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: S4W-15068

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what work is being undertaken to (a) safeguard and (b) improve the Caledonian Sleeper service.

£100 million has been committed for the improvement of the Caledonian Sleeper Service. £50 million of this money will be available to improve the rolling stock on the Caledonian Sleeper service. This compares with the lack of investment, under previous administrations, from which the sleeper service suffered.

As any sleeper passenger would appreciate, station facilities and reliability of service are just as important as on-train facilities. As a result, some of the £100 million will be invested in improving station facilities and track infrastructure both to deliver improved reliability and enhance the overall product for the benefit of passengers.

The next franchisee of the Caledonian Sleeper service will also be asked to bring forward innovative ideas to improve the Caledonian Sleeper service. This will secure the best value and service for the passengers on the Caledonian Sleeper service

Question reference: S4W-15062

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has received from the UK Government for improvements to the Caledonian Sleeper service and on what it has spent this funding.

Over £100 million remains committed to the improvement of the Caledonian Sleeper service in its entirety. £50 million of this was provided by the UK Government.

The £50 million provided by the Treasury has been loaned to Scottish Water and is supporting their capital investment programme while the process of upgrading the sleeper services gets underway.

The repayment of this loan has been arranged to ensure the money is available as it is needed. The arrangements for repaying the money reflect the fact that upgrading the sleeper services is a long term project. The rail industry globally is configured in such a way that progressing the upgrade of this rolling stock will take time, as has been clear and understood by all parties from the start of this process.

Question reference: S4W-15069

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 28 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will provide for improvements to the Caledonian Sleeper service and from which budget lines.

Question reference: S4F-01407

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that its grants are awarded only to companies that pay correct levels of tax.

Question reference: S4W-14720

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14615 by John Swinney on 2 May 2013, whether it will make a ministerial statement on the shared equity schemes and, if so, when.

Question reference: S4W-14711

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14615 by John Swinney on 2 May 2013, how much the “significant additional funding to support shared equity schemes” will be.

Question reference: S4W-14710

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14615 by John Swinney on 2 May 2013, how it will “provide substantial further support to the housing sector”.

Question reference: S4W-14719

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-14615 by John Swinney on 2 May 2013, for what reason the information was provided in response to a Scottish Government-inspired question and what consideration it gave to providing a ministerial statement.

Question reference: S4W-14751

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth to the Finance Committee on 1 May 2013 regarding the creation of an “independent forecasting body that can provide independent assessment to the Government and the Parliament” (Official Report, c. 2574), what (a) the timescale is, (b) work has been carried out and (c) consultation he has had with the Office of Budget Reponsibility in relation to the creation of such a body.

As I made clear on 31 October 2012 in responding to oral question S4O-01401, the Scottish Government recognises that a robust fiscal framework is vital to the long term sustainability of the public finances. That is why the Scottish Government agreed in principle in February 2010 to the creation of a Fiscal Policy Commission alongside moves toward greater fiscal autonomy.

In that context, I have indicated that I intend that an independent verification function should be put in place to provide an assessment of tax forecasts before implementation in 2015 of the taxes to be devolved under the Scotland Act. Consideration is being given to how best to achieve this. The views of the Fiscal Commission Working Group are being sought.

Scottish Government officials have regular discussions with the Office for Budget Responsibility around Scottish forecasting issues.

Question reference: S4O-02160

Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage a mutual, co-operative or not-for-dividend organisation to bid for the Scottish rail passenger franchise.