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: S5O-00710

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent update report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland on call handling in Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-06858

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, when the contract was formally agreed between it and the contractor for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR); for how many years it was agreed that it would make unitary charge payments to the contractor, and what the value was of these payments in each year.

The Non-Profit Distributing contract for the AWPR was awarded to Aberdeen Roads Limited in December 2014. Like many projects of this nature, the contract has a 30 year concession period.

The value of the payments are not fixed values but are calculated monthly on the basis of road availability and service performance. A proportion of the unitary charge payments are also subject to indexation.

Question reference: S5W-06859

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been any changes made to the (a) value of unitary charge payments and (b) number of years that they will be paid since these weref ormally agreed in its contract with the contractor for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) and, if so, what the (i) payment timetable now is and (ii) value is of the unitary charge payments that it will now make each year.

Question reference: S5O-00686

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to make EU environmental regulations enforceable after the UK leaves the EU.

The Scottish Government’s paper 'Scotland's Place in Europe' sets out our view that full membership of the European single market is the best outcome not just for Scotland but for the whole of the UK. We have set out proposals for staying in the single market even if the rest of the UK chooses to leave. The importance of the single market is recognised by the Scottish Parliament which voted by a clear majority on 17 January 2017 for Scotland’s place in the single market to be protected.

We believe this can be best achieved through membership to the European Economic Area (EEA). This would require on-going compliance with many existing EU environmental protections, which would be enforced through the European Free Trade Agreement structures under the EEA Agreement.

Question reference: S5W-06286

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the (a) draft and (b) final invitations to tender for the next contract for Northern Isles ferry services.

Question reference: S5W-06288

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the collective bargaining agreements covering (a) rating and (b) officer grades apply to all vessels (i) owned, (ii) leased and (iii) chartered will be part of the next contract for Northern Isles ferry services.

In my statement to Parliament on 2 February 2017 I indicated that a policy review would be undertaken to consider how we secure our essential lifeline ferry services in future. The review will consider a wide range of issues, including how best to secure the continued provision of our Northern Isles ferry services.

Previous ferry service procurement exercises have made details of existing Collective Bargaining Arrangements available to tender participants. The tender process has also required the participants to provide proposals to demonstrate their commitment to being a best practice employer in the delivery of the contract. It is our intention to put in place similar arrangements in any future procurements.

Question reference: S5W-06284

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the crew of the Helliar and Hildasay vessels will be directly employed by Serco NorthLink under the terms of the revised charter agreement that was announced on 12 January 2017.

Question reference: S5W-06281

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when the negotiations between Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and Seatruck Ferries for the bareboat charter agreement for the Helliar and Hildasay vessels commenced, and by what date (a) they will conclude and (b) the agreement will enter into effect.

The Scottish Government has been seeking to resolve the issue of pay rates for staff on the vessels since 2014 when the matter was first highlighted. Since then both myself, and previously Keith Brown, have written regarding the National Minimum Wage issue to the UK Minister for State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for the maritime sector. In addition Transport Scotland has had a number of meetings and exchanges with Seatruck Ferries Limited over this period to try and satisfactorily resolve this issue.

More recently, on 10 November 2016 I met with the Managing Director of Seatruck Ferries Limited to discuss crew pay rates on the freighters leased to Serco Northlink Ferries to operate the Northern Isles Ferry Service.

Following this constructive meeting Transport Scotland and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited were tasked with working with Seatruck Ferries Limited to put in place a bareboat charter agreement for the MV Helliar and MV Hildasay in order to facilitate resolution of the issue.

The bareboat charter was signed by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited and Seatruck Ferries Limited on 7 January 2017. It is anticipated that the transfer of the lease will occur in February 2017, once both vessels have been fully surveyed and all financial and regulatory checks have been concluded.

Question reference: S5W-06285

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd has had with maritime crewing agencies regarding the bareboat charter agreement for the Helliar and Hildasay vessels that is due to come into effect in February 2017.

Question reference: S5W-06283

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that the collective bargaining agreement between the RMT and Serco NorthLink for seafarer ratings applies to all staff on chartered vessels on the Northern Isles ferry services.