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: S5W-04378

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many qualified seafarers and maritime officers were employed on MV Helliar and MV Hildasay in each year since the start of the current time charter for these vessels.

Question reference: S5W-04380

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what payments it has made to operators of maritime freight services on the Rosyth-Zeebrugge route since December 2014.

Question reference: S5W-04383

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DFDS and Forth Ports for maritime freight services between Rosyth and Zeebrugge remains binding on all parties, and whether it will publish the MoU.

Question reference: S5W-04333

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of Brexit will be on the recruitment and retention of NHS staff in Scotland.

The impact of Brexit on the NHSScotland workforce will depend on the precise form of withdrawal from the EU. The free movement of people from the EU/EEA allows skilled and experienced health professionals to work in our NHS.

The Scottish Government is committed and fully supports the free movement of workers within the EU.

We greatly value our non-UK EU citizens and their wider contribution to our society, we will be working to see that their rights and place in our nation are protected.

Question reference: S5W-04453

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many charter agreements it has entered into for additional (a) freight and (b) passenger vessels on Northern Isles ferry routes since 1 July 1999.

Question reference: S5W-04452

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the time charters for MS (a) Helliar and (b) Hildasay since 2010.

Question reference: S5W-04450

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much was paid in public grants to Serco NorthLink Ferries in each service year of the Northern Isles ferry service contract since 5 July 2012, and how much of the public grants accounted for the aggregate Charter Portions in each service year.

The following table details the public grants to Serco NorthLink Ferries paid by the Scottish Government for the Northern Isles Ferry Service since 5 July 2012 in each contract year.

		Grant Paid
Contract Year 1	July 2012 - June 2013	£ 41,104,316
Contract Year 2	July 2013 - June 2014	£ 35,920,670
Contract Year 3	July 2014 - June 2015	£ 40,423,146
Contract Year 4	July 2015 - June 2016	£ 41,250,780

The element within the grant attributable to vessel charter is part of contractual agreements with third parties; the Royal Bank of Scotland and Seatruck. The financial arrangements within these agreements are commercially confidential matters for those companies.

Question reference: S5W-04451

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the vessel charter payments to Serco NorthLink Ferries since July 2012 was for the cost of chartering MS (a) Helliar and (b) Hildasay from Seatruck.

Question reference: S5W-04462

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd on the provision of publicly owned vessels to meet (a) passenger and (b) freight capacity requirements for Northern Isles ferry services.

A comprehensive study of the Northern Isles Ferry Services is currently being conducted. This study will inform the specification for the next contract and includes consideration of passenger and freight vessel requirements.

On 4 November Transport Scotland asked Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to conduct a search on the worldwide maritime market to assess the scale of suitable and available freight vessels. The outcome of this search will inform freight vessel options and the specification for the procurement of the next Northern Isles Ferry Services contract.

Question reference: S5W-04384

Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) port staff and (b) seafarers were employed by companies operating from Rosyth Port in each year since 2009-10.