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: S5W-16002

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government by what date all of the class 385 units that have been ordered by ScotRail will be operational.

Question reference: S5W-16010

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the economic value of tourism is to each local authority area.

Statistics on the Gross Value Added of the Sustainable Tourism sector, for each of Scotland's Local Authorities, are published in Table 2.2

of the Scottish Government's Local Authority Area Growth Sector Statistics Database. The statistics can be accessed here:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/Publications/GrowthSectors/LADatabase

These statistics are based on the latest Annual Business Survey (ABS), conducted by the Office for National Statistics.

Question reference: S5W-16012

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people in Scotland who are part of the so-called Windrush Generation have been informed that they are (a) at risk of and (b) facing deportation, and what discussions it has had with UK Government regarding this.

The Scottish Government has made and is continuing to make inquiries through stakeholders and partner organisations about who may be at risk. At the moment, this has not identified anyone in Scotland who has been affected by this scandal.

The available data are not precise enough to provide estimates of who may be at risk. In the 2011 census, 1,092 individuals in Scotland both reported their ethnic group as ‘Caribbean or Black’ and had arrived in the UK more than 10 years ago. In addition, 3,810 people in Scotland who arrived in the UK more than 10 years ago reported their ethnic group as ‘African’, which some Windrush descendants may self-identify as.

The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the situation, push the UK government to immediately guarantee the status of all those affected and call for an end to the hostile environment that dominates UK policy on migration.

Question reference: S5W-16005

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14852 by Humza Yousaf on 6 March 2018, what progress has been made in identifying the suitable public sector body to make a bid for the ScotRail franchise.

Question reference: S5W-15989

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Scottish Canals regarding the organisation's financial situation.

Question reference: S5W-15990

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many mechanised or swing bridges there are over canals in Scotland; how many of these are not in working order, and what assessment it has made of the (a) cost of repair and (b) economic impact of each closed bridge.

Scottish Canals have confirmed that there are 31 mechanised and swing bridges over canals in Scotland and 3 are currently out of service to be repaired once resources and individual technical solutions are identified. The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of the cost of repair as this is a matter for Scottish Canals where this forms part of their overall Asset Management Plan. No estimate has been made of the economic impact of each closed bridge.

Question reference: S5W-15991

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Scottish Canals' inspection, repair and replacement regime.

Scottish Canals has made significant effort in recent years to understand the overall condition of the canals and develop an Asset Management Plan to prioritise use of the resources available to them for maintenance and replacement. It is prudent for the organisation to undertake this sort of exercise and Transport Scotland is working closely with Scottish Canals to monitor and understand the implications of this work.

Question reference: S5T-01043

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 April 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that widespread disruption to CalMac services is anticipated until the end of May.

Question reference: S5W-16011

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-15362

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15154 by Humza Yousaf on 16 March 2018, whether it provide an answer to the question that was asked and confirm whether it will carry out an evaluation of what the impact would be of having a bridge at the Corran Narrows.