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-17256

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what estimates Transport Scotland has made of the additional contract cost from extending collectively bargained rates of pay to seafarers on all vessels chartered to deliver the next Northern Isles Ferry Services contract.

Question reference: S5W-17254

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the introduction of the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) scheme on routes in the current contract for Northern Isles Ferry Services.

Our 2016 manifesto stated we will take action to reduce ferry fares to Orkney and Shetland. We have been working hard to try and meet that commitment as soon as it can be done.

On 22 August 2017, I announced plans to introduce reduced passenger and car fares within the first half of 2018. The announced fares options were:

Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) on the Scrabster – Stromness route; and
a variant of RET on the longer Aberdeen to Kirkwall/Lerwick routes.

Transport Scotland has been working with the commercial ferry operators on the Pentland Firth with the aim of reaching an agreement that provides compliance with State aid and Competition rules. This is a challenging and technical piece of work, however the Scottish Government continues to seek a positive outcome.

I am aware that there is keen interest in the Northern Isles for further news on this issue. Details on the way forward will be made available as soon as possible.

Should passengers who have already booked and paid for tickets travel after fares are reduced, ferry operators have agreed they will refund the difference.

Question reference: S5W-17260

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to put the next contract for Northern Isles Ferry Services out to tender.

Question reference: S5W-17159

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with representatives of David MacBrayne regarding a public sector bid for the ScotRail public transport franchise.

The Scottish Government has held a number of discussions about the rail franchising process in Scotland over the last 18 months with David MacBrayne Limited (DML) and with other existing public sector transport providers. The Minister for Transport and the Islands has updated the public sector bidder stakeholder reference group accordingly, and further updates will be provided to that group after the summer recess. The Scottish Government will also update the Scottish Parliament on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-17157

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next discuss the public sector bid for the ScotRail franchise with trade unions.

The Minister for Transport and the Islands will convene a further meeting of the stakeholder reference group after the summer recess to discuss the prospect of a public sector bidder for rail franchises in Scotland. Trade unions, opposition MSPs, and other stakeholders are represented on this group.

The Minister updates transport unions on this matter as part of routine meetings with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).

Question reference: S5T-01178

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 June 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that ScotRail missed its punctuality targets for every reporting period in the last year.

Question reference: S5W-17161

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the monitoring of public expenditure on harbour dues at harbours that are not owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd.

Levying and payment of harbour dues is governed by the Harbours Act 1964 and is a commercial arrangement between harbour authorities and harbour users.

In relation to Scottish Government supported ferry services, the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract with CalMac Ferries Ltd places a requirement on the ferry operator to scrutinise and challenge any increases in harbour dues proposed by harbour authorities.

In addition, through Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, we are progressively entering into long-term arrangements with harbour authorities which ensure that harbour dues paid in relation to Scottish Government supported ferry services are reasonable and reflect the costs of operations, maintenance and planned investment.

Question reference: S5W-17156

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to monitor the functioning of ferry user groups representing passengers on Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service routes.

Ferry User Groups, now known as Ferry Stakeholder Groups, are administered by the Highlands & Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS), who hold responsibility for monitoring the functioning of these groups. The Terms of Reference for each of the Groups were recently reviewed and updated by HITRANS. The Scottish Government does not monitor the functioning of the Ferry Stakeholder Groups, but attends and takes a participative role in the meetings.

Question reference: S5W-17011

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2004.

The Scottish Government monitors the effectiveness of the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 through reported crimes and prosecutions. In addition, informal monitoring is undertaken by local and National Nature Reserve wildfowling wardens and local authority rangers where wildfowling on the foreshore is controlled through a permit system.

Question reference: S5W-17010

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 June 2018
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 June 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering changes to the system for regulating the use of lead firearm ammunition.