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: S4W-12583

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been changes to the original timescale for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Question reference: S4W-12584

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce whether it has secured the funding for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route under the non-profit distributing funding mechanism.

Question reference: S4W-12574

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) fatal and (b) serious road accidents heavy goods vehicles have been involved in in the North East Scotland parliamentary region, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-12575

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions there have been in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4T-00236

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in delivering infrastructure projects.

Question reference: S4O-01761

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the issue of blacklisting.

Question reference: S4W-11898

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it checks how much corporation tax is paid by companies that are awarded public sector contracts.

No, however the Scottish Government’s standard Pre-Qualification Questionnaire requires companies bidding for public contracts to disclose if they have failed to comply with their statutory obligations relating to the payments of taxes. Companies which have not fulfilled their obligations relating to the payment of taxes under the law of the United Kingdom or in the relevant state in which the company is established may be excluded from bidding for public contracts.

Question reference: S4W-12075

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that the machinery of negotiation between Serco NorthLink and the maritime trade unions is honoured in respect of (a) proposed redundancies and (b) the terms and conditions of employment of staff remaining in position but working in areas of the business affected by job losses.

It is correctly a matter for Serco NorthLink and the relevant trade unions to establish procedural arrangements by which they can negotiate over matters of mutual interest.

I am aware that Serco was involved in close negotiation with the RMT and Nautilus over recent changes to crewing levels on the Northern Isles vessels and that this resulted in the achievement of staff reductions without any compulsory redundancies.

Question reference: S4W-12073

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the savings that Serco NorthLink expects to make from the plan to reduce the number of staff working on Northern Isles ferry services.

Serco’s bid for the Northern Isles ferry services tender included detail of their proposals for crewing levels following the introduction of variable passenger muster models. The company’s bid was fully examined by the tender evaluation panel and their proposals were reflected in their price.

Transport Scotland monitors the operation of the Northern Isles ferry services contract, including the financial aspects, on an ongoing basis to ensure that Serco is fulfilling its obligations under the terms of the contract.

Question reference: S4W-12084

Asked by: Richard Baker, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 January 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 January 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it has had with the UK Government regarding any safety implications of Serco NorthLink’s plans to reduce staffing levels on ferry services to the Northern Isles.

Year	Fatal	Serious
2007	5	16
2008	5	24
2009	4	14
2010	6	25
2011	1	21

Year	Aberdeen	Aberdeenshire
2007	392	631
2008	512	692
2009	445	687
2010	350	598
2011	362	518