16	£50,451,036
2016-17	£53,059,313
2017-18	£54,324,768
2018-19	£58,995,851

Detail on primary medical services spending and the NHS budget is made available each year as part of the annual NHS Cost Book publication and the Scottish Budget. The Cost Book can be accessed here: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Finance/Costs/. It is possible to use these figures to compare the Scottish Government's allocation to NHS Ayrshire & Arran's spending but the Scottish Government's means of determining what is allocated for general practice will not be the same as the categories NHS Ayrshire & Arran will use to determine where it has spent funds.

Question reference: S5W-25823

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on Caledonian MacBrayne (a) passengers and (b) staff of the ongoing delay in delivery of the (i) Glen Sannox and (ii) hull 802, and what the current length of the delay in delivery is in both cases.

We recognise the impact the delay in delivery of both the MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 has had on the availability of vessels to provide cover in instances where technical faults have caused disruption and as cover during the planned winter maintenance of vessels, albeit reliability of the fleet in 2019 has seen improvement by comparison with the 2018 season.

In recognition of the importance of providing clarity on revised delivery timescales, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work set up a Programme Review Board to report on the revised schedule and costs for the delivery of vessels 801 and 802 under construction at Ferguson Marine shipyard.

The report is expected to be submitted shortly. When that report has been received, and Ministers have had an opportunity to consider it, Mr Mackay will update Parliament on the content.

CalMac have been keeping crewing and training requirements for the new vessels under review and are reporting regularly to Transport Scotland officials.