Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-05955

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects ScotRail to take delivery of rolling stock from Great Western Railway, in light of the delays to network electrification in England.

Question reference: S5W-06145

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the budget for its (a) sustainable and active travel and (b) Smarter Choices, Smarter Places initiatives was spent in 2015-16.

Please see the following tables for information on sustainable and active travel, which comes from several budget headings.

SSAT Capital

This budget supports walking and cycling infrastructure.

Please see the following tables for information on sustainable and active travel, which comes from several budget headings.

Project

Spend

(£000)

Active travel infrastructure

14,940

SSAT Revenue

This supports several policy areas including the Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme, low carbon transport advice from the Energy Saving Trust, cycling behaviour change and training (such as Bikeability).

Saving Trust, cycling behaviour change and training (such as Bikeability).

Project	Spend (£000)
Developing Car Clubs in Scotland Programme	396
Support for delivering the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland	3,809
Smarter Choices, Smarter Places	5,202
Energy Saving Trust, Transport Advice	755
Alternative Fuels and Cleaner Vehicles	353

Financial Transactions

Providing interest free loans for low carbon vehicles.

Project	Spend (£000)
Active Travel Infrastructure	10,000
Freight Grants	50
Low carbon vehicles, alternative and cleaner fuels	4,614

The total for Smarter Choices, Smarter Places is included in these figures and more information on the individual projects is available on the Paths for All website (Paths for All administer the programme):

Question reference: S5W-05954

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies are in place to ensure continuity of service in the event of delays in acquiring rolling stock from Great Western Railway.

Question reference: S5W-05962

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the relocation of Scottish Enterprise away from Paisley is consistent with its Town Centre First Principle.

Scottish Enterprise’s business cases for premises are based on criteria agreed by Scottish Government and are subject to scrutiny by Ministers.

Scottish Enterprise cannot remain in its current premises in Paisley as there are significant issues around security and health and safety which Scottish Enterprise have assessed as unresolvable.

Scottish Enterprise is currently working with public sector partners to establish a more appropriately sized flexible workspace in the town centre that better meets demands in serving businesses in Paisley. In considering the Town Centre First Principle, Scottish Enterprise concluded that the changes to their premises are proportionate, deliver best value for the taxpayer and will have a negligible effect on the town centre economy.

Question reference: S5W-05951

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what land it is safeguarding to ensure that the proposed Glasgow Crossrail development remains viable.

Question reference: S5W-05663

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its draft budget statement on 15 December 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of its estimate that a freeze on regulated rail fares will cost £58 million.

The cost impact of any franchise contract variation must be assessed through the financial modelling suite associated with the franchise contract. This takes into account a range of factors including forecast levels of revenue and inflation. A one-year freeze would create a gap in franchise revenue that would be maintained and compounded each year thereafter, even after returning to the current fares policy for future years. Cost estimates in accordance with the financial model for a one-year freeze on all fares, which were validated by the independent financial advisers Ernst and Young LLP, predicted a gap in revenue until the first break point in the contract of up to £58 million. This revenue gap would need to be met by the Scottish Government. Of course this gap in ScotRail revenues would continue to grow beyond the end the franchise contract, whoever operates the ScotRail services.

Question reference: S5O-00527

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received to its consultation on the integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-00516

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S5W-05067

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a 1% reduction in rail fares each time a ScotRail service is cancelled.

Question reference: S5W-05066

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many cancelled ScotRail services there have been since 1 January 2016, and what the impact would have been on fares if there had been a 1% reduction in price for each cancellation.

On the period 1 January 2016 to 12 November 2016 we calculate there have been 7,453 cancellations reported to Transport Scotland on ScotRail services, out of approximately 642,800 trains booked to run during this period (1.16%). The ScotRail Franchise contains a Delay Repay scheme which compensates passengers delayed by longer than 30 minutes, including in the event their service is cancelled, resulting in a delay to their journey over this time band.