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: S6W-05695

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria and factors were taken into consideration when appointing the Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Rail Holdings.

Question reference: S6W-05698

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual salary is for the role of Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway.

The Managing Director of Scotland’s Railway is an employee of Network Rail, which is owned by the UK Government. His salary may be found in line 175 of the ‘Senior Officials high earners salaries as at 30 September 2020’ spreadsheet contained in the HM Government website and can be accessed via the following link:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/senior-officials-high-earners-salaries

Question reference: S6W-05699

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria and factors were taken into consideration during the recruitment process for the new Chief Operating Officer of ScotRail.

Question reference: S6O-00703

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve bus services in the west of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-05586

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual staffing numbers for Transport Scotland have been in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) full-time equivalent positions, (b) head count and (c) seasonal workers.

Transport Scotland Staff Numbers Since 2011
Year	(a) FTE	(b) Head Count	(c)Seasonal Worker
2011	*	403	0
2012	*	382	0
2013	*	380	0
2014	*	401	0
2015	*	404	0
2016	375.7	389	0
2017	379.8	394	0
2018	385.8	398	0
2019	427.5	443	0
2020	462.2	479	0
2021	482	497	0

Please see information in regards to reference S6W-05586 . Attached is the figures as requested since 2011 and broken down by (A) FTE (B) Headcount and (C) Seasonal workers. Transport Scotland as an organisation do not have Seasonal Workers and this is the reason for the nil response. Please note , in relation to the Q for (A) FTE, we can only provide FTE figures for the period 2016-2021. FTE figures prior to 2016 are not available, hence why the “ * ” response shows in some parts of that section. This is due to the way that FTE information was collated at that time, as it has been cleansed as per our data retention policy.

Question reference: S6W-05583

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual staffing numbers for CalMac have been in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) full-time equivalent positions, (b) head count and (c) seasonal workers.

Question reference: S6W-05585

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual staffing numbers for ScotRail have been in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) full-time equivalent positions, (b) head count and (c) seasonal workers.

Question reference: S6W-05363

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the offer by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, during General Question Time on 18 November 2021, to visit the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, when he plans to do so.

On 18 November, I confirmed with Mr Bibby that I will visit the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley when it is the appropriate time to do so. This continues to be my intention.

Ministerial visits are being carefully considered at present in light of the implications for Health and Social Care services from the Omicron variant. I continue to maintain strong communication with Trade Union representatives and Health Boards to understand the experiences of our Frontline Health and Social Care staff.

Question reference: S6W-05584

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual staffing numbers for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd have been in each year since 2011, broken down by (a) full-time equivalent positions, (b) head count and (c) seasonal workers.

In response to the three questions regarding staffing number (a) Full-time equivalent (b) headcount (C) Seasonal workers at Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd I can confirm as follows.

BASELINE LIST - bodies	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd FTE (a)	13	14.53	17.5	21.8	20.8	22.4	25.6	27.6	28.6	33.08	37
Headcount (b)	13	15	18	22	21	23	26	28	29	34	39

In regards to question (C) they have confirmed that have never employed any seasonal workers.

CMAL, advise resource numbers have increased annually as additional roles and responsibilities have been taken on across this period. This has been in part due to covering the full Repair & Maintenance for the 26 ports and an increase to the fleet size to include all 5 lifeline service vessels for the Northern Isles.

Question reference: S6W-05589

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will simplify rail ticketing for end-to-end journeys under the new ScotRail operator and, if so, what steps it will take to achieve this.

Our priority is for a seamless transition for passengers and staff throughout the transition to ScotRail Trains Ltd from 1 April and during the business’ first year of operation. We have empowered ScotRail to review its range of fares offerings to respond to changing travel behaviours due to the impacts of the Covid pandemic, and as part of this work to seek to simplify fares where possible as part of an improved service to passengers.

In addition, the Fair Fares Review, which is currently in its planning stages, is being undertaken by Transport Scotland to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares in the future.