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: S6W-16714

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the financial impact of the delay to the delivery of vessels 801 and 802, which are currently under construction at Ferguson Marine.

Question reference: S6W-16552

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual daily traffic flow on the A1 within the Scottish Borders was in each year since 2016, broken down by year.

Transport Scotland is unable to estimate the annual daily traffic flow (AADT) for the entire A1 trunk road within the Scottish Borders. However, the following table provides the AADT taken from the two traffic counters Transport Scotland operate on the A1 trunk road in the Scottish Borders.

Site Name	Description	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
JTC00462	A1 Tower	6651	10421	10061	9674	7635	9425	10159
JTC00466	A1 Burnmouth	9643	10038	11069	11739	8644	10034	11606

All figures Above are Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) flows, this is the number of vehicles recorded over the annual period, presented in an industry standard average daily figure.

All figures are the sum of both directions of travel.

Data extracted from the National Traffic Data System on 4 April 2023.

A noticeable drop in traffic volumes is seen in 2020, due to the Covid pandemic and travel restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-16722

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 26 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15855 by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023, when it plans to publish its updated market study of rail freight growth in Scotland, which was a key recommendation of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will inform the Scottish Government’s transport investment programme in Scotland over the next 20 years. The Scottish Government have set out 45 recommendations for future investment in Scotland’s strategic transport network, published on 08 December 2022, with 38 of the 45 recommendations already underway.

The scope and timescales of the rail freight market study have yet to be determined. However, a Delivery Plan to provide further insight on the prioritisation of the STPR2 recommendations will follow in the coming months, when there is more clarity and greater certainty on the available capital budget and fiscal policy for the coming years.

Question reference: S6W-16723

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has begun carrying out a review of station accessibility to identify and remove barriers to travel and improve access for all, and what engagement it has had with groups that promote accessibility for people with disabilities.

Recommendation 19 of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) recommends a review of station accessibility across Scotland. This will identify and remove barriers to travel and improve access for all to the rail network, prioritising those stations that have particular accessibility related issues. The anticipated timeline for completion of the review remains Spring 2024.

Transport Scotland is currently waiting for release of the Department for Transport (DfT) accessibility audit review findings in order to inform the STPR2 work.

Rail accessibility remains reserved to the UK Government, which is not an appropriate arrangement for Scotland’s Railway. Nonetheless Transport Scotland officials work closely with the DfT in identifying priorities for the allocation of UK Access for All funding in Scotland.

Transport Scotland officials regularly meet with the Mobility and Access Committee Scotland (MACS) to ensure that Ministers are provided with relevant and accurate advice and information on accessibility needs in Scotland. Transport Scotland also works with ScotRail and Network Rail to ensure that accessibility forms a key part of any Scottish Government funded investment projects and operational policy.

Question reference: S6W-16720

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial, (b) legal and (c) other costs have been incurred, to date, in the process of nationalising the Caledonian Sleeper rail service.

Question reference: S6W-16592

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15855 by Jenny Gilruth on 28 March 2023, by what percentage has rail freight increased in Scotland since March 2018.

While the decision to use rail is for the freight customer and its logistics provider, the Scottish Government has shown leadership in facilitating modal shift to rail with significant investment and innovative regulatory targets for 2019 to 2024 and 2024 to 2029.

The rail freight target is measured in net tonne miles and, due to the commercial nature of freight, tends to vary considerably from year to year. Currently, there has been an overall 7.6% drop in net tonne miles since 2018 due to a general contraction in the markets for various reasons, including the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and the global economy.

New traffic to rail was 2.9 million net tonne miles in 2019-20 and 48.8 million net tonne miles in 2022-23. This reflects the five new rail freight services which have started in Scotland in the last twelve months including a cross border express logistics services .

Question reference: S6O-02139

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the constitution secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding engagement with the UK Government on a potential return to the Horizon Europe research programme.

Question reference: S6W-16721

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a further breakdown of the budget line for "Support for Active Travel", contained in the Scottish Budget 2023-24, and whether it will explain its rationale for increasing funding from £126.0 million in 2022-23 to £165.3 million in 2023-24.

The Scottish Government budget for 2023-24 for Active Travel is £189.2 million as follows. This is a step change increase from the 2022-23 budget, particularly in capital investment, as we progress towards the commitment to invest at least £320 million or 10% of the transport budget on active travel by 2024-25. This investment has a particular focus on improving the quality and range of active travel infrastructure where people can walk, wheel and cycle safely and confidently; and also funds access to bikes schemes and programmes to encourage more people to use active travel on day to day journeys. In turn these support key priorities in our second National Transport Strategy and second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Budget Description	2022-23 Allocation	2023-24 Allocation	Percentage Movement
Support for Active Travel – Capital (includes £11.073 m to bring Cycling Walking and Safer Routes up to £35 m)	113.750	152.900	34%
Support for Active Travel – Resource	12.300	12.383	1%
Support for Active Travel Sub-Total	126.050	165.283	31%

Cycling, Walking & Safer Routes – Capital (in local govt settlement line)	23.927	23.927	0%
Active Travel Total	149.977	189.210	26%

Question reference: S6W-16545

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15653 by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023, when it will publish the research that it has commissioned on exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use, including pricing.

Question reference: S6W-16546

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15653 by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023, what (a) monitoring and (b) analysis it has conducted on the impact of road pricing on (i) rural travellers and (ii) those on low incomes.

The demand management research referred to in S6W-16545 considers carefully the analysis of possible equality impacts of demand management options including road pricing, along with potential mitigations such as exemptions, allowances and complementary measures which may be applied to those on low incomes and those living in remote rural areas. Monitoring of potential future road pricing schemes is not possible until if and when such schemes have been developed together with appropriate monitoring and evaluation approaches.