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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1255 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-02936

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to concerns expressed by the Office of Rail and Road regarding delays, whether Transport Scotland has sufficient resources and staff to deliver the upgrades to the Highland Main Line set out in the Strategic Transport Projects Review, and when these upgrades will be completed.

Network Rail have confirmed that they are on schedule to deliver by March 2019, the Highland Mainline Improvement Project (Phase Two) incorporating journey time improvements averaging around 10 minutes, an hourly service between Inverness and Perth extended to either Glasgow or Edinburgh and also more efficient operations for freight.

Transport Scotland are fully resourced and committed to funding Network Rail to deliver the Highland Mainline Improvement Project (Phase Two) by March 2019.

Question reference: S5W-02648

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Caledonian MacBrayne regarding the appointment of a director of the community and stakeholder engagement board after 1 October 2016, and how many CalMac staff will be represented on the board.

Question reference: S5W-02650

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the age is of each operational vessel in the CalMac fleet.

Question reference: S5W-02647

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government which vessels in the CalMac fleet will be due for replacement during the period of the next contract for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services.

The Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan (VRDP) – Annual Report 2014, published in October 2015, summarises the outputs of work by Transport Scotland, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac to develop a programme of vessel retentions, cascades, acquisitions and disposals in order to deliver the Ministerial commitments set out in the 2012 Ferries Plan.

The Plan is available on the Transport Scotland website

The initial output of the VRDP was the procurement of two new major vessels by CMAL from Clyde shipbuilder Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd.

The VRDP foresaw a further 4 new major vessel procurements in the period to 2025, subject to funding availability. An updated Plan will be published shortly.

Question reference: S5W-02284

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Ministers will call in any future planning application for a golf course at Coul Links in Sutherland for their determination, and what its position is on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-02283

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had, or plans to have, with the developers of the proposed golf course at Coul Links in Sutherland, and what its position is on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-02282

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Scottish Ministers’ decision to call-in for determination consideration of, and their subsequent decision to grant, planning consent for the Trump International Golf Links Scotland development in Aberdeenshire, sets a precedent for the consideration of any future planning application at Coul Links in Sutherland, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S5W-02649

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what processes with (a) Transport Scotland and (b) Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd will CalMac will be required to go through during the period of the next contract for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services if it wants to change the method that it uses to add to and dispose of vessels.

Calmac Ferries Limited and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited as part of the new Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services Contract, due to commence on 1 October 2016, have undertaken and both signed a Fleet Charter Agreement. The Fleet Charter Agreement details the procedures of transfer and of disposal of vessels associated with the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services fleet. Any changes to the method of disposal of vessels will be carried out through mutual agreement through the Fleet Charter agreement or at the request of Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S5O-00167

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Maeshowe cairn at the Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site has been closed without consultation.

Question reference: S5W-01775

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it will seek to ensure that any change to current fishing quotas, as a result of the recent EU referendum vote, is backed up with scientific evidence.