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: S6W-01651

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 18 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the additional cost to CalMac Ferries of chartering the MV Arrow in line with CalMac’s collective bargaining agreements with the recognised seafarer unions.

The Scottish Government will provide funding to support the chartering the MV Arrow by CalMac Ferries Ltd to assist the resilience on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network. The cost of the current time charter negotiated between CalMac Ferries Ltd and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company is £588,000 excluding fuel and harbour dues.

The Scottish Government has made no assessment of the additional cost to CalMac Ferries Ltd for chartering the MV arrow in line with collective bargaining agreements. The crew of the MV Arrow are employed by Seatruck Ltd, who own the vessel and terms and conditions are a matter for that company.

Question reference: S6W-01649

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which company employs the crew of the MV Arrow during CalMac Ferries' time charter of the vessel on the Ullapool-Stornoway route.

Question reference: S6W-01653

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations were consulted during negotiations regarding the time charter agreement between CalMac Ferries and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for the MV Arrow.

Question reference: S6W-01650

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with CalMac Ferries regarding the employment conditions applicable to the time charter of the MV Arrow.

Question reference: S6W-01418

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 9 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00828 by Graeme Dey on 7 July 2021, what impact the UK Government’s proposals for (a) subsidy control mechanisms and (b) competition law might have on the work to make the Road Equivalent Tariff subsidy available to Pentland Ferries’ private routes across the Pentland Firth.

The Scottish Government continues to work under the interim Subsidy Control regime introduced by the UK Government on 1 January 2021 and provisions held within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Alongside this, consideration has to be given to any further UK Subsidy Control obligations such as World Trade Organisation membership and commitments arising from international treaties and Fair Trade Agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party.

The UK Government introduced a Bill on Subsidy Control to Parliament on 30 June 2021 with a view to implementation of a permanent Subsidy Control regime.

Officials will continue to diligently work through the UK Government’s proposals to understand the impact on subsidies, including on ferry services.

Question reference: S6W-01544

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that COVID-19 has had on the (a) number and (b) type of vehicles carried by the CalMac fleet.

Question reference: S6W-01542

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the news release issued by CalMac Ferries on 24 August 2020, at which location dry dock maintenance work was carried out on each ferry, and how much of CalMac's expenditure was spent on procuring this work on each vessel.

The yards which CalMac Ferries Ltd use to undertake dry dock maintenance work for the vessels in the fleet is an operational matter for them to determine.

CalMac Ferries Ltd procure their contracts in a fair and open competition manner, allowing an award to the bidder that offers the best value for money. CalMac Ferries Ltd publish details pertaining to the contracts on the website.

CalMac Ferries Ltd awarded contracts to Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd, Dales Marine Services and Ardmaleish Boatbuilding Co Ltd.

Contract details are available by following the links: and .

Question reference: S6W-01436

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail will enable it to run rail passenger services directly in the public sector without the need to use the Operator of Last Resort.

Under current legislation, a public sector operator could bid to run rail services in Scotland in any future franchise competition.

The Scottish Government has, on a number of occasions, requested the further devolution of rail powers, which has been denied. This includes through our engagement with the UK Rail Review. Further devolution would enable us to consider the widest range of options possible for delivering rail services.

We were not consulted on the detailed proposals within the Williams-Shapps Plan prior to its publication, and we are currently seeking clarity from the UK Government in a range of areas.

Question reference: S6W-01437

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government who will act as the Operator of Last Resort for the ScotRail franchise from March 2022 and, if this information is not available, whether it can confirm that it will not consider using Abellio in this role.

Question reference: S6W-01420

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 August 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to work with the trade unions organising ferry workers to build the case for bringing the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract permanently in-house and, if so, when this work will start.

We will work with all key stakeholders, including the trade unions, to ensure the most efficient and best value arrangement to deliver our key lifeline ferry services. An independent review analysing the existing governance structure is already underway and our consultants will be engaging with stakeholders shortly. The provisional outcomes of the review will be published around the end of the year when further engagement on potential options will take place.