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-12749

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take regarding the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the Christmas holiday period to ensure that there is minimal inconvenience for passengers.

ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to manage the delivery of rail services, to accommodate the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the Christmas holiday period.

Over this period, ScotRail will be providing four additional services on the Edinburgh to Glasgow route on Friday evenings/early Saturday mornings, each with six carriages, commencing 25 November. ScotRail will also be providing more carriages on rail services across Scotland on Friday evenings and across the day on Saturday and Sunday. This is equivalent to nearly 100,000 additional seats.

ScotRail will communicate the above to customers through the normal channels – website, press release, social media platforms etc.

Question reference: S5W-12752

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland’s shop vacancy rates reportedly being higher than the rest of the UK, and average household spending reportedly decreasing, what its position is on raising taxes, and what impact raising taxes would have on (a) household spending and (b) economic and business growth.

The Scottish Government is committed to competitive business rates and took action to reduce bills in light of the 2017 revaluation. The Scottish Government published the 'The Role of Income Tax in Scotland's Budget' report and it makes clear that any new income tax policy must support the economy. The impact of any tax change will depend on the scale of the tax change and the economic circumstances at the time.

Question reference: S5W-12747

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to reports that schools in rural areas are far less likely than urban schools to receive aid from the Pupil Equity Fund due to its definition of poverty.

Through the Scottish Attainment Challenge we have committed £750 million over the course of this parliament to close the poverty related attainment gap for our pupils from the most deprived areas. This funding includes £120m of Pupil Equity funding in 2017-18 which has extended the reach of the Scottish Attainment Challenge to every local authority in Scotland and provides additional resources to the majority of schools in rural communities. The funding has been allocated on the basis of pupils in P1-S3 known to be eligible for free school meals, a recognised proxy for families affected by poverty. There is a higher proportion of smaller schools in rural areas and this may impact on the amount of Pupil Equity Funding a schools receives. We would encourage local authorities and schools to ensure all those families eligible for free school meals are registered.

We are committed to developing national programmes to further extend the reach of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and are engaging with stakeholders to consider the impact of rural deprivation on attainment.

Question reference: S5O-01531

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to recruit and retain GPs in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Question reference: S5W-12374

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many ferries were delayed due to (a) fog and (b) wind in winter 2016-17, and how the number of delays due to technical issues in that period compared with those arising from the weather conditions.

Our ferry Public Service Contracts recognise that there are certain events which are not within the control of the operator, where it would be unreasonable to apply performance deductions to the operator. This is termed a “Relief Event”, and includes sailings cancelled or delayed due to bad weather in line with safety procedures, delays due to unavailability or operational restrictions of harbour facilities. It is recorded where a sailing has been delayed due to inclement weather but the specific element(s), for example a) fog or b) wind, of inclement weather involved are not detailed.

Total weather related delays for winter 2016-17 (24 October 2016 to 30 March 2017 inclusive) are detailed below;

CalMac Ferries Ltd – 450 or 0.94% of scheduled sailings.
Serco NorthLink Ferries – 99 or 11.20% of scheduled sailings.
Argyll Ferries Ltd – 7 or 0.08% of scheduled sailings.*

Total technical delays for winter 2016/17 (24 October 2016 to 30 March 2017 inclusive) are as follows;

Calmac Ferries Ltd – 72 or 0.15% of scheduled sailings.
Serco NorthLink Ferries – 2 or 0.23% of scheduled sailings.
Argyll Ferries Ltd – 20 or 0.24% of scheduled sailings.*

*The low percentage of weather and technical delays can be attributed to the Scottish Ministers decision to deploy the MV Coruisk on the route over the winter period.

Question reference: S5W-12460

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to (a) increasing the number of and (b) maintaining electric vehicle charging points.

Question reference: S5W-12371

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the active travel budget, and what percentage of people facing transport poverty this increase would support.

As outlined in our Programme for Government, we plan to double the Active Travel budget from £40 million to £80 million per annum from 2018-19. We will continue to build walking and cycling infrastructure in partnership with all local authorities and other partners through Sustrans. We will provide access to behaviour change programmes such as Smarter Choices, Smarter Places through Paths for All, Bikeability Scotland cycle training for school children and the suite of cycle friendly awards administered by Cycling Scotland.

In terms of tackling transport poverty, we will take steps to ensure walking and cycling are accessible regardless of income. Our focus will be to invest in areas of deprivation and encourage free bike hire, where available, to those most in need. We will create conditions whereby active travel is a desirable choice rather than the only available option.

In addition, we will work with local authorities and registered social landlords to create secure storage for bikes in areas with social housing and local authority housing. We will work with communities to make places more attractive and safe for walking and cycling.

We will continue to work across policy portfolios to ensure that people are never locked out of opportunities to access employment and services through transport poverty.

Question reference: S5W-12377

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask ferry operators to publish winter timetables to (a) allow extra time to be added for weather-related delays and (b) promote winter breaks.

The Public Service Contracts for ferry services subsidised by the Scottish Government are published on the Transport Scotland website. https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/ferries/ferry-services/#

The operators of these ferry services are required to deliver the scheduled services (routes and timetables) as agreed by Scottish Ministers. The contracts specify arrangements for publication of timetables and booking information for all routes. Winter timetables for all the contracts are published timeously to maximise the opportunity for ferry users to plan and book their travel.

The operators are also required to work closely with local tourist boards and participate in local tourism initiatives and permit other organisations to advertise relevant ferry services information.

These ferry service contracts recognise that the weather is not a factor within the control of the operator - where sailings are cancelled or delayed due to weather, it is termed a “Relief Event” and no performance deductions apply. All of these operators provide summary sailing statistics on their websites.

Question reference: S5W-12378

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the highest wind level is that Scotland's ferries are permitted to operate in.

Question reference: S5W-12372

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with its plans to develop nationwide segregated walking and cycling routes, including those not just on newly-built roads, and how much is being allocated from its active transport budget towards this.

I announced in September that £22.5 million will be invested in 5 projects from now until 2022, as part of the Community Links PLUS programme. There will be 2 projects delivered in Edinburgh and one each in Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling. In addition, the winner of the first round of Community Links PLUS, Glasgow City Council, will receive £3.25 million. This Scottish Government investment will attract 50% match funding from the local authorities involved. A third round of CL PLUS will be announced shortly, which will again allocate funding for segregation and public realm improvements to encourage walking and cycling.

As part of the dualling plans for trunk roads, non motorised user groups are looking at preferred routes and public consultation for these routes is currently underway.

Discussions are on-going with all stakeholders about how the £80 million record funding for active travel will be allocated and announcements will be made in due course as part of the Budget Bill process.