Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-04954

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress Abellio ScotRail is making with its plans to purchase rolling stock from Great Western Railway.

Question reference: S5W-04951

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the new Abellio ScotRail rolling stock will come into operation on the Edinburgh – Glasgow line and what plans there are to introduce new rolling stock on other services, broken down by (a) date of introduction and (b) cost.

ScotRail is committed to gradually introduce the new c385 trains on services operating between Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High from September 2017 with all of the services on this route to be fully operated by the new fleet from December 2017.

During 2018 these will be rolled out onto services such as Dunblane/ Alloa/ Stirling, North Berwick/ Dunbar, south Glasgow suburban lines and Edinburgh - Glasgow via Shotts and by January 2019 the full fleet of 70 trains (46 three car and 24 four cars) will have been delivered. More detailed information is contained on the Abellio ScotRail website https://www.scotrail.co.uk/about-scotrail/new-trains

Question reference: S5W-04970

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it procures grit and salt for winter resilience.

Each trunk road Operating Company has the responsibility for all aspects of winter service provision, including the procurement of salt for their operational use to treat our trunk roads. A strategic salt supply was established for the first time in Scotland in 2010/11 and should further provisions of strategic salt require to be procured, Transport Scotland will facilitate via Scotland Excel as members. Scotland Excel manages the procurement of high value, high risk goods and services that are commonly used by all local authorities. A range of other commodities can also be procured directly by local authorities or through national contracts managed by the Scottish Government.

Local authorities are responsible for winter service operations on local roads. The ScotRail Alliance has confirmed that winter plans have been introduced and that they have access to sufficient stocks of salt. Contingency plans are available in the event of stations not being treated when required, as required in their Franchise Agreement.

Question reference: S5W-04963

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the petition organised by 38 Degrees, which calls for Abellio to no longer have control of the ScotRail franchise.

I met with representatives of the 38 degrees group on 19 October 2016, where they presented the petition, raised concerns about ScotRail's performance and shared their experiences of using the rail network in Scotland.

I acknowledged the specific issues they raised by group members and my officials at Transport Scotland will pursue such issues in their monitoring of the ScotRail Improvement Plan.

Question reference: S5W-04969

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which parts of the (a) road and (b) rail network will be given priority if there is not sufficient grit or salt for the entire network over the forthcoming winter.

We do not envisage a shortage of salt for winter service in 2016-2017. Salt stocks were increased for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and have since been maintained to improve Scotland’s resilience should another severe winter arrive. Meanwhile, the Scottish Salt Group has been monitoring the restocking process throughout the summer, including liaising with suppliers to confirm there is adequate salt production to meet the demand and that restocking targets for Scotland are being met.

Local authorities are responsible for winter service operations on local roads. The ScotRail Alliance has confirmed that winter plans have been introduced and that they have access to sufficient stocks of salt. Contingency plans are available in the event of stations not being treated when required, as required in their Franchise Agreement.

Question reference: S5W-04640

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 18 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the change in Scottish Water (a) domestic and (b) business charges will be for 2017-18.

Question reference: S5O-00389

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met industry and consumer stakeholders to discuss the regulation of private car parks.

Question reference: S5F-00452

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2016

To ask the First Minister what lessons have been learnt following two Chinese companies withdrawing from a memorandum of understanding with the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5W-03459

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03132 by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016, what the estimated net expenditure for the scheme will be at 31 March 2017.

Question reference: S5W-03473

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03132 by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding division between the loans recovered from the 2015 scheme and the underspends, also broken down by the origin of each underspend.

Chamber and committees