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: S4O-01651

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Aberdeen City Council to discuss infrastructure investment.

Question reference: S4W-11722

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what fines can be imposed on bus companies in respect of services not running on time.

Question reference: S4W-11724

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has in relation to setting fines for bus companies.

Question reference: S4W-11723

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has in relation to the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-11726

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what leeway the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland gives to bus operators that experience delays due to circumstances outwith their control.

Question reference: S4W-11725

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether running a set number of buses per hour is an allowed alternative to setting timetables.

Yes; it is open to an operator to register “frequent services”. Frequent services are defined at Paragraph 10 of the Schedule to SSI 2001 No. 219, The Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001, as routes on which “the service interval is 10 minutes or less”. These are further defined in the Traffic Commissioner’s Practice Direction on Standards for Local Bus Services as: “Six or more buses will depart within any period of 60 minutes and the interval between consecutive buses will not exceed 15 minutes”.

Question reference: S4W-11721

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many fines the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland has issued to bus companies in the last year.

Question reference: S4O-01643

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 December 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding the proposed third Don crossing.

Question reference: S4W-11426

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 5 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines there are for local authorities or housing associations on allowing priority allocation for veterans who require social housing.

The Scottish Government published a practice guide to social housing allocations in March 2011. This aims to assist local authorities and housing associations to understand their legal requirements and the flexibilities they have in determining priority for their housing. It includes strengthened guidance for social landlords on housing for those leaving the armed forces and veterans, which was revised in consultation with Veterans Scotland. The guide is available on the Scottish Government’s website at:

The answer to question S4W-05689 on 16 March 2012 set out the Scottish Government’s intention to develop additional practical examples of approaches being taken by social landlords in Scotland to support those who have served in the armed forces. These examples are currently being finalised and will be shared with Scottish social landlords shortly.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

Question reference: S4W-11423

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 December 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how much money is allocated annually to train alcohol counsellors.