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-09527

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on the potential impact of the reported low-wage crewing model, imposed by P&O Ferries, on seafarers working for other ferry operators.

Question reference: S6W-09515

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, what the cost was of the (a) community needs and (b) market assessments of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service routes undertaken to inform the Ferries Plan 2013-2022.

Question reference: S6W-09452

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints from (a) passengers and (b) staff were received by ScotRail services between 1 and 31 May 2022, broken down by the reason for the complaint.

The number of passenger complaints received by ScotRail, through their official complaints process, is set out in the following table for the period 1 and 31 May 2022. The complaints may involve incidents that occurred before 1 May 2022.

The average recorded number of complaints per period for previous years is as follows:-

2019-2020 - 1,664 complaints

2018-2019 - 2,064 complaints

The figure for 1 April to 30 April 2022 is 1,144. The figure of 2,006 complaints for May 2022 is higher than April 2022 as this May period was when several services were impacted due to driver shortages and the subsequent temporary timetable that was introduced on 23 May 2022. The temporary timetable that was in place until 20 July 2022 aimed to provide the best possible service to as many passengers as possible with the available resources.

ScotRail do not record staff complaints and therefore the information is not available.

Complaint Categories	1 – 31 May 2022
Train Service Performance	587
Policy And Product	324
Timetable	270
Staff	243
1 st Class	130
Capacity	128
Environment	46
Ticket Buying Facilities	37
Promotions	34
Information Provision	33
Customer Provisions	32
Rail Replacement	32
Safety & Security	26
Assisted Travel	25
Station Facilities	19
Cycles	17
Smartcard	9
Double Debit	8
Contact Centre	6
Total	2,006

Question reference: S6W-09432

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07791 by Lorna Slater on 3 May 2022, whether it will provide an update on the status of the discussions, and when it anticipates contracts will be signed.

On 19 July 2022, Circularity Scotland Ltd announced that it has signed a contract with Biffa to become Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme’s logistics service provider.

The award of this contract is a key milestone in the roll out of the scheme and the agreement is expected to create around 500 jobs in Scotland. It comes after several months of close collaboration between Circularity Scotland and Biffa as they progress towards DRS going live in August next year.

Work is also underway to deliver the IT infrastructure for the scheme, and I expect the contract for IT services to be finalised very shortly.

Question reference: S6W-09557

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement that local authorities will have the power to run bus services, whether this will affect the entitlement to free bus travel for people who currently receive it.

Question reference: S6W-09563

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Scotland Office ministers have requested a meeting with the Minister for Transport regarding the A77 and A75, and how many such meetings have taken place.

Question reference: S6W-09567

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide updated figures on how many young people to date have received a free bus pass through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority, based on the latest information available.

The following table shows the number of valid card holders in the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme as of close of business 11 July 2022, analysed by local authority. This information is based on live data as of 11 July 2022 and will exclude those who have turned 22 since the launch of the scheme.

This information was supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

Aberdeen City	17,844
Aberdeenshire	20,694
Angus Council	5,760
Argyll & Bute	4,752
City of Edinburgh	51,068
Clackmanmanshire	2,317
Comhairie nan Eilean Siar	1,199
Dumfries and Galloway	7,553
Dundee City	16,033
East Ayrshire	13,149
East Dunbartonshire	6,335
East Lothian	9,816
East Renfrewshire	6,915
Falkirk	7,372
Fife	30,663
Glasgow City	45,225
Highland	11,290
Inverclyde	10,494
Midlothian	7,318
Moray	6,134
North Ayrshire	14,813
North Lanarkshire	24,204
Orkney Islands	1,042
Perth & Kinross	10,364
Renfrewshire	15,485
Scottish Borders	7,979
Shetland Islands	2,145
South Ayrshire	5,179
South Lanarkshire	23,119
Stirling	5,413
West Dunbartonshire	9,098
West Lothian	13,137
Total	413,909

Question reference: S6W-09541

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to provide local authorities with additional funding for urgent infrastructure projects (a) in general and (b) such as the Torphichen Bridge bypass.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The overall funding package for local authorities of almost £12.7bn this year represents a rise of £1.06bn or 9.2% in cash terms, or 6.3% in real terms compared with 2021-22.

Falkirk Council are leading the delivery of the A801 Avon Gorge scheme, which will replace the Torphichen Bridge and are responsible, along with West Lothian Council, for ensuring that the business case remains robust and for setting the final timetable for delivery. The Scottish Government remains committed to funding its proposed 50% contribution towards the construction of the upgrade.

Question reference: S6W-09528

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the ports industry in Scotland regarding the UK Government’s legislative response to P&O Ferries replacement of seafarers in Scotland with agency crew, reportedly being paid below the minimum wage, from 17 March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-09519

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will provide an update on any invitations to external consultants to tender for contracts related to the (a) community needs and (b) market assessments.