The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S5W-08042

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the responses to its consultation on a draft referendum bill.

Question reference: S5W-07829

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 15 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidental house fires there have been in each of the last five years in the (a) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency and (b) South Scotland region; how many of these fires were caused by electricity, and what steps it is taking to reduce the number of such fires.

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, broken down by local authority, however this data is not broken down into specific causes.

These statistics are available on SFRS’s website, and can be found at this link http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx

The SFRS has a statutory duty to promote fire safety across Scotland. In the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to contribute fully to improving the safety and well-being of Scotland’s communities and to ensure that there is a clear process for working with partners to identify the risks faced by communities and individuals so that activity can be targeted using a risk-based approach.

The SFRS considers how best to reduce dwelling fires, including those caused by electricity, what the focus of its preventative action will be, and with which partner organisations it will work to achieve this.

In addition to a programme of fire safety awareness campaigns and community safety engagement events, the SFRS carried out 71,743 Home Fire Safety Visits in 2015-16. The SFRS website also carries safety information for householders on a range of issues, including home appliances and electrical safety.

Question reference: S5W-06748

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 22 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to upgrade the A1 by dualling the single carriageway sections.

The Programme for Government sets out our commitment to examine the case for an extension of the Borders Railway along with improvements to the A1, A7 and A68. The Borders Transport Corridors Pre-Appraisal Study, led by Transport Scotland, will take forward that commitment by considering how we improve accessibility in the Borders and link communities to key markets through strategic transport routes, and identify where improvements to transport links are required.

This study will result in a range of options for improving transport that can be considered as part of the national review of the Strategic Transport Projects Review which will be undertaken in parallel with the National Transport Strategy.

Question reference: S5O-00647

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time staff the new enterprise agency for the south of Scotland will have, and whether it will have an office and be overseen by its own board in that region.

Question reference: S5W-05730

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 16 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of summary criminal cases were dealt with from caution and charge to verdict within the 26 week target in each sheriff court in month since April 2015.

Question reference: S5W-05016

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider introducing business rates relief for local newspapers.

Question reference: S5W-05017

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to promote and support local newspapers.

Local newspapers and magazines are at the heart of communities throughout Scotland and are a vital element of our democracy. They reflect a unique and important perspective on local issues that the national press often cannot represent.

The Scottish Government supports the health of the industry in a number of ways. Some local publications can access the Small Business Bonus Scheme. This removes or reduces rates for more than 100,000 properties and will be expanded from 2017 to lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. The Scottish Government and public bodies also use local media, including newspapers, to promote initiatives such as public health campaigns.

Question reference: S5W-05221

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on trunk road improvements in each year since 2007, broken down by (a) road and (b) local authority area.

We are committed to the largest road investment programme that Scotland has ever seen. By the end of this financial year (2016-17), we will have spent over £8 billion on our Motorways and Trunk Road Network since 2007, to ensure the strategic road network is safe, available for use, efficient, well maintained and allows effective movement of people, goods and services around and to and from Scotland.

On-Going Schemes

Since 2007, the Scottish Government has invested in a number of major roads projects, including:

Project	Investment	Main Local Authority
Forth Replacement Crossing	£1.325 to £1.35 billion	Fife, City of Edinburgh and West Lothian
Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty	£745 million	Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire
M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project	£500 million	North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow City
A9 Dualling	£3 billion	Perth and Kinross and Highlands and Islands
A96 Dualling	£3 billion	Highland, Moray, Aberdeenshire & Aberdeen City
A737 Dalry Bypass	£34 – 38 million	North Ayrshire

In addition, the Scottish Government continues to progress the design and development of a number of schemes including the A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement (Aberdeenshire) and the A90/A96 Haudagain Junction Improvement (Aberdeen City).

A breakdown by road and local authority area is not possible for incomplete schemes as some of the investments are of a national nature (e.g. Forth Replacement Crossing) and others span a number of local authority areas. However, analysis of spend by year, since 2007-08 can be seen in the following table.

Year	Annual Motorways And Trunk Road Budget
2007-08	£895.1m
2008-09	£929.6m
2009-10	£1,081.6m
2010-11	£1,167.5m
2011-12	£553.9m
2012-13	£651.7m
2013-14	£711.8m
2014-15	£677.7m
2015-16	£734.4m
Sub Total 2007-08 to 2015-16	£7,403.3m
2016-09-2717 Draft Budget Note 1	£820.3m
TOTAL	£8,223.6m

Figures from 2011-12 onwards exclude Cost of Capital which was abolished. Cost of Capital Figures from 2007-08 to 2010-11 are £517.8m, £546.5m, £595.5m and £649.1m respectively.
[1] Figures taken from respective January Scottish Budget Bills.

Completed Schemes

Scheme	Contract Value	Main Local Authority
A75 Overtaking Opportunities (Including A75 Newton Stewart, A75 Planting End to Drumflower, A75 Barfil to Bettyknowes)	£9.2m (A75 Overtaking Opportunities)	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A9 Ballinluig	£12.5m	Perth and Kinross Council
A9 Helmsdale	£5.5m	The Highland Council
A68 Dalkeith Bypass	£30m	Midlothian Council
A876 Clackmannanshire Bridge	£101.5m	Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Fife Councils
A77 Haggstone and Glen App	£18.7m	South Ayrshire Council
A76 Glenairlie	£4.9m	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A830 Arisaig to Loch nan Uamh	£22.8m	The Highland Council
A7 Auchenrivock	£7.4m	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A9 Bankfoot	£2.7m	Perth and Kinross Council
A75 Cairntop to Barlae	£6.4m	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A77 Park End to Bennane	£5.5m	South Ayrshire Council
M80 Stepps to Haggs	£320m	North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Glasgow City
M74 Completion	£445m	Glasgow City, East Renfrewshire
A9 Crubenmore	£10.39m	The Highland Council
A96 Fochabers to Mosstodloch	£31.5m	Moray Council
A75 Hardgrove to Kinmount	£8.97m	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A77 Symington to Bogend Toll	£10.6m	South Ayrshire Council
A82 Pulpit Rock	£9.2m	Argyll and Bute Council
A82 Crianlarich Bypass	£5m	Stirling Council, Argyll and Bute Council
A75 Dunragit Bypass	£17.1m	Dumfries and Galloway Council
A96 Inveramsay Bridge	£10.2m	Aberdeenshire

The expenditure on minor improvement and strategic road safety schemes can be broken down as follows.

Route	2007-08 £	2008-09 £	2009-10 £	2010-11 £	2011-12 £
A1	417,180	244,699	356,671	578,224	320,367
A6091	7,274	20,608	56,325	178,994	22,446
A68	172,928	461,839	765,063	253,526	326,825
A7	93,603	233,368	1,455,321	(52,548)	285,648
A701	2,710	66,476	65,387	16,426	72,789
A702	501,577	930,743	523,455	425,011	240,561
A720	164,661	191,405	46,181	19,304	94,083
A725	204,975	327,968	348,880	(6,487)	283,845
A726	7,062	7,686	15,089	451	11,416
A737	1,910,606	601,174	202,296	202,262	336,356
A738	2,160	9,314	10,681	338	1,154
A75	195,538	460,907	439,324	224,439	530,928
A751	1,798	5,974	3,133	610	1,732
A76	376,155	482,125	813,433	159,101	363,201
A77	464,448	881,279	843,321	224,387	470,612
A78	113,130	214,197	349,377	593,839	208,251
A8	16,382	75,406	315,842	41,695	108,933
A80	17,445	223	0	0	0
A82	1,076,510	1,657,427	1,982,955	708,440	761,714
A823	0	0	139,643	3,255	(22,805)
A828	91,690	52,488	52,097	58,588	204,276
A83	267,786	368,935	1,126,526	878,501	381,940
A830	20,436	54,517	316,324	198,536	102,212
A835	59,020	115,453	65,046	65,369	249,832
A84	98,912	74,190	99,638	42,022	29,176
A85	543,514	376,001	455,036	283,639	393,569
A86	23,691	16,644	219,300	137,331	591,513
A87	160,505	88,815	711,235	436,521	299,324
A876	5,178	6,976	8,068	(2,587)	1,378
A887	5,162	8,213	17,437	20,203	16,576
A889	2,766	4,490	11,975	21,113	27,070
A893	0	0	0	0	0
A898	144,064	31,460	300,232	(15,305)	652
A9	2,056,060	3,168,365	9,367,829	3,725,888	1,183,689
A90	1,327,287	1,745,544	758,597	375,859	1,918,883
A92	819,131	896,706	305,169	667,788	210,932
A95	392,560	617,448	916,424	754,613	400,568
A96	1,344,694	67,353	660,527	347,352	334,544
A972	15,992	(2,468)	(2,989)	998	865
A977	7,999	13,189	4,907	(2,006)	19,233
A985	59,408	113,466	56,170	(2,024)	6,120
A99	50,573	107,572	21,786	21,236	17,656
M73	61,500	34,526	23,779	141	35,452
M74	(28,854)	108,540	62,818	14,396	107,735
M77	13,921	34,669	24,232	3,111	12,197
M8	218,974	498,378	2,103,166	1,326,459	634,014
M80	16,680	31,382	26,114	7,099	49,248
M823	1,677	3,263	4,153	(1,697)	33
M876	29,628	15,509	160,363	36,266	150,156
M898	1,534	4,262	2,599	14,382	1,142
M9	59,696	238,302	69,202	50,429	33,582
M90	141,346	286,606	129,466	64,144	65,952
Total	13,758,672	16,053,612	26,809,603	13,099,632	11,897,575

Route	2012-13 £	2013-14 £	2014-15 £	2015-16 £	2016-17 £
A1	195,022	145,945	78,837	517,083	126,532
A6091	(239)	4,877	856	9,418	4,930
A68	306,557	429,548	105,286	170,129	571,650
A7	184,724	225,023	234,767	223,698	253,678
A701	23,604	69,056	84,465	29,842	97,139
A702	131,220	97,411	79,537	321,095	123,470
A720	183,045	371,400	191,196	22,071	37,936
A725	33,843	16,686	14,352	20,351	2,238
A726	12,431	3,711	14,467	625	401
A737	161,972	41,493	114,420	55,897	88,656
A738	1,568	584	80	481	308
A75	668,400	136,854	199,080	344,313	267,977
A751	1,710	804	110	662	424
A76	525,402	93,060	24,993	81,732	64,896
A77	125,713	124,924	303,972	320,894	399,920
A78	141,809	132,528	136,530	144,172	50,202
A8	68,307	26,058	42,158	170,451	121,684
A80	0	0	0	0	0
A82	1,089,031	692,893	1,384,152	1,678,374	711,839
A823	0	0	0	0	0
A828	132,264	11,780	20,425	68,766	19,783
A83	5,058,159	3,557,497	6,528,576	3,056,261	398,883
A830	187,714	17,436	31,822	158,162	12,292
A835	84,745	128,483	119,402	38,900	93,143
A84	299,467	80,597	171,514	102,483	2,918
A85	360,739	55,213	100,870	168,143	116,061
A86	199,569	100,655	32,435	32,169	3,389
A87	353,023	83,545	356,347	194,039	116,175
A876	2,864	17,922	4,413	14,778	3,970
A887	25,665	7,470	2,880	8,338	339
A889	17,365	540	4,070	8,648	8,146
A893	0	14	44	68	5
A898	3,119	1,582	217	2,431	836
A9	764,215	1,180,687	1,607,440	510,675	322,499
A90	1,233,306	490,798	248,221	408,478	316,756
A92	183,664	372,887	374,035	280,175	224,679
A95	38,700	62,712	39,555	29,647	44,643
A96	182,030	208,932	123,991	112,805	109,424
A972	434	11,896	318	128	4,998
A977	1,535	3,188	504	575	1,300
A985	114,401	80,825	125,102	17,837	10,206
A99	25,469	21,307	64,341	109,647	343
M73	(1,258)	282	39	0	0
M74	141,924	27,356	2,891	102,314	37,933
M77	29,450	5,345	733	11,021	2,821
M8	136,036	303,443	194,896	1,163,599	1,399,804
M80	84,915	41,349	852	59,432	4,517
M823	1,455	8,043	5,966	0	0
M876	36,668	45,929	20,020	49,452	32,830
M898	2,504	674	93	555	356
M9	189,154	112,124	234,943	357,950	24,387
M90	132,647	34,136	264,282	89,411	11,627
Total	13,876,061	9,687,502	13,690,495	11,268,175	6,248,943

It is not possible to allocate this expenditure across local authority areas because most of the routes pass through several of them.

Question reference: S5W-04891

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the number of staff employed in communications, media and marketing roles in (a) the Scottish Government and (b) public bodies under its direction.

Question reference: S5W-04890

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 December 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in communications, media and marketing roles in (a) its directorates and (b) other public bodies under its direction.

Chamber and committees

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Question reference: S5W-08042

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