- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the (a) rail and (b) bus network in each year since 2007, also broken down by the amount invested in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Edinburgh and (iii) Glasgow.
Answer
Investing in rail is a key priority of the Scottish Government, with over £7 billion committed since 2007 to support Network Rail’s operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the rail infrastructure, and to deliver the economic and social benefits of the ScotRail franchise contract across the full network. This core investment is not disaggregated to individual route levels.
In respect of investment in the bus network we are unable to provide a geographical analysis. The national figures for Support for Bus Services in respect of Concessionary Fares and the Bus Service Operators Grant are published on the Transport Scotland website to 2015-16 - https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-no-35-2016-edition/. The investment in respect of 2016-17 is £53m for the Bus Service Operators Grant and £194m for Concessionary Travel.
The details of support for the Green Bus Fund are also published on the Transport Scotland website - https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/scottish-green-bus-fund/#45456
The Scottish Government also provided support for the Bus Investment Fund in financial years 2013-14 (£1m), 2014-15 (£2m) and 2015-16 (£4m).
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the 0.8% decrease in total sales in the last year reported by the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG.
Answer
Although the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor is a useful indication of retail trends the more widely recognised measure of retail sales activity is the Retail Sales Index, based on the Retail Sales Inquiry carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This survey captures approximately 90 per cent of the British retail industry in terms of turnover. Estimates of the Retail Sales Index for Scotland are produced by the Scottish Government. The latest release (2017 Q3) showed that the volume of retail sales in Scotland remained stable in 2017 Q3 compared to the previous quarter (2017 Q2) and expanded on an annual basis (2017 Q3 on 2016 Q3) by 0.6 per cent.
We recognise, and these figures show, that UK Government austerity measures and Brexit are affecting consumer confidence and spending. Despite this, we are doing everything within our powers to support our economy, including our retailers. For example, this year we have reduced the business rates poundage by 3.7 per cent and funded total rates relief of around £660 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which will lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. In addition, we are working with the Scottish Retail Consortium to develop a retail strategy which will set out a clear road map for future tax and regulatory changes.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how it will address A&E waiting times, in light of reports from NHS Scotland that almost 800 people faced long delays in September 2017, an increase of 42% from the previous year.
Answer
The Scottish Government National Unscheduled Care Team is working with hospitals across Scotland to minimise unnecessary long delays in A&E departments and deliver safe, person centred and effective care to every patient, every time through the six essential action improvement programme.
Scotland has outperformed the rest of the UK in terms of performance against the four hour A&E target for more than two and a half years and has the lowest rate of long (12 hour) delays in the UK. Figures released this week (5 December) show that the number of patients delayed more than 8 and 12 hours in October 2017 has reduced compared to the previous month (September 2017) and has also reduced by more than 10% and almost 50% respectively compared to the equivalent period the previous year; the number of patients waiting over 12 hours in October 2017 was the lowest in any October since 2013.
However, we recognise that more needs to be done to sustainably improve performance especially as we go in to the winter period, which is why we have put record investment and increased levels of staffing into hospitals to further reduce waits in A&E departments. I recently announced an additional £5million to support winter resilience this year, over and above the £9 million, announced in May 2017, to support unscheduled care - total of £14 million for winter 2017.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been refunded through the Delay Repay Guarantee scheme for delayed train services in the last year.
Answer
ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to provide a delay-repay scheme to passengers, which offers compensation when their journey is delayed by more than 30 minutes when using a ScotRail or Caledonian Sleeper service.
In the year to mid-November 2017, the total sum paid by ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper to customers under the delay-repay process was £873,640.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what the journey time will be for the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link to connect to the rail network, and how this compares with the present bus service.
Answer
The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils and it is for their project team to assess the future journey time of services. The recent independent audit commissioned by Scottish Ministers has highlighted that there are a number of factors that affect journey time when comparing the tram-train and bus, this includes the actual origin and destination of trips, the ease of access to either tram-train or bus, service frequency and journey times on the M8 and in Glasgow City Centre. These all vary over the course of the day.
A copy of the full audit report and executive summary can be found at:
https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/strategy/city-and-regional-growth-deals/#52913
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the economic impact of the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link.
Answer
The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils therefore it is for their project team to undertake the economic analysis of the costs, benefits and impacts of their proposals. An independent audit of the Outline Business Case was commissioned by Scottish Ministers, which included a review of the economic case as presented. A copy of the full audit report and executive summary can be found at:
https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/strategy/city-and-regional-growth-deals/#52913
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 5 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s reported concerns that many emergency departments lack a clear governance framework, often due to the cost of software.
Answer
We welcome input from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The Scottish Government’s National Clinical Lead for Patient Safety, who is a member of the RCEM, will meet with representative from the College to discuss their concerns.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on requiring Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) on all cars, given reports that exceeding the speed limit was a factor in 291 car crashes in 2017, representing a rise of 26% since 2013.
Answer
Requiring the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) – formerly known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation – on all cars would be a reserved matter, as it relates to the regulation of the construction and use of motor vehicles. However, Scotland’s Road Safety Framework contains a commitment to promote the voluntary use of ISA, which the Scottish Government is currently exploring.
This work will help inform future ISA policy direction
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2017
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2017
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to improve the availability of organs viable for donation and transplant.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2017
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2017
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 November 2017
To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to the chair of the Scottish Police Federation’s reported comment that police officers are “not properly equipped” to deal with armed suspects, in light of the recent stabbing of an officer at Edinburgh College.
Answer
In line with current approved standard operating guidelines, all frontline officers are equipped with handcuffs, PAVA spray, a baton and body armour. Any changes to this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable who would take into account the latest risk and threat assessment. In addition, Police Scotland has published on its Intranet advice for officers on a range of safety issues.
