Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-21660

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the operator of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise will be allowed to sub-contract (a) drivers, (b) conductors, (c) cleaners, (d) maintenance crews, (e) station staff and (e) other staff.

Now that the Caledonian sleeper rail franchise contract has been signed, following the voluntary standstill period, the franchisee is in the early phases of their mobilisation. The franchisee is working with the existing franchisee (First ScotRail) to ensure that a series of staff briefings are undertaken as early as possible (some current sleeper staff are sub-contracted). There are also staff interdependencies with the ScotRail franchise procurement competition, which will not be known until that procurement is concluded.

Current staff pay and conditions are protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and the Scottish Ministers have ensured that Caledonian sleeper staff shall benefit from a fully funded railway pension scheme.

Question reference: S4W-21653

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the operator of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise will be allowed to increase fares above the rate of inflation.

The Caledonian sleeper is operating in a particularly competitive market between Scotland and London competing with air, daytime rail (where low advance fares are being promoted) and overnight coach travel which is a driver for competitive fares, and the sleeper franchisee is obliged to hit patronage targets. Fares on the Caledonian sleeper are however generally unregulated and overnight ticket prices (fares) will be based on a dynamic pricing structure to adjust prices at quieter/busier times to ensure maximum patronage. The fares on the morning commuting service on the sleeper from highland communities to Inverness will continue to be regulated.

The new franchisee is aware of the Scottish Government’s policy of bearing down on rail fares and ensuring accessibility to the sleeper for all budgets.

We are already aware of ticket schemes and fares promotions the franchisee plans to put in place, and in addition they plan to use a dynamic pricing structure to adjust prices at quieter/busier times to ensure maximum patronage.

Question reference: S4O-03378

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many private educational establishments are entitled to 80% mandatory rates relief and how many are given relief of up to 100%.

Question reference: S4W-21574

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the procedure is for a harbour to be re-registered as a working harbour.

There is no procedure for the registration of working harbours.

Statutory harbours around our coasts operate under a variety of models either as harbour trusts, private or local authority operated. Each harbour is enabled and governed by its own unique legislation, which may be in the form of Acts of Parliament or orders made under the Harbours Act 1964.

Some harbours operate without having any statutory powers and may be owned by an operator or other body, such as a boat club or an individual or company. All harbours are expected to comply with the Port Marine Safety Code and may be asked to confirm compliance to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency but this does not involve a registration process.

Question reference: S4W-21459

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that chapter 2 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 should be amended to give the public interest equal weight to the public benefit.

There is no intention to amend Section 2 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 with regards to giving ‘public interest’ equal weight to ‘public benefit’.

Section 7 of Chapter 2 sets out the charity test that must be satisfied by every body on the Scottish Charity Register. The test consists of two parts: the purposes of the body must be exclusively charitable and it must provide public benefit, either in Scotland or elsewhere.

Charities in Scotland are regulated by The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). OSCR is responsible for determining charitable status in Scotland in accordance with the 2005 Act. OSCR will make their assessment of public benefit on the basis of a body’s (intended) activities and will look at whether in practice a body provides (or is likely to provide) public benefit as a result of the activities carried out in furtherance of its charitable purposes

‘Public benefit’ has far more relevance than ‘public interest’ as this demonstrates that the body is delivering benefit to the public. Therefore there is no intention make any amendment.

Question reference: S4W-21303

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless people in cases where the main applicant was aged 24 or under at time of application, had (a) spent time in a B&B at any point during the application process and (b) previously been looked after for a period, in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Table A shows the number of homelessness applications to local authorities where the main applicant was aged 24 or under at time of application and had spent time in a BandB at some point during the application process.

Table A:

Financial Year of Application

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Scotland	2,940	2,820	2,640	2,050	1,515
Aberdeen City	110	90	55	50	50
Aberdeenshire	305	310	340	275	220
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	110	90	45	10	5
Clackmannanshire	85	105	125	110	75
Dumfries and Galloway	110	115	90	65	70
Dundee City	30	10	15	0	0
East Ayrshire	20	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	45	50	60	30	20
East Lothian	140	155	160	145	85
East Renfrewshire	35	30	25	25	20
Edinburgh	450	420	425	425	320
Eilean Siar	20	15	15	20	10
Falkirk	210	155	135	30	5
Fife	145	220	235	235	240
Glasgow City	45	40	125	120	75
Highland	315	260	225	135	70
Inverclyde	30	15	30	10	0
Midlothian	45	50	40	50	35
Moray	130	140	110	5	0
North Ayrshire	10	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney	10	0	5	5	5
Perth and Kinross	120	100	45	5	0
Renfrewshire	65	60	20	45	35
Scottish Borders	40	30	15	10	5
Shetland	0	0	5	0	0
South Ayrshire	130	165	145	135	110
South Lanarkshire	60	45	20	15	10
Stirling	135	140	120	50	35
West Dunbartonshire	0	5	20	35	25
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 applications for disclosure control. The table includes all applications, regardless of their subsequent homelessness assessment decision.

Table B shows the number of homelessness applications to local authorities where the main applicant was aged 24 or under at time of application and had been previously looked after.

Table B:

Financial Year of Application

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Scotland	2,040	1,955	1,880	1,535	1,225
Aberdeen City	95	80	85	55	50
Aberdeenshire	85	65	80	100	85
Angus	35	35	50	30	20
Argyll and Bute	55	50	50	35	30
Clackmannanshire	35	40	40	30	25
Dumfries and Galloway	95	125	100	70	60
Dundee City	10	10	5	5	5
East Ayrshire	50	70	50	45	40
East Dunbartonshire	5	5	5	0	5
East Lothian	35	35	30	20	15
East Renfrewshire	10	5	5	5	10
Edinburgh	200	185	175	170	145
Eilean Siar	10	5	5	10	5
Falkirk	90	70	110	55	50
Fife	160	135	130	95	70
Glasgow City	255	230	225	165	105
Highland	135	140	115	90	45
Inverclyde	20	35	25	20	15
Midlothian	35	25	25	30	15
Moray	30	30	35	40	30
North Ayrshire	90	85	40	40	20
North Lanarkshire	80	70	80	85	70
Orkney	10	5	15	10	5
Perth and Kinross	50	55	50	40	30
Renfrewshire	35	55	50	50	55
Scottish Borders	35	35	40	35	40
Shetland	10	10	10	5	5
South Ayrshire	50	55	35	45	40
South Lanarkshire	70	70	55	55	50
Stirling	55	55	35	30	10
West Dunbartonshire	60	60	55	50	50
West Lothian	45	35	60	35	30

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five applications for disclosure control. The table includes all applications, regardless of their subsequent homelessness assessment decision.

Further information on Scottish Government homelessness statistics can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/homelessstats.

Question reference: S4W-21305

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 June 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless people, in cases where the main applicant was aged 24 or under at the time of application, who had previously been looked after for a period, had spent time in a B&B at any point during the application process, in each local authority area in each of the last five years.

Table A shows the number of homelessness applications to local authorities where:

The main applicant was aged 24 or under at time of application, the household had spent time in a BandB at some point during the application process and a household member had been previously looked after.

Table A:

Financial Year of Application

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Scotland	455	455	405	295	220
Aberdeen City	10	15	10	5	5
Aberdeenshire	60	50	55	55	55
Angus	0	0	0	0	0
Argyll and Bute	25	15	10	0	0
Clackmannanshire	10	20	20	10	15
Dumfries and Galloway	25	40	15	15	15
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	5	0	0	0	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	5	0	0	0
East Lothian	10	15	15	10	10
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh	75	70	70	65	40
Eilean Siar	0	0	0	5	0
Falkirk	25	20	35	5	0
Fife	30	30	20	20	25
Glasgow City	5	10	20	10	5
Highland	55	50	45	25	5
Inverclyde	5	0	5	0	0
Midlothian	5	5	0	5	0
Moray	15	15	20	0	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Perth and Kinross	15	15	5	0	0
Renfrewshire	5	5	5	10	15
Scottish Borders	5	5	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
South Ayrshire	30	25	20	20	20
South Lanarkshire	10	10	0	5	0
Stirling	30	35	20	10	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	5	10	5
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five applications for disclosure control. The table includes all applications, regardless of their subsequent homelessness assessment decision.

Further information on Scottish Government homelessness statistics can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/homelessstats.

Question reference: S4W-20349

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on communities in Scotland, what discussions it has had with the UK Government about Home Office immigration compliance and enforcement teams that operate in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-20639

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many road accidents resulting in serious injury there have been on the A82 between (a) Onich and Fort William, (b) Fort William and Spean Bridge, (c) Spean Bridge and Fort Augustus and (d) Fort Augustus and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Transport Scotland collates information on reported personal injury accidents on trunk roads in Scotland and this database is updated periodically, as data provided by the police is checked and verified. The following table shows the number of serious accidents on the A82 between Onich and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Serious accidents on the A82 by year

	Onich- Fort William	Fort William- Spean Bridge	Spean Bridge- Fort Augustus	Fort Augustus- Inverness
2009	0	1	2	1
2010	1	1	0	2
2011	0	0	1	3
2012	1	1	1	5
2013*	1	0	0	4

*data is accurate to November 2013

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere due to being extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections.

Question reference: S4W-20635

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2014
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 22 April 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how many fatal road accidents there have been on the A82 between (a) Onich and Fort William, (b) Fort William and Spean Bridge, (c) Spean Bridge and Fort Augustus and (d) Fort Augustus and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Transport Scotland collates information on reported personal injury accidents on trunk roads in Scotland and this database is updated periodically, as data provided by the police is checked and verified. The following table shows the number of fatal accidents on the A82 between Onich and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Fatal accidents on the A82 by year

	Onich- Fort William	Fort William- Spean Bridge	Spean Bridge- Fort Augustus	Fort Augustus- Inverness
2009	0	1	2	0
2010	0	0	1	2
2011	0	0	0	1
2012	0	1	0	1
2013*	0	2	0	2

*data is accurate to November 2013

The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere due to being extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections.

Chamber and committees