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-19968

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 28 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19398 by Mairi Gougeon on 14 November 2018, for what reason this decision was made in relation to prong collars but not citronella collars, and whether it plans to seek expert advice on the impact of prong collars on animal welfare.

Citronella collars are one of the many different types of electronic training aid and their use was consulted on as part of the Scottish Government’s consultation on potential controls or prohibition of electronic training aids in Scotland. These electronic collars use sprayed citronella oil as the aversive stimulus. The results of the consultation highlighted a number of potential welfare concerns, not least due to the lingering nature of the oil and the prolonged harm this can cause, which brings into doubt its usefulness as a stimulus for use in dog training.

There are no plans to consult on the use of prong collars or any other non-electronic training aids. However, the use of all aversive training aids is covered by the Scottish Government Guidance on Dog Training Aids, regardless of whether they are specifically mentioned.

Question reference: S5W-19661

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it is providing (a) electric shock collar trainers and (b) other stakeholders regarding whether they can continue to train dogs with electric shock collars.

Question reference: S5W-19656

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the decision by the UK Government to ban the use of electric shock collars in England via secondary legislation.

We understand that following consultation the UK Government now proposes to bring forward secondary legislation under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to ban the use of hand-held remote controlled e-collar devices for dogs and cats. The UK Government does not propose to ban the use of anti-bark collars and invisible fencing containment systems; however, it does propose to update relevant codes of practice in relation to invisible fencing containment systems for cats and dogs to emphasize that these should be installed by professionals, that appropriate training should be provided, and that these should be used as a last resort. This is an alternative approach to a complex issue; we will consider the outcome and impact of this approach with interest in due course.

Question reference: S5F-02834

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2018

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that ScotRail has failed to fully deliver 29 franchise obligations.

Question reference: S5W-19802

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of Transport Scotland's backlog of repair and maintenance work on bridges.

Question reference: S5W-19801

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many Transport Scotland maintained bridges have been identified as being in need of repairs.

Question reference: S5W-19804

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many Transport Scotland maintained bridges are currently out of use as a result of needing repairs, and how many have been out of use in each of the last five years for this reason.

Question reference: S5W-19803

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government when it estimates the backlog of repairs to Transport Scotland maintained bridges will be completed.

We are unable to determine an accurate estimate for the time to clear the current bridge maintenance backlog because the calculation is dependent on a number of unknown variables, such as future funding levels, deterioration rates and network availability. We will continue to use well-developed asset management practices to ensure the areas of most need are prioritised to keep the trunk road network safe and available for use.

Question reference: S5W-19800

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what Transport Scotland's budget for maintenance and repairs of bridges has been in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S5W-19695

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19440 by Michael Matheson on 31 October 2018, what the public performance measure (PPM) for each sector was at the start of the franchise commencement date, and whether all benchmarks are set in relation to this.

The Public Performance Measure (PPM) for each sector as at the start of franchise commencement is set out on the following table.

Express Sector Other	Express Sector E&G	Rural Sector	Suburban East Sector	Suburban West Peak	Suburban West Off Peak	Total
86.5	89.3	85.3	92.9	84.9	92.5	90.5

The specification for both the Cancellation and Capacity Benchmark at the start of the franchise commencement date is contained in the Franchise Agreement, with the link included in the PQ answer for S5W-19440.

Bridges Budget for Last 10 Years
Year	Final Allocation ‎ (£m)
2008-09	22.75
2009-10	21.75
2010-11	24.03
2011-12	17
2012-13	27.25
2013-14	35.5
2014-15	26
2015-16	39.1
2016-17	49.1
2017-18	65.2
2018-19	64