The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S5W-27270

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many university applicants domiciled in Scotland did not receive an offer from any institution in Scotland but were accepted by an institution in the rest of the UK in the last year.

Question reference: S5W-27278

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what income Transport Scotland has derived from the installation of brown tourist information signs in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by local authority area.

Under the Transport Scotland “Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signing Guidance (2016)”, applicants are expected to meet the costs associated with the provision (design and installation) and replacement of tourist signs. General maintenance of erected signs is managed by Transport Scotland at no cost to the applicant. As such, there is no income derived by Transport Scotland or its maintenance agents from the installation of brown tourist signs.

Question reference: S5W-27277

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional miles of the (a) A9 and (b) A96 road have been dualled in each year since 2007.

On the A9 between Perth and Inverness, a 3.2 km (2 miles) extension to the dual carriageway at Crubenmore opened to traffic in September 2011. In September 2017, the 7.5km (4.6 miles) A9 Dualling Kincraig to Dalraddy project opened to traffic. Construction is also progressing well on the A9 Dualling Luncarty to Pass of Birnam project. This section represents 9.5 km (5.9 miles) and is expected to open in spring 2021, subject to any unforeseen circumstances such as exceptional adverse weather. At the same time design work continues at pace with eight of the remaining nine dualling schemes now subject to the statutory process.

On the A96 Dualling Programme, design work is well underway. Construction of the schemes that make up the programme can only commence if each scheme is approved under the relevant statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for their progress can be set.

Question reference: S5W-27272

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many police station front counters have been open in each council area in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5O-04224

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that all information required and requested by the OECD as part of the review of the curriculum for excellence will be made available.

Question reference: S5W-27367

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much money from the Apprenticeship Levy has been spent in each year since 2017-18, also broken down by programme.

Question reference: S5W-27370

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much money from the Flexible Workforce Development Fund has been spent in each year since 2017-18, also broken down by provider.

The following table provides a breakdown of Flexible Workforce Development Fund for the 2017-18 (£6.1m) and 2018-19 (£9.6m) Academic Years. Full information on the 2019-20 Academic Year, which is still in progress, is not available at this point.

Details are as follows:

College Region	Total Spend A/Y 2018-19
Ayrshire	£400,019
Borders	£140,220
Dumfries & Galloway	£158,998
Dundee & Angus	£473,384
Edinburgh	£1,622,273
Fife	£636,104
Forth Valley	£555,422
Glasgow	£1,936,586
Highlands & Islands	£764,103
Lanarkshire	£755,736
North East Scotland	£1,112,197
SRUC	£90,000
West	£672,000
West Lothian	£329,540
Total	£9,646,582

College Region	Total Spend A/Y 2017-18
Ayrshire College	£238,640
Borders	£110,750
Dumfries & Galloway	£48,255
Dundee & Angus	£382,877
Edinburgh	£603,923
Fife	£653,291
Forth Valley	£494,697
Glasgow	£1,067,787
Highlands & Islands	£576,745
Lanarkshire	£412,448
North East Scotland	£708,901
SRUC	£39,720
West	£536,931
West Lothian	£272,005
Total	£6,146,971

Question reference: S5W-27263

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much Transport Scotland has spent on the installation of brown tourist information signs in each year since 2007-08, also broken down by local authority area.

Under the Transport Scotland “Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signing Guidance (2016)”, applicants are expected to meet the costs associated with the provision (design and installation) and replacement of tourist signs. General maintenance of erected signs is managed by Transport Scotland at no cost to the applicant.

The brown tourist information signs that are installed as part of our major trunk road improvement projects (e.g. Aberdeen Western Peripheral route) are included within the construction contract and the cost cannot be disaggregated from the overall cost of each project. This is commercial information as part of the contractors’ overall tender for each project.

Question reference: S5W-27275

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on legal action in relation to disputes with (a) Pentland Ferries and (b) David MacBrayne Ltd in each year since 2007-08.

The following table details the legal costs in relation to the disputes with (a) Pentland Ferries Ltd and (b) CalMac Ferries Ltd as at 30 January 2020.

Year	Company	Legal Costs	Total
2018	Pentland Ferries Ltd	£1,750.00
2019	Pentland Ferries Ltd	£58,385.00	£60,135.00
2019	CalMac Ferries Ltd	£2,450.00
2020	CalMac Ferries Ltd	£1,560.00	£4,010.00
			£64,145.00*

*These are net figures exclusive of VAT.

Pentland Ferries Ltd

Scottish Ministers were awarded costs, and we are currently in the process of recovering judicial expenses (i.e. costs) from Pentland Ferries.

CalMac legal proceedings

CalMac raised legal proceedings in the Court of Session on 25 November 2019 against the decision to award the Northern Isles Ferry Services (NIFS) contract to Serco Northlink.

CalMac offered to abandon their case on 31 January 2020, on a no expenses basis, which Scottish Ministers accepted. This means that both parties will bear their own costs.

It should be noted that not all invoices in relation to the dispute with CalMac Ferries Ltd have been received.

Question reference: S5W-27276

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether work to dual the (a) A9 and (b) A96 road is progressing on target.

The Scottish Government intends to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025. Construction of the second section to be dualled between Luncarty and Birnam is progressing well and at the same time, design work continues at pace with eight of the remaining nine dualling schemes now subject to the statutory process. We are currently reviewing procurement options to bring forward the remainder of the programme following completion of the statutory process.

Design work is also well underway on the A96 Dualling Inverness to Aberdeen programme. The Scottish Government intends to dual the A96 by 2030, subject to the satisfactory completion of the statutory process for each section of the dualling programme.

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Question reference: S5W-27270

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