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-08043

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 29 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity on 19 January 2017 (Official Report, c. 104) that "we will therefore heed the call in the Lib Dem amendment" to establish a review group to develop options for agricultural support beyond 2020, what organisations it plans to invite to participate in the group.

The Scottish Government is currently working up proposals for an external group to provide advice on future agricultural support, including how this new group should fit with the work being taken forward by the four Agriculture Champions - Education and Training Champion Henry Graham; Food and Drink Champion Archie Gibson; Sustainability Champion John Kinnaird; and Public Value Champion Marion MacCormick. Members will be updated in due course.

Question reference: S5O-00846

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 29 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many former North Sea oil and gas workers have retrained as teachers through the Transition Training Fund and subsequently found employment in teaching, and how much has been spent delivering the scheme.

Out of an initial 20 former oil and gas workers recruited to the programme, a total of 12 are progressing with training as teachers through the Transition Training Fund with 8 having left the programme for a variety of reasons such as medical grounds and academic or career development reasons. The Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) Internship Programme allows for the 12 individuals we anticipate will complete the programme to be employed by either Aberdeen City Council or Aberdeenshire Council while they train with the University of Aberdeen and we expect the total cost of the programme to be around £300,000.

Question reference: S5W-07322

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S5W-06536 by Derek Mackay on 8 February 2017, when it will provide a full response.

Question reference: S5W-07626

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects the system for delivery of common agricultural policy payments, including basic farm payments, to return to normal in 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-07627

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours overtime have been accrued by staff working on common agricultural policy payments in each of the last three months, and how much this has cost.

The total hours overtime claimed by staff working on common agricultural policy payments during the period November 2016 to January 2017 is 1,335 hours. It has not been possible to breakdown this total by each month during the period due to the time and resource required to extract this information from the SG HR overtime system within the timescale provided.

The total overtime payments information has been extracted from the payroll system where we can break down payments into monthly totals. Payments made to staff working on common agricultural policy payments during the period November 2016 to January 2017 are as follows:

November 2016 £15,219

December 2016 £11,877

January 2017 £8,123

Total £35,219

Question reference: S5W-07612

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles it expects will use the (a) Forth Replacement Crossing and (b) Forth Road Bridge in the 12 months after the new crossing opens, and how this compares with the current levels on the road bridge.

Generally traffic volumes across the Forth Road Bridge have remained flat in the period since 2008. The latest Forth Replacement Crossing annual traffic monitoring report for the Forth Road Bridge for the period 2015-16 indicates a daily average of 67,500 vehicles. On opening, the Forth Replacement Crossing will then be used by all this traffic apart from those vehicles entitled to use the Forth Road Bridge, buses, taxis, motorcycles up to 125cc. Usage will be monitored when the Managed Crossing Strategy comes into operation.

Question reference: S5W-07605

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected (a) northbound and (b) southbound journey time on the (i) Forth Replacement Crossing and (ii) Forth Road Bridge will be in the 12 months after the new crossing opens, and how this compares with the current times on the road bridge.

Current journey times vary considerably depending on the particular time, day and month considered and are reported in the annual Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC) project traffic monitoring reports published on the FRC website. They are influenced by the congestion caused by the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) itself and by the current traffic management arrangements associated with the Queensferry Crossing construction.

Post opening journey times will be measured as part of the before and after monitoring of the project. These will be influenced by the traffic volume, the new road geometry, junction layouts and hardshoulders and the operation of the variable speed limit system throughout the new bridge and connecting road corridor.

It should be noted that the Queensferry Crossing will generally operate at the 70mph national speed limit as opposed to the current 40mph limit on the FRB. Additionally, the wind shielding installed on the Queensferry Crossing will also provide greater resilience and offer journey time reliability benefits

As detailed in paragraph 25 of the Policy Memorandum relating to the Forth Crossing Bill dated 16 November 2009 “The proposed scheme will improve the management of traffic, provide greater flexibility for routine maintenance works, permit incidents and accidents to be addressed without the consequential traffic disruption currently experienced and allow the traffic to travel more safely and smoothly. The scheme, however, will not provide a step change in the capacity of the route; increased travel demand for movement across the Forth will need to be met by improved public transport.

Question reference: S5W-07596

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of each significant incident that has had an impact on construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.

In April / May 2016 Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) undertook a detailed analysis of the overall impact of wind on the project to date and the effect this has had on the remaining works. Despite the mitigation measures they had implemented, unfavourable wind speeds meant that by May 2016, it became clear to FCBC that further mitigation would no longer achieve the December 2016 opening. FCBC therefore revised their target opening date to May 2017 (in advance of the contractual completion date, June 2017) - subject to weather. In the period from June 2016 up to the end of February 2017 the Contractor, FCBC, has reported a total of 37% of working days with some activities affected by the weather, principally wind. This information has formed part of the regular updates that the project team has provided to Committees of the Parliament throughout the construction period of the project.

Question reference: S5W-07624

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the national coverage of superfast broadband (a) is and (b) has been in each of the last five years.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2016 indicates that speeds of 30 Mbps or above are now available to 83% of premises in Scotland. Superfast broadband coverage for Scotland in each of the last five years is as follows:

2016 – 83%

2015 - 73%

2014 – 61%

2013 – 52%

2012 – 45%

(Source – Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2016 and 2015; Ofcom’s Infrastructure Report 2014, 2013 and 2012. The 2012 and 2013 figures provide Next Generation Access coverage which is a close approximation to superfast coverage - link to Ofcom webpage that lists all Connected Nations and Infrastructure Reports) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/infrastructure-research/infrastructure

Question reference: S5W-07594

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of each of the (a) modifications to the initial plans and (b) alternative measures that have been introduced during the construction period of the Forth Replacement Crossing, also broken down by the impact of each change on the cost of the project.

The Forth Replacement Crossing has been constructed in accordance with the Forth Crossing Act 2011 without amendment or modification. When complete, it will improve the management of traffic, provide greater flexibility for routine maintenance works, permit incidents and accidents to be addressed without the consequential traffic disruption currently experienced and allow the traffic to travel more safely and smoothly. Additionally, the wind shielding installed on the Queensferry Crossing will also provide greater resilience and offer journey time reliability benefits.