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-18686

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Air Discount Scheme has cost to administer in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-18670

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the costs involved in allowing schools to decide which Higher examinations pupils can take in 2015.

There are no anticipated additional costs.

The decision to “dual run” the new Highers with current Highers in 2014-15 was taken several years ago, primarily to enable S6 learners to take the higher qualification which would best fit their earlier learning and teaching experience. Costs for dual provision have therefore always been factored into SQA’s programme budget.

We have made clear that the new Highers provide smooth progression from the National 5 qualification and we consider it the natural option for young people in Scotland next session. However, school education is the responsibility of local authorities and we recognise that there needs to be some scope for local flexibility based on professional judgment. Where other options are being considered, teachers should work closely with their senior management, local authority and parent body to come to a decision. The decision should be in the interest of learners, and involve all parties, rather than be taken by a single person. As there should be no additional costs involved, cost should not be a factor in decision-making.

Question reference: S4W-18687

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many claims for discounted flights under the Air Discount Scheme have been made in each of the last five years, and how many were approved.

Question reference: S4W-18688

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many times people have been prevented from accessing the Air Discount Scheme because their journey was for non-personal reasons since the regulations were changed to prevent the scheme being used for business travel.

Question reference: S4W-18589

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether Pentland Ferries will be entitled to a proportion of the subsidy paid to Serco under the terms of the Northern Isles ferry contract during January 2014 when it fulfils requirements for lifeline passenger ferry services across the Pentland Firth.

No. Pentland Ferries will gain commercial benefit from the additional traffic carried during this period.

The MV Helliar is able to carry all expected freight vehicles and up to 12 passengers. Serco NorthLink Ferries held constructive dialogue with Pentland Ferries to ensure that ferry connectivity was maintained during this period of scheduled unavailability. Pentland Ferries has confirmed to Serco NorthLink Ferries that they are able to accommodate the overall travel demand across the Pentland Firth during this period. Serco NorthLink Ferries are providing courtesy buses between Scrabster and Gills Bay and Stromness and St Margaret’s Hope to minimise any inconvenience to passengers. It is anticipated that the effective liaison between both operators will continue to ensure effective connections to and from Orkney.

Question reference: S4W-18587

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the replacement of MV Hamnavoe with MV Helliar on the Stromness to Scrabster route in January 2014 is compliant with the terms of the contract that it signed with Serco in 2012.

The replacement service that will be provided in January 2014, is compliant with the terms of the public service contract signed between Scottish Ministers and Serco Limited.

The contract requires the operator to provide a suitable replacement vessel to undertake the service between Scrabster and Stromness during periods of Scheduled Unavailability. On this occasion, the operator has fully demonstrated that, although they have sought to charter a suitable Ro-pax vessel, using international searches through shipbrokers, the scarcity of such charter tonnage means that the operator now intends to utilise the MV Helliar as the replacement vessel to provide all the freight services and some of the passenger services. This is compliant with the contract and contingency arrangements for such periods of scheduled unavailability.

Question reference: S4W-18671

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government in how many primary (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 classes team teaching is used, broken down by local authority.

The following table shows for each local authority the number of primary 1, 2 and 3 classes that had more than one teacher as at September 2012. Composite classes with one or more pupils in primary 1, 2 or 3 and more than one teacher are shown separately:

	Primary 1	Primary 2	Primary 3	Composites with P1-P3 pupils
Aberdeen City	5	0	1	2
Aberdeenshire	1	0	0	0
Angus	0	0	1	1
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	1
Clackmannanshire	1	1	1	1
Dumfries and Galloway	2	0	0	2
Dundee City	6	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	1	1	0	2
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	1	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	11	0	0	0
Edinburgh City	23	8	13	1
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0
Fife	4	4	6	5
Glasgow City	11	4	13	3
Highland	0	0	0	0
Inverclyde	0	3	1	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0
Moray	1	1	2	2
North Ayrshire	1	1	0	1
North Lanarkshire	2	0	1	2
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	0
Renfrewshire	1	2	3	2
Scottish Borders	3	0	1	3
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	1
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	22	9	10	16
Stirling	3	1	2	1
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	1	0
West Lothian	2	0	0	4
All Local Authorities	100	35	57	50

Question reference: S4W-18588

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as a result of the decision to operate the MV Helliar on the Stromness to Scrabster route in January 2014, Serco will be liable for fines under the terms of the contract for ferry services to the Northern Isles and, if so, how much those fines are expected to be.

The contract provides an overall regime of performance measures, with deductions to be applied, for failure to meet the performance measures. Performance measures cover reliability, punctuality, compliance and reporting.

During a period of scheduled unavailability, the contract permits departure from the contracted timetable, provided arrangements for delivery of the service are made which meet anticipated demand. A revised timetable has been agreed and should Serco NorthLink Ferries fail to deliver this the normal performance deductions as set out in the contract will apply.

Question reference: S4W-18826

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 17 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Law Officers have given an opinion on the policy in the white paper on independence of charging UK students tuition fees.

Question reference: S4W-18698

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 16 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government which of the arm’s-length foundations established by the regional boards of colleges have yet to submit their (a) application for charitable status, (b) constitution and (c) business plan to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

2009	Claims made – 144,725
2010	Claims made – 185,633
2011	Claims made – 161,402 Flights not approved – 124
2012	Claims made – 136,607 Flights not approved – 268
2013	Claims made – 124,959 Flights not approved – 174