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-26612

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many gritters and winter salt treatment vehicles there are, and how this compares with each year since 2007.

The Scottish Government through Transport Scotland is responsible for Winter Service on trunk roads and motorways. The number of gritters and winter salt treatment vehicles in service each year is shown in the following table.

Year	Number of Gritters
2019	213
2018	210
2017	210
2016	208
2015	206
2014	195
2013	190
2012	190
2011	190
2010	164
2009	*
2008	*
2007	*

*Information not available as central records were not collated during this period

Question reference: S5O-03934

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is tackling social inequalities within communities.

In 2018-19 we invested over £1.4 billion on support directed at low income families. This includes key investment to deliver more affordable homes, tackle fuel poverty, support our Attainment Scotland Fund and over £100 million to mitigate the worst impacts of UK Government welfare cuts.

Our new £11.5 million Investing in Communities Fund will provide vital support and investment to around 250 organisations to enable them to tackle poverty, inequality and rural disadvantage across our communities.

And our Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan outlines our concrete action to reduce child poverty. This includes plans for our new Scottish Child Payment, worth £10 per child per week that will be paid to eligible families with a child under 6 by Christmas next year.

Question reference: S5W-26611

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on trunk road maintenance, inclusive of all roads under its, and its agencies', financial or statutory responsibility in each year since 2007.

The following table summarises Trunk Road maintenance and operation investment by financial year. The totals include road and bridge maintenance, routine/cyclic maintenance, minor improvements, winter service and road safety improvements. The totals also include expenditure in respect to operational Design Build Finance and Operate Schemes (e.g. M74, M77, M80, M8/M73/M74 and AWPR).

Year	Amount (£ million)
2007-2008	262.1
2008-2009	236.1
2009-2010	250.1
2010-2011	243.4
2011-2012	231.8
2012-2013	243.6
2013-2014	259.5
2014-2015	265.5
2015-2016	275.2
2016-2017	305.4
2017-2018	372.7
2018-2019	437.2
2019-2020	474.3 *

* Projected spend to end of 2019-20.

eRDM, Intranet & Saltire Website

Question reference: S5W-26609

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposal by ScotRail to remove assigned seating from InterCity rail services and move to "counted places" on such services, and whether it considers that this will make the travelling experience for passengers better or worse.

Assigned seating on InterCity services is an operational matter for which ScotRail is responsible.

The Scottish Government has made clear to ScotRail that its decision to temporarily abandon seat reservations on these InterCity services is not satisfactory. We expect ScotRail to reintroduce the reservations service as soon as possible.

ScotRail explains it has made this temporary change as a result of the further delay and uncertainty regarding the delivery of refurbished High Speed Trains by Angel Trains and Wabtec.

That’s why, when I met with Wabtec recently, I reinforced that Wabtec and Angel trains must speed up delivery of refurbished HSTs. This is another example of failure to meet the needs of passengers in the flawed franchising system.

Question reference: S5W-26606

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 16 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the (a) revised timetable for the delivery and (b) total estimated cost of completion of the two CMAL ordered vessels being built by Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow and the reason for the delay to completion, and for what reason the information has not been made public, despite assurances from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work to the Parliament on 3 September 2019 that this information would be forthcoming by the end of October.

Question reference: S5W-26522

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 10 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been received for support from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund in North Ayrshire, and what the status is of each.

Question reference: S5F-03792

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2019

To ask the First Minister what assistance the Scottish Government is providing to public services and the third sector to address the issue of loneliness among older people over the festive period.

Question reference: S5O-03880

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 5 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to alleviate underage drinking.

The Scottish Government has taken action to make it harder for under-age drinkers to gain access to alcohol. We have made it mandatory for premises to operate an age verification policy such as Challenge 25; we have made it an offence to supply alcohol to someone under the age of 18 for consumption in a public place; we have provided for test purchasing to take place where appropriate; we encourage campaigns which raise awareness of ‘proxy purchasing’; and we have legislated for local authorities to introduce byelaws to ban drinking in designated public places.

However, we know we need to do more. Our Alcohol Framework, published in 2018, has a focus on protecting children and young people. We know children and young people in Scotland find alcohol appealing and that alcohol advertising contributes to this. There is a compelling case for restricting alcohol marketing. We plan to consult on a range of alcohol marketing restrictions in Spring next year.

Question reference: S5F-03770

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2019

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to Macmillan Cancer Support’s study, which suggests that there has been a 15% increase in cancer diagnoses since 2015.

Question reference: S5F-03754

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2019

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported £3 billion backlog in road maintenance repairs.