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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-15970

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £26 million of additional funding for colleges, as announced in the Scottish Budget 2023-24, will become core funding in future years.

Question reference: S6W-14938

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it expects to appoint a full-time chief executive officer of Scottish Rail Holdings.

Question reference: S6W-16093

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15024 by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023, whether (a) the Minister for Transport, (b) CMAL and (c) Transport Scotland officials have held meetings with representatives of Pentland Ferries, from 1 October 2022 to date, regarding the chartering of the MV Alfred for the Clyde and Hebrides network, and, if so, when any such meetings took place.

Question reference: S6W-15940

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, how many of the (a) 46 diesel vehicles and (b) 16 petrol cars in the fleet that it and its agencies run were purchased in each year from 2018 to 2023 to date.

A list of all diesel and petrol vehicle purchases since 2018 is provided in the following table.

The 2 most recent purchases, a Mercedes Sprinter and Vito Minibus Combo are used for specific business related purposes. The Mercedes is used by Marine Scotland to transport shipping supplies and equipment throughout Scotland, whilst the Vito Minibus is used by our Video Production Team to transport team members and bulky audio visual equipment. At the time of purchase, there were no suitable fully electric (EV) or plug in hybrid (PHEV) alternatives available.

Year	Diesel purchases	Petrol purchases
2018-19	8	0
2019-20	6	0
2020-21	3	0
2021-22	0	0
2022-23	2	0

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-15745

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on bus services in (a) Orkney, (b) the Highlands and Islands and (c) Scotland that may result from the Network Support Grant Plus coming to an end at the end of March 2023.

The Network Support Grant Plus was always intended to be time limited COVID recovery funding. I have extended it on two occasions; in June 2022 and October 2022 and operators agreed to the extension being dependent on an end point in March. Operators are also being supported by a marketing campaign from Scottish Government, to encourage users back to bus where we have seen a decline in patronage since the pandemic.

As part of the terms and conditions for the Network Support Grant Plus, my officials have been working with bus operators throughout the scheme's duration on monitoring as patronage levels increase, recognising that the majority of bus services are run by private companies due to deregulation. It is clear that the cost of living crisis, coupled with ongoing Brexit impacts, is making it challenging to deliver bus services in many local communities. I continue to collaborate with bus operators through the Bus Taskforce to address the immediate challenges to help bus operators move to a more sustainable footing and ensure the sector is supported by wider policies to improve services.

Question reference: S6W-15387

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15004 by Richard Lochhead on 23 February 2023, whether it will work with Glasgow City Council to examine the technical feasibility of leasing or selling the air rights above the M8 in central Glasgow for commercial and/or residential development, as an alternative business model to financing the capping or decking over of the west flank of the motorway between St George's Cross, Charing Cross and Anderston Cross (at junctions 17 to 19).

I am aware of Glasgow City Council’s ambitions for a proposed M8 ‘garden cap’. Given that this proposal is about the wider public realm and land-use within the city it is more appropriate that this work is led by the City Council.

Transport Scotland will continue to engage constructively with the City Council where proposals or projects are considered to have a potential impact on transport assets and services owned and or provided by Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-15859

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Transport Scotland's target for rail freight.

Question reference: S6W-15855

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the amount of freight delivered by (a) water and (b) rail.

Scottish Ministers and officials have been working with industry stakeholders to explore the data on routes key Scottish exports take to market. Officials plan to annually update and publish this data on the modes and routes through which exports leave Scotland, including the commodity gaps in relation to the rest of the UK, to better inform exporters on the flows of Scottish goods to the EU and the rest of the world, as we continue to explore opportunities to increase exports from Scotland.

The Scottish Ministers have set a further rail freight growth target for rail control period seven (2024-2029) through their recent High Level Output Specification. Details can be viewed via the following link:-

Scottish Ministers’ High Level Output Specification (HLOS) - Control Period 7 - 2024 – 2029 | Transport Scotland .

Question reference: S6T-01299

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on targeted counsellor funding for colleges and universities.