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-25465

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 19 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) deaths, (b) serious injuries and (c) minor injuries there have been each year since 1999 in incidents that involved (i) whisky road tankers, (ii) HGVs on the A9 between Perth and Inverness and (iii) freight trains on the main line between Perth and Inverness, and what information it has on casualty rate per tonne-mile for (A) HGVs and (B) freight trains.

The number of accidents involving whisky road tankers is not available as they cannot be identified separately from other HGVs in the information obtained from Police Scotland regarding road accidents via the STATS 19 data collection system.

Accident data involving freight trains on the main line between Perth and Inverness is not held centrally. However, general information about the overall number of railway accidents can be found in tables 7.18 and 7.19 of the publication Scottish Transport Statistics which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre library (Bib. number 56731) and on the Transport Scotland website at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/statistics/j357783-10.htm#tb7_18

Information about casualty rates per tonne-mile is only available for HGVs. In 2013 there were 0.014 casualties involving HGVs per million tonne-miles across Scotland (source: Road Freight Statistics, Department for Transport and Reported Road Casualties Scotland, Transport Scotland).

The following table shows the number of casualties involved in accidents which involved at least one heavy goods vehicle on the A9 between Perth and Inverness, by casualty severity.

Year	Fatalities	Seriously Injured	Slightly Injured	Total
1999	1	6	6	13
2000	1	5	6	12
2001	7	6	10	23
2002	1	3	12	16
2003	2	7	14	23
2004	1	5	7	13
2005	0	7	23	30
2006	3	7	7	17
2007	2	4	13	19
2008	1	1	9	11
2009	1	8	18	27
2010	3	9	43	55
2011	2	3	16	21
2012	3	8	9	20
2013	1	2	8	11
Total	29	81	201	311

Source: Transport Scotland strategic road safety accident database

Question reference: S4W-25421

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the extra commuter trains between Inverness and Elgin, which were discussed at the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership board meeting of 10 April 2015, will become operational; what times of day they will operate, and how it will ensure that there will be sufficient (a) train sets available and (b) spare capacity retained at Inverness as contingency cover for breakdowns.

Question reference: S4W-25422

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much double-tracking between Inverness and Nairn, as set in August 2014 in the document, Aberdeen to Inverness Rail Improvements Project GRIP 3 – Phase 1 Enhancements, is to be provided; where it will be laid, and what the timescale is for the work.

Infrastructure improvements for the Aberdeen to Inverness Improvements project, including some double tracking between Inverness and Nairn, will be prioritised for delivery in the next phase of the project (during Control Period 6 2019-24). I can confirm that the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to delivering significant journey time improvements and greater connectivity on the Inverness to Aberdeen corridor, including enhancing services between Inverness and Elgin.

Question reference: S4W-24731

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in light of reports of a reduction in the profile of the Gaelic language on the MV Loch Seaforth.

Question reference: S4W-24729

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has carried out of the effectiveness of its Gaelic language plan; when it will next carry out an evaluation, and who it will consult on this.

In 2013 Bòrd na Gidhlig commissioned FE Scott to carry out an independent study on the delivery of the commitments contained in a number of Gaelic language plans including the Scottish Government. This study found that the Scottish Government was indeed meeting its commitments.

In addition, there is an annual evaluation exercise to Bòrd na Gidhlig carried out by all public bodies that have produced a Gaelic language plan in Scotland. The Scottish Government last reported on progress with the commitments in our plan in September 2014.

Question reference: S4W-24693

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that mountain rescue services remain properly funded.

The Scottish Government provides annual grant funding to Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) of £312,000, to distribute to the 27 voluntary teams across Scotland, and is the only government in the UK to do so. The Scottish Government has taken steps to develop a good working relationship with SMR and assists further, financially, if it is able to meet any additional requests. SMR are grateful for the continued financial support, acknowledging that it goes some way to meeting the cost of delivering Scotland’s world class mountain rescue service.

Question reference: S4W-24728

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it can direct its regulated public bodies to follow its policies.

Question reference: S4W-24692

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 27 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 10 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times each of the four weekday trains from Wick was cancelled for all or part of its journey due to (a) track problems including signalling and (b) congestion on the line due to other trains being late in the period from July to December 2014.

There were 13 full or part cancellations reported for the six months 1 July to 31 December 2014 for trains from Wick to Inverness, for the reasons cited in the question. The reported reasons include:

Reason	Number of full or part cancellations
Track defects	1
Power supply failure	2
Other network issue (no further information available)	1
Leaf contamination of railhead	1
Level crossing failures	2
Points failures	1
Radio/telecoms systems	4
Token systems	1

No full or part cancellations were reported because of congestion on the line due to other trains being late.

Question reference: S4W-24590

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will issue the invitation to tender (ITT) for the 2016 to 2024 contract for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services and whether it will consult potential bidders on the contractual specifications prior to publication of the ITT.

Question reference: S4W-24594

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to start the competitive procedure with negotiation procurement process with bidders for the 2016 to 2024 contract for Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services and to what extent this process will inform (a) passenger service, (b) employment and (c) pension specifications in the invitation to tender for this contract.

The answer to question S4W-24448 on 17 February 2015 announced the start of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services procurement process. The invitation to tender is due to issue in June 2015. This will confirm the specification for services being tendered and will include employment and pensions specifications and conditions to the extent legally permissible. This part of the specification will not be negotiable under the competitive procedure with negotiation procurement process.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx