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: S5W-01089

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the projected profit that Abellio expects to make (a) each year and (b) in total from the ScotRail franchise agreement, and whether a (i) minimum and (ii) maximum level has been set under the terms of the agreement.

Due to commercial confidentiality these values cannot be currently disclosed. Earnings before income tax information is disclosed within the published ScotRail Annual Report and Accounts at Companies House. The financial year 2015-16 latest lodging date is 30 September 2016.

Schedule 8.1 (Section 3) of the franchise agreement details the Revenue Share Adjustment, which limits the proportion of annual revenue above target ScotRail can retain to no more than 50%. A redacted copy of the franchise agreement can be found on Transport Scotland’s website:

http://www.transport.gov.scot/rail/scotrail-franchise/public-register

Question reference: S5W-01082

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much it costs ScotRail to use (a) a conductor and (b) another staff member as the second member of on-board staff.

Question reference: S5W-01083

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place to ensure that Abellio meets the terms of the ScotRail franchise agreement; how often it meets the company to discuss the delivery of the agreement, and whether it will publish the delivery plan.

Question reference: S5W-01087

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much subsidy Abellio receives annually under the ScotRail franchise agreement, and how much it expects the company to pay in premium payments.

Question reference: S5W-01077

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 15 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have indicated in advance since April 2015 that they required assistance to use ScotRail services; how many received this assistance, and what information it has regarding how many times this was provided by (a) station or (b) on-board staff.

Question reference: S5W-00882

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the doors on the class 385 trains that have been ordered by ScotRail will be operated by the (a) driver, (b) guard or (c) both.

Question reference: S5W-00890

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what the safety implications are of ScotRail training (a) gateline and (b) other station staff to operate trains during the proposed industrial action on services.

ScotRail has put in place contingency arrangements to deliver as many services as possible during periods of disruption. ScotRail has an obligation to ensure appropriate training of competencies for all staff temporarily carrying out conductor duties, and assuring the safety regulator (Office of Road and Rail) of these contingency plans. We are not aware of gateline or station staff being trained to operate trains during industrial action.

Question reference: S5W-00892

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on allowing open-access operators to compete with ScotRail Abellio.

Competing bids for access to the Scottish rail network are a matter for the industry regulator, the Office of Rail and Road. The Scottish Government is not opposed to the broad principle of open access operations on the network, provided that this enhances the offering to rail passengers and that these services support the achievement of the Scottish Government objective to make rail an attractive, integrated and affordable alternative to less sustainable transport modes.

Question reference: S5W-00889

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of its responsibilities to (a) employees and (b) the recognised trade union under the franchise agreement with ScotRail Abellio Ltd in light of the proposed industrial action on services by the RMT.

The ScotRail franchise agreement contains a number of commitments to maintain and improve the welfare of ScotRail employees. It ensures protections including no compulsory redundancies throughout the life of the franchise, and it recognises the value of staff in delivering successful passenger railway services. In addition a trade union representative is invited to attend each franchise board meeting.

Question reference: S5W-00880

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 July 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met (a) ScotRail and (b) Hitachi Rail Europe to discuss the configuration of the class 385 trains on order.