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-24323

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to measure unrecorded passenger journeys on the ScotRail network.

Question reference: S6W-24322

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the scale of fare evasion on ScotRail services.

Question reference: S6W-24269

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Little Minch Routes Infrastructure Programme.

The Little Minch Infrastructure Programme includes works at three ports; Tarbert (Harris), Lochmaddy (North Uist) and Uig (Skye). The programme of works is essential in replacing life expired infrastructure and improving the capacity, reliability and resilience for the long term benefit of the route.

Tarbert (Harris) works were completed in January 2023. The Lochmaddy works were completed November 2023 and the works at Uig are expected to be completed by Winter 2024.

Question reference: S6W-24325

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list all engagement that it has had with external stakeholders, including trade unions, on the Fair Ferries Review since April 2022 to date.

We have engaged with a range of stakeholders during the development of the Fair Fares Review which includes transport operators, delivery partners, passenger groups, campaigning groups and trade unions. This includes; ScotRail Holdings, ScotRail, the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (ATCO), the Mobility Advisory Committee for Scotland (MACS), CalMac, Northlink, Regional Transport Partnerships, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), Cosla, Transport for Edinburgh (TfE), Glasgow City Council, the Poverty & Inequality Commission, Transform Scotland and the Poverty Alliance.

Former Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth MSP and officials met with trade unions to discuss the Fair Fares Review on 14 March 2023. Following which a letter providing a further update on the review was issued on 12 May 2023 from the subsequent Minister for Transport Kevin Stewart MSP. I engage regularly with trade unions and look forward to continuing these conversations on all transport related matters including the Fair Fares Review as we work to deliver our vision for the future of public transport in 2024 and beyond.

Question reference: S6W-23244

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government where it anticipates oil extracted from the North Sea will be refined if this process ceases at the Petroineos site in Grangemouth.

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, oil extracted from the North Sea is predominantly exported to international markets. The Scottish Government anticipates that this arrangement will continue and North Sea oil will continue to be refined in a number of international locations.

On 3 March 2023, the Scottish Government published the outputs of an independence analysis of Scotland’s Energy System, which provides a detailed overview of the oil and gas sector in Scotland. A link to this publication can be found here .

Question reference: S6W-23242

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has (a) requested and (b) received from Petroineos regarding the retention of all of the highly-skilled jobs based at the Grangemouth complex.

The First Minister and I met Senior Management at the Petroineos refinery on 23 November 2023, during which we both expressed the criticality of continuing refining for as long as possible as a means to safeguarding both energy resilience and employment at the site. In return the business agreed on the importance of working collaboratively with the Scottish Government and trade unions throughout the transition period. I also wrote to both of Petroineos’ Joint Venture partners on 23 November 2023 to seek assurances that the business will continue to sustain the site’s role as a source of domestic road and air fuels. I will meet Petroineos again in the coming days to seek further assurances around these points.

In addition to engaging with senior management at the site, I met with representatives from STUC and Unite the Union on 23 November 2023 to receive an update on the reaction of the workforce to the announcement. The Scottish Government is committed to continued dialogue with both the trade unions and the workforce at the refinery throughout this period of transition to ensure that highly-skilled jobs are retained for the duration of the asset’s lifecycle.

Question reference: S6W-23243

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has (a) requested and (b) received regarding energy supplies via the Forties Pipeline System.

Scottish Government officials raised this question with INEOS on 29 November 2023 and have since received confirmation that the refinery does not currently process significant volumes of FPS derived crude, with the majority of the asset’s feedstock being imported. The business noted that, given the historical throughput of the FPS, there is sufficient capacity to process any additional volumes in the future.

Question reference: S6W-23241

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it first became aware of Petroineos’s proposal to cease oil refinery operations at its Grangemouth site.

Given the importance of this strategic asset to Grangemouth and Scotland, the Scottish Government has been working closely with the business as it explores future options to transition the site, such as bio-refining.

Petroineos notified the Scottish Government on 21 November 2023 that senior management were to make a formal internal announcement of the business’ plans to commence preparatory work for new import terminal infrastructure at Finnart Terminal and Grangemouth.

Question reference: S6W-23240

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all engagements that (a) cabinet secretaries, (b) ministers and (c) civil servants have had with representatives of Ineos and/or Petroineos in 2023 to date.

Ministers and civil servants engage regularly with INEOS and Petroineos as a matter of course, given the strategic importance of the assets at Grangemouth.

Recent engagements include two site visits in at Grangemouth to discuss INEOS’ net zero roadmap, which were attended by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition and both the Energy Minister and myself in April and June.

I also met representatives of Petroineos’ Joint Ventures Partners in June 2023 as part of the Scottish Government’s regular engagement with the business.

The First Minister and I also spoke to senior management at the refinery on 23 November 2023, during which we outlined our expectation that the business should explore every possible option to extend refining operations beyond the conclusion of import terminal infrastructure construction.

Question reference: S6O-02834

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the vote on motion S6M-11342 on the Situation in the Middle East, on 21 November, whether it will provide an update on what action it has taken with the UK Government and international bodies to support the humanitarian response.