Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-23332

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial and (b) other support it is providing to assist the grassroots live music sector, and what future support it plans.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland, including grassroots music venues and their activities play in supporting talent.

We have provided financial and other support in a number of ways. Through the Planning Bill, we have recognised that the planning system has a role to play in ensuring that the viability of existing operations, including music venues, is taken into account in considering planning applications. The Scottish Government issued a Chief Planner letter in February last year reminding planning authorities of the Governments policy in regard of Agent of Change. The letter noted our commitment to include Agent of Change in Scottish Planning Policy - it remains our intention to do so when revising SPP as part of the ongoing planning review.

In the last three years Creative Scotland has supported Independent Venue Week, a UK-wide audience and sector development programme that provides financial and marketing support to grassroots music venues across the UK. Creative Scotland funding is ringfenced for Scottish venues, and has allowed for an expansion of participant venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow, extending to Bathgate, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Dundee, Galashiels, Inverness and other locations outwith the central belt at a time when footfall to venues is traditionally quiet. In 2018 that funding has also allowed for the employment of a designated Scottish-co-ordinator, while in 2019 it allowed presenter Steve Lamaq to visit Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh and to use his BBC 6Music show to highlight the alternative music scene and grassroots venue activity in Edinburgh.

We continue to consider how we can best support Scotland's live music sector.

Question reference: S5W-23374

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of table 6.2.2 in Transport Scotland's DMRB Stage 1 Assessment Report - A96 Dualling Inverness to Aberdeen, whether it will publish average annual daily traffic volume figures for each section of the A96 named in that table for each year since 2012.

The following table contains recorded annual average daily traffic flow volumes at locations along the A96 Trunk Road between Aberdeen and Inverness for each year since 2012. The data contained within the table has been extracted from Transport Scotland’s National Traffic Data System.

Traffic Counter Location Description	Easting	Northing	Annual Average Daily Flows by Year per Location - sum of vehicles for both direction of travel
			2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
A96 Auchmill Road	390400	809300	-	-	-	-	78444	47687
A96 Inverurie Road	388300	810400	29590	29004	27390	25670	27494	29165
A96 0.9km SE of Stoneywood	387730	810845	-	11778	11143	10509	11933	12102
A96 Stoneywood	386908	811183	20989	21159	21601	-	-	-
A96 Corsehill	386100	811235	-	13763	13145	12528	13003	13333
A96 East of Blackburn	384070	812035	12208	10988	11386	7473	11113	10720
A96 Clinterty (WiM)	382770	812260	20788	20575	-	-	-	21522
A96 Kinellar Rbt to Broomhill Rbt	381130	812830	23906	25901	-	-	20040	18443
A96 Broomhill Rbt to B977	378845	814600	19149	20291	-	-	-	-
A96 B977 to Kintore Junction (N)	378515	816106	19642	18862	26443	12304	12381	12609
A96 North of Kintore Bypass	378485	817655	25224	27780	27898	22787	28967	25627
A96 Inverurie Bypass (South)	377691	818945	27664	28431	28516	28782	29010	28937
A96 Inverurie Bypass (Central)	376460	821255	17838	18255	19094	-	-	-
A96 Inverurie Bypass (North)	374963	822907	12121	11554	10955	10356	10563	10777
A96 2.5km South of A920 Colpy	365000	830400	7485	-	7412	8193	8274	6110
A96 Huntly	356035	837520	13841	8708	8925	8432	-	-
A96 South of Keith	347680	845251	7185	7239	7552	7747	7869	7808
A96 North of Keith	338422	854750	6736	6885	7245	4518	3655	2899
A96 Mosstodloch Bypass Middle	333679	859705	14617	13687	17024	14766	17628	17890
A96 Mosstodloch Bypass East	333089	858682	11201	9814	-	12940	12639	13121
A96 Mosstodloch	332340	860035	-	-	-	-	-	-
A96 Mosstodloch Bypass West	331308	859765	11256	-	14155	-	-	14824
A96 Elgin to Lhanbryde	325375	861670	16246	16718	17249	16000	14276	17915
A96 Elgin - East Road	322520	862725	21396	22697	23334	22644	26492	22708
A96 Elgin Town Centre	321830	862990	16810	16596	16752	16538	17492	18014
A96 Elgin - Alexandra Road	321500	862950	21106	20877	21362	21098	21463	20851
A96 Elgin - High Street West	321100	862700	13115	12688	13258	13227	13420	14288
A96 Elgin - West Road	319950	862800	13057	15786	16477	16322	16714	16940
A96 Forres to Elgin	310690	861380	10955	4311	-	13053	12585	12389
A96 Forres	304000	859500	11852	11448	-	13049	12104	12880
A96 Forres (aka Brodie)(Core 744)	298390	857165	10154	10237	10632	10986	11341	11173
A96 Auldern Bypass	291500	855800	8165	8937	10045	10470	10356	10107
A96 DELNIES JCT - NAIRN	285800	855750	12162	11899	12450	13240	13420	6859
A96 NTON OF PETTY - GOLLANFIELD	278000	851100	11866	11942	12725	13239	13479	13468
A96 Balloch Distr to Newton of Petty (B9039)	273255	848120	14972	15799	16852	17713	18473	18799
A96 Smithton Distr to Balloch Distr.	271000	846950	15068	14771	16906	17303	17803	16640
A96 West Seafield to Smithton Distr.	269845	846000	26010	26145	-	-	-	-
A96 Raigmore to West Seafield	268900	845700	34584	32410	25295	30510	34432	33742

"-" denotes insufficient or no data available for the period in question.

Question reference: S5W-23300

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 29 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the question S5O-03236 by Michael Matheson on 15 May 2019 (Official Report, c.16), in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that the "planned dualling of the A96 will involve approximately £3 billion of investment", how much it estimates it will cost to dual the (a) Inverness-Nairn, (b) Hardmuir-Fochabers, (c) East of Fochabers-East of Huntly and (d) East of Huntly-Aberdeen section, and whether it will provide a breakdown of how this estimate has been made.

At this early stage of development it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the cost of dualling between Inverness and Aberdeen. However, it is estimated that the cost of dualling will be similar to the dualling of the A9 and be in the region of £3 billion.

As the design and preparation of each section of the dualling programme is progressed in accordance with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) a more detailed estimate cost for each section will be developed.

The current estimated cost of the Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) section is £375m-£475m (excluding VAT and at 2014 prices). Further details can be found in the A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) DMRB Stage 3 Scheme Assessment Report a copy of which can be viewed on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/6923/a96-i-n-dmrb-stage-3-report-part-2-vol-1-main-report.pdf .

The current estimated cost of the preferred option for the Hardmuir to Fochabers section is £800m-£900m (excluding VAT and at 2018 prices). Further details can be found in the A96 Dualling Hardmuir to Fochabers DMRB Stage 2 Scheme Assessment Report a copy of which can be viewed on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/dmrb-stage-2-assessment-report-hardmuir-to-fochabers-a96-dualling/ .

Estimated costs for the East of Fochabers to East of Huntly and the East of Huntly to Aberdeen sections will be developed as we take forward design and assessment work on these sections. In terms of the East of Huntly to Aberdeen section, cost estimates for each of the options under consideration are currently being developed, the outcome of which will be reported in a DMRB Stage 2 Scheme Assessment Report which is expected to be published later this year.

Question reference: S5O-03282

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what grounds Transport Scotland has failed to reveal which further option or options it has abandoned for dualling the A96.

As is the case for all our major road projects, it is important that we maintain transparency throughout the route selection process and that we provide everyone with an interest an equal opportunity to view our plans and discuss them directly with the project team.

The member is fully aware public engagement events are due to be held from 28 – 31 May which will give local communities and road users the opportunity to see and comment on the options being taken forward for further assessment.

To ensure that as many people as possible are aware of the events in advance they have been widely advertised with approximately 3,500 invites also issued to everyone who has expressed an interest in our proposals, which includes the member.

Question reference: S5W-22814

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) injury and (b) non-injury road accidents on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven have been reported in each quarter since 1 April 2016.

a) personal injury accidents.

A90 Dundee to Stonehaven Personal Injury Accidents

(Between Emmock roundabout Dundee and where the A957 Slug Road crosses the A90 at Stonehaven)

Year - 2016	Number of Personal Injury Accidents
April – June	5
July – September	3
October – December	7

Year - 2017	Number of Personal Injury Accidents
January - March	6
April – June	5
July – September	4
October – December	7

Year – 2018*	Number of Personal Injury Accidents
January – March	3
April – June	2
July – September	7
October – December	3

Year – 2019**	Number of Personal Injury Accidents
January - March	1

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Date data extracted: 01 May 2019

*This includes data up to 29 December 2018 as we do not hold the full calendar year’s data for Tayside Division of Police Scotland.

**This only includes fatal accidents as this is the only data we hold for this date range at this time.

(b) The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. The Scottish Government only holds personal injury accident data.

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

• Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.

• Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

• Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.

• The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. E.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.

• Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.

Question reference: S5W-22816

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22274 by Roseanna Cunningham on 3 April 2019, what monitoring it has undertaken to determine whether agri-environment delivery has been effective for waders, including the curlew, and what further such monitoring it has planned.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will shortly be letting a contract, on behalf of the Scottish Government, to evaluate the Biodiversity outcomes of the 2014-20 SRDP Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS). This will be undertaken through a selection of case studies and will analyse the geographical spread and uptake of AECS options through contracts awarded so far. Some of the AECS options selected will be those benefitting farmland waders.

The project will provide a qualitative assessment of a selection of AECS case study farms (between 30 and 40 across Scotland) to contribute to the assessment of AECS performance. The farm assessments will involve some field survey work and farmer interviews to understand their experience of implementing their contract and the benefits it has generated. The project is expected to report by the end of this financial year.

In addition, SNH’s Working for Waders project has undertaken two projects to help inform actions for farmland waders, including those supported by AECS. One is the preparation of wader hotspot maps to illustrate the distribution and population change of farmland wading birds in Scotland and to identify geographic patterns of changing abundance. The second is the preparation of wader fieldwork guidance to help a range of people count and monitor waders. The latter guidance is being used by groups of farmers involved in local Working for Waders supported projects (primarily resourced through AECS) which have been and are continuing to monitor waders. These projects include the RSPB-led Clyde Valley project and the Strathspey Waders and Wetland Initiative.

Question reference: S5W-22817

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22272 by Mairi Gougeon on 3 April 2019, what recommendations it has received under phase two of the 2016 Special Protection Area Review to tackle the issues identified in phase one and improve the network for breeding and non-breeding curlew.

Question reference: S5W-22813

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been killed in road accidents on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven in each quarter since 1 April 2016.

The following table shows how many people have been killed in road accidents on the A90 (Dundee to Stonehaven), between Emmock Roundabout Dundee and where the A957 Slug Road crosses the A90 at Stonehaven.

Year - 2016	Number of Fatal Casualties
April – June	0
July – September	1
October – December	0

Year - 2017	Number of Fatal Casualties
January - March	1
April – June	0
July – September	0
October – December	0

Year - 2018	Number of Fatal Casualties
January – March	0
April – June	0
July – September	1
October – December	0

Year – 2019	Number of Fatal Casualties
January - March	3

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Date data extracted: 1 May 2019

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system:

• Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.

• Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).

• Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.

Question reference: S5O-03211

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government on what grounds a local authority can refuse to provide a grant for the replacement or improvement of a private water supply, where there is no access to mains water.

Question reference: S5O-03175

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will initiate cross-party discussions regarding Agent of Change in advance of stage 3 of the Planning (Scotland) Bill.

Chamber and committees