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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: S6W-15774

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, how many days each vessel has been out of service or unable to operate in each of the last 10 years because of (a) breakdown, (b) a refit, (c) refit overruns and (d) concerns over performance of the vessel in bad weather.

Question reference: S6W-15773

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, how much has been (a) budgeted for each vessel’s annual refit, (b) spent on each vessel’s annual refit and (c) spent in total on both the vessel's annual refit and any additional repairs carried out, in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-15776

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average annual maintenance cost for a CalMac vessel has been in each of the last 10 years.

The answer to the question is provided in the following table, detailed for each vessel in the Calmac Ferries services fleet.

(CY) denotes contract year and (CHFS) denotes Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service

	CHFS2*
	CY1	CY2	CY3	CY4	CY5	CY6
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
ALI CAT	-	-	27	130	103	219
ARGYLE	390	1,003	409	463	514	1,088
ARGYLL FLYER	-	-	389	494	160	159
BUTE	468	461	427	487	430	947
CALEDONIAN ISLES	711	1,094	1,179	1,396	1,227	1,955
CATRIONA	73	154	210	172	217	332
CHIEFTAIN	-	-	-	4	200	101
CLANSMAN	807	1,190	865	636	1,232	2,008
CORUISK	316	461	283	455	512	1,018
EIGG	32	47	3	(4)	-	-
FINLAGGAN	977	951	681	1,030	1,604	1,791
GALL/KERRERA	-	10	36	24	22	25
HALLAIG	183	282	186	259	201	341
HEBRIDEAN ISLES	1,068	884	1,169	1,227	1,211	1,688
HEBRIDES	1,026	930	895	1,049	1,216	1,869
ISLE OF ARRAN	556	1,444	919	1,119	897	1,075
ISLE OF CUMBRAE	145	225	238	168	119	148
ISLE OF LEWIS	1,009	1,248	1,271	1,765	1,368	1,869
ISLE OF MULL	969	1,085	1,077	1,486	947	1,725
LOCH ALAINN	201	179	211	188	122	394
LOCH BHRUSDA	121	174	187	156	187	493
LOCH BUIE	243	332	309	258	178	269
LOCH DUNVEGAN	186	282	144	237	147	222
LOCH FYNE	699	262	161	153	205	370
LOCH LINNHE	111	168	251	160	140	237
LOCH PORTAIN	381	572	324	315	371	444
LOCH RANZA	150	254	179	237	137	188
LOCH RIDDON	152	282	341	41	190	464
LOCH SEAFORTH	711	990	832	1,161	1,030	1,793
LOCH SHIRA	373	556	312	527	328	585
LOCH STRIVEN	141	170	232	189	240	176
LOCH TARBERT	154	169	176	236	155	312
LOCHINVAR	204	282	363	223	293	331
LOCHNEVIS	443	518	520	607	384	1,370
LORD OF THE ISLES	951	1,468	1,146	1,156	982	2,089
RAASAY	41	17	-	(5)	-	-
LOCH FRISA	-	-	-	-	-	80
Non-vessel specific	73	112	(227)	164	(5)	349
TOTAL	14,063	18,254	15,723	18,359	17,262	28,525

Question reference: S6W-15779

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) passenger, (b) car and (c) lorry capacity increases have been achieved on each vessel in the CalMac fleet in each of the last 10 years.

Carrying statistics for passengers, cars and commercial vehicles are recorded by CalMac on a route by route basis and not by vessel and I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-15777 on 27 March 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-15772

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, what the (a) age of each vessel was at the start of 2023, (b) total length of service of each vessel has been with the CalMac fleet and any previous operators and (c) expected length of service of each vessel was at design.

The following table provides the answer to:

1. age of each vessel was at the start of 2023

2. total length of service of each vessel has been with the CalMac fleet and any previous operators.

Vessel	Built	Entry into CFL Service	Current age (Years)	Time with CFL (Years)
Ali Cat	1-1-2000	10-1-2002	23.0	20.3
Argyle	9-1-2006	5-1-2007	16.3	15.7
Argyll Flyer	5-1-2001	6-1-2011	21.7	11.6
Bute	2-1-2005	7-1-2005	17.9	17.5
Caledonian Isles	5-1-1993	8-1-1993	29.7	29.4
Carvoria	8-1-2017	9-1-2017	5.4	5.3
Catriona	12-1-2015	8-1-2016	7.1	6.4
Chieftain	3-1-2007	6-1-2020	15.8	2.6
Clansman	3-1-1998	7-1-1998	24.9	24.5
Coruisk	5-1-2003	8-1-2003	19.7	19.4
Finlaggan	6-1-2010	6-1-2011	12.6	11.6
Hallaig	12-1-2012	10-1-2013	10.1	9.3
Hebridean Isles	7-1-1985	12-1-1985	37.5	37.1
Hebrides	8-1-2000	3-1-2001	22.4	21.9
Isle of Arran	12-1-1983	4-1-1984	39.1	38.8
Isle of Cumbrae	12-1-1976	4-1-1977	46.1	45.8
Isle of Lewis	4-1-1995	7-1-1995	27.8	27.5
Isle of Mull	12-1-1987	4-1-1988	35.1	34.8
Loch Alainn	4-1-1997	7-1-1997	25.8	25.5
Loch Bhrusda	3-1-1996	6-1-1996	26.9	26.6
Loch Buie	10-1-1991	7-1-1992	31.3	30.5
Loch Dunvegan	3-1-1991	5-1-1991	31.9	31.7
Loch Frisa	9-1-2015	5-1-2022	7.3	0.7
Loch Fyne	6-1-1991	9-1-1991	31.6	31.4
Loch Linnhe	5-1-1986	7-1-1986	36.7	36.5
Loch Portain	3-1-2003	6-1-2003	19.9	19.6
Loch Ranza	12-1-1986	4-1-1987	36.1	35.8
Loch Riddon	9-1-1986	10-1-1986	36.4	36.3
Loch Seaforth	3-1-2014	2-1-2015	8.8	7.9
Loch Shira	12-1-2006	6-1-2007	16.1	15.6
Loch Striven	5-1-1986	7-1-1986	36.7	36.5
Loch Tarbert	2-1-1992	7-1-1992	30.9	30.5
Lochinvar	5-1-2013	5-1-2014	9.7	8.7
Lochnevis	5-1-2000	11-1-2000	22.7	22.2
Lord of the Isles	3-1-1989	5-1-1989	33.9	33.7

In answer to (c)

The expected length of service would only be defined in the original design specification documentation, as operator CalMac Ferries Limited do not hold this. In general, commercial vessels are expected to last 20 – 25 years unless they are specified at design for a longer life.

Question reference: S6W-15777

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) passenger, (b) car and (c) lorry capacity increases have been achieved on each ferry route in the CalMac network in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-15775

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, for each ferry in the CalMac fleet, how many vessels have had (a) Changing Places toilets, (b) other accessible toilets and (c) no accessible toilets, in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6O-02088

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes are required to be built to meet the needs of rural communities in the Highland and Islands.

Question reference: S6W-15058

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what specific concerns were raised and (b) on what date any concerns were first raised with Transport Scotland by (i) consultants and (ii) contractors that the 2025 deadline for completing the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was not achievable.

Transport Scotland’s primary engagement with consultants was via the appointments made to provide support on the delivery of the A9 Dualling programme. Under those various appointments the views of a number of consultants have informed the identification and assessment of factors that could affect delivery of the programme, undertaken as part of Transport Scotland’s normal risk management practices. That process of identification and assessment was also informed by discussions with consultants and contractors via regular meetings held with the Association of Consulting Engineers and The Civil Engineering Contractors Association respectively.

Question reference: S6W-15055

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Minister for Transport was first advised that the 2025 deadline for completing the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was not achievable.

Arising from its ongoing work to determine the optimal procurement approach to the remainder of the programme, Transport Scotland concluded in late 2022 that the completion date of 2025 could not be achieved and should no longer apply to the A9 Dualling programme. I was informed on 7 December 2022 of Transport Scotland’s view that the published completion date of 2025 for the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness should no longer apply.

A statement to Parliament on the next steps for the Programme required to take account of the outcome of the ongoing Tomatin to Moy project procurement. The decision on that procurement was made on 3 February 2023 and the bidder was informed on 8 February, prior to the statement to Parliament on the same day.