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: S6W-24637

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of rail fares have not been paid in each year since 2020, and what action it is taking to tackle this.

Whilst this is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022, ScotRail advises that, as part of the Grant Agreement, ScotRail conducts an annual survey of ticketless travel. The fieldwork for the most recent survey was carried out between 9 September and 23 September 2023 and the results reported that ticketless travel was 5.9%, down from 8.8% in 2022, a reduction of 2.9%.

ScotRail also advises that it invested in a mobile revenue protection team of 42 officers in 2023 who conduct revenue protection experience across the network to ensure that passengers pay their fares. In addition, over 130 frontline roles were recruited to ensure trains and automatic ticket gates are staffed.

Question reference: S6W-24443

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the premises contracted for delivery of superfast broadband under the R100 scheme have still to be connected.

All homes and businesses across Scotland can currently access a superfast broadband service. The R100 contracts are going beyond that by extending access to gigabit-capable broadband – over 30 times faster than our original commitment.

The contracts remain on track to complete build in 2028. So far, over 36,100 of the 114,869 premises currently expected to receive R100 contract build have been connected. This means that approximately 68% of the total premises remain scheduled for build between now and 2028.

Question reference: S6W-24107

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £200 million that it committed to improve rail journey times between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 2026 has been included in the Scottish Budget for 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-23981

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when its ministers were first made aware of reported concerns raised by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency regarding aspects of the design of MV Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa in relation to escape routes.

Question reference: S6W-24441

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated in its Budget for 2024-25 for Changing Places toilets.

The Scottish Government knows that Changing Places Toilets make a real difference to disabled people and their families. We are committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets during this parliamentary term, in order to increase the provision of these fundamental facilities across Scotland.

We will look to make a new £10 million fund available across the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26. We will undertake the necessary development work, alongside key stakeholders, to open the fund by the beginning of 2025.

The draft budget for 2024-25 was announced in Scottish Parliament on 19 December 2023 and stated that the direct programme budget for Mental Health will be £290.2 million. Allocations from this budget, including for the Changing Places Toilets fund, are under consideration and will be confirmed once the budget has been approved by Parliament.

Question reference: S6F-02720

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what percentage of the premises contracted for delivery of superfast broadband under the R100 scheme have still to be connected.

Question reference: S6W-23707

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of all grants that are currently available for the installation of heat humps in private homes.

All domestic owner occupied householders in Scotland are eligible for the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, which offers householders up to £7,500 of grant funding for the installation of a heat pump or £9,000 for households which qualify for the rural uplift. Up to £7,500 is available on top of this as an optional interest free loan.

The Scottish Government also funds installation of heat pumps targeted at fuel poor households through our Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes.

Householders can find additional information about heat pumps and the funding available on the Home Energy Scotland website. www.homeenergyscotland.org

Some householders may also be able to benefit from the installation of a heat pump through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) which is a UK Government scheme delivered via energy suppliers. These improvements are provided as benefits-in-kind.

Question reference: S6W-23706

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many heat engineer apprenticeships were available in the current financial year.

Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) are funded through Skills Development Scotland (SDS) via a competitive procurement process, with contracts issued to successful bidders on an annual basis. SDS contract with a wide range of providers for the delivery of MAs including employers, independent training providers, colleges, universities, third sector, local authorities and managing agents.

SDS do not contract places at a framework level and instead contract at an Occupational Grouping level to allow for flex within the system. It is up to providers to best utilise these places based on demand.

The most relevant frameworks relating to heat engineer occupations are “Plumbing and Heating” and “Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration”. Statistics published by SDS show there were the following number of starts on each framework:

Modern Apprenticeship Framework	No. of Starts by the end of Quarter 2 2023-24	No. of Starts in 2022-23
Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration	69	104
Plumbing and Heating	156	461

It is worth noting that Modern Apprentices are employed and subject to employer recruitment patterns and processes, in the same way as other employees. Quarter 2 statistics are therefore not indicative of year-end overall number of starts.

Question reference: S6W-23331

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any meetings with the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) to discuss any alleged cases of conflict of interest in relation to SNIB employees while involved in SNIB investments in external companies.

Question reference: S6O-02932

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the total cost to date of its Building a New Scotland series of papers.