Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-03246

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2024

To ask the First Minister what his response is to the reported comment from the Nuclear Industry Association that his stance on nuclear power is "hopelessly ideological and anti-science".

Question reference: S6O-03596

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to deliver on its commitment to produce a National Register of Ancient Woodland.

Question reference: S6O-03513

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to take forward the recommendations in the Transport Scotland report, "There’s an app for that!" - Women’s Safety on Public Transport in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27335

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board will submit its operational plan for delivery.

Question reference: S6W-27046

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the delivery of recommendation 11 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

Since the publication of the draft of STPR2 in January 2022, a multi-partner working group consisting of Transport Scotland (TS), Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Glasgow City Council (GCC) has been established to better define the scale of work that Clyde Metro might represent and the associated resource and programme requirements. This is overseen by a Programme Steering Group comprising of the Chief Executives of those organisations. SPT are leading the current stage of Clyde Metro, known as the case for investment stage, working alongside Glasgow City Council and with Transport Scotland providing support in a project assurance role. This key stage, which is currently underway, will define the Clyde Metro network. I understand that SPT have recently appointed consultants for some early work, with procurement of a framework for multi-disciplinary consultancy services for later phases of the case for investment currently ongoing.

Question reference: S6W-27047

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on the delivery of recommendation 11 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) to date, and what any funding has been used for.

Since the publication of the draft of STPR2 in January 2022, a multi-partner working group consisting of Transport Scotland (TS), Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Glasgow City Council (GCC) has been established to better define the scale of work that Clyde Metro might represent and the associated resource and programme requirements. This is overseen by a Programme Steering Group comprising of the Chief Executives of those organisations. SPT are leading the current stage of Clyde Metro, known as the case for investment stage, working alongside Glasgow City Council and with Transport Scotland providing support in a project assurance role.

Since the publication of STPR2, Transport Scotland took a lead on delivering the recommendation on behalf of the Programme Steering Group and have spent approximately £921,000 on early consultancy services aimed at defining the scope, governance, programme and budget of Clyde Metro. This does not include spend incurred by SPT and GCC.

Question reference: S6O-03437

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when a decision will be made regarding the Scottish Funding Council’s recommendation to end the regional colleges arrangement in Lanarkshire and Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-27042

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence was used to support the statement in the appraisal summary for recommendation 6 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) that there has been “effective delivery of behavioural change initiatives in Scotland”, in light of the 2022 Active Travel National Indicator showing that journeys by active travel under two miles have fallen since 2012.

STPR2 Recommendation 6 considered a significant body of evidence from projects across Scotland and the UK. This demonstrated that with the provision of specific and targeted information there is potential to change people’s travel behaviour. This includes encouraging more people to walk, wheel and cycle for shorter journeys and to use public transport for trips that they previously used a private car for. The impact of these types of programmes can be more effective when supporting new related infrastructure projects.

The transport appraisal that supported Recommendation 6 considered the evaluation of projects in Scotland undertaken as part of the Smarter Choices Smarter Places programme. This noted that, of the schemes that promoted walking and cycling, around 40% of those people that were reached were more active as a result.

As part of Scotland’s National Performance Framework there is a ‘journeys by active travel’ National Indicator, which monitors the proportion of short journeys that are made only by the active modes of walking and cycling. This shows that whilst there has indeed been a small decline in the percentage of journeys under 2 miles by walking as the main mode, positively the percentage of journeys under 5 miles by cycling as the main mode, has increased since 2012. Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the impacts of all the STPR2 Recommendations, as part of its normal cycle of monitoring and review of the impacts of its investment in Scotland’s transport network.

Question reference: S6W-26985

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26535 by Fiona Hyslop on 17 April 2024, when it will publish the study that it has commissioned that "will look at EV adoption to-date and will model future demand across a number of scenarios".

Question reference: S6W-27027

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been undertaken to determine "the most appropriate prioritisation approach", as described in the affordability section of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) in relation to recommendation 3, and where the results of any such assessment can be found.

STPR2 is a national appraisal and identifies recommendations to be delivered over the long term. The delivery of the recommendations is subject to the funding allocations agreed by Parliament each year through the annual budget process.

In the case of Recommendation 3, which focuses on village-town active travel connections, investment will likely be phased over numerous years. Currently, projects are identified by local authorities and regional partners who then apply for funding through the Sustrans Places for Everyone programme, the new Active Travel Infrastructure fund, and directly through the Cycling Walking Safer Routes (CWSR) grant.

In the case of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, we accept proposals for funding the construction of various types of active travel interventions, which can include village-town active travel connections.

The assessment and prioritisation of projects considers a multi- criteria approach and includes two main factors: the impact they achieve and the deliverability of the project. Some of the factors considered in the prioritisation of projects are: potential for mode shift; the quality of proposed infrastructure; safety and security; integration with existing active travel infrastructure and/or public transport; impact on the most deprived 20% of communities; impact on community severance; access to schools; access to employment; access to other locations and value for money.

Chamber and committees