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-10945

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for the upgrade of the A75 and A77 has been committed by the UK Government.

To date, we are not aware of the UK Government committing any funding for the upgrade of either the A75 or the A77. The UK Government’s Union Connectivity Review (UCR) published its interim findings in March 2021 and identified both the A75 and A77 as critical road transport corridors connecting Northern Ireland with Scotland and England.

At the same time, the UK Secretary of State for Transport announced that a £20m Union Connectivity Development Fund was available for advance design / development on a select number of transport corridors, including the A75. It is not clear if any of that funding has been spent on preliminary work for the A75.

The Final UCR Report was published in November 2021 and recommended that the UK Government commit funding to support the significant upgrade of the A75. The failure to mention the A77 suggests it will no longer be considered a priority for upgrading.

Question reference: S6W-10861

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what estimates it has made of any potential revenue loss to ScotRail of not selling alcohol on trains.

Question reference: S6W-10865

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times enforcement action has been taken in relation to the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains, and what estimate it has made of how many times the ban has been breached.

Question reference: S6W-10655

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of ScotRail’s rail passenger revenue from 1 January to 31 July 2022.

Prior to the 1st April 2022, ScotRail services were operated by Abellio ScotRail. Under the terms of the franchise agreement, revenue figures for the period are commercially confidential. The published accounts for Abellio ScotRail for this period will be found at Companies House in due course.

For the period after 1st April, relevant revenue figures will not be available until the annual accounts for ScotRail Trains Ltd. have been audited, verified and published after the end of the financial year 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-10842

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a Primary Authority system for devolved regulation following the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, and, if so, when this will take place.

There are no current plans to implement a Primary Authority system for devolved regulation. However, as part of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation we have set out that we are working with stakeholders to consider how regulation can be used to support economic and societal aims and use this work to continuously improve the approach to regulation in the future. This will include reviewing existing powers and processes to identify where changes could be made to support both businesses and regulators in achieving our strategic aims.

Question reference: S6W-10946

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has confidence that the correct regulatory process was followed in setting the retailer handling fee structure for the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-10967

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Transport last visited Glasgow Airport.

Question reference: S6W-10955

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister’s statement to the Parliament on the Programme for Government, on 6 September 2022, that a proposed Housing Bill would "implement key policies on short-term lets", whether this refers to enacted or new regulations on the matter.

Question reference: S6W-10912

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland will roll out the use of HeartFlow technology across all NHS boards, following its introduction in NHS Western Isles.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and provide advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing health technologies (excluding medicines). The SHTG made a recommendation in 2021 on the use of HeartFlow: 20210714-heartflow-adaptation-v20.pdf (shtg.scot) . Health boards are required to consider SHTG’s advice.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, includes the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). Work to promote HeartFlow technology across Health Boards is a key activity for the MPPP cardiology specialty group.

More information on the Centre for Sustainable Delivery can be found here: CfSD :: NHS Golden Jubilee , with information on the cardiology specialty network available here: Cardiology | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot).

Question reference: S6W-10711

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent (a) discussions it has had on and (b) consideration it has given to improving lifeline interisland services in Orkney.

I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.