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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-02550

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for the individual elements of the A96 dualling project.

Question reference: S6W-02552

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated cost is of dualling the A96, and what funding mechanism will be used.

Details on the current estimated cost of each of the sections in preparation can be found in relevant scheme assessment reports published on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/a96-dualling-inverness-to-aberdeen/ .

Delivery of any section of the programme can only commence if approved under the relevant statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable and funding mechanism for progress can be set in line with available budgets.

Question reference: S6W-02814

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02202 by Graeme Dey on 7 September 2021, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether the adoption of the sustainable investment hierarchy will have an impact on decisions to proceed with any of the road-building projects that it has previously committed to, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its response.

Further to the answer to S6W-02202, all of the trunk road projects currently progressing through the design or statutory processes and which were recommendations from first Strategic Transport Projects Review published in 2008, have been subject of consideration against the sustainable investment hierarchy as part of the appraisal process undertaken at that time.

As work on the trunk roads projects and programmes continues, they are subject to the statutory authorisation and business case processes, this includes revisiting the strategic case for investment at key decision points, which would encompass consideration of the sustainable investment hierarchy amongst other policies.

Question reference: S6W-02966

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Spaces for People scheme, which temporary installations have been removed or reversed; which of the infrastructure is scheduled to be removed or reversed; how much it will cost to remove or reverse this infrastructure, and what the original cost was of each project.

Spaces for People (SfP) schemes are the responsibility of individual local authorities. It is therefore for local authorities to determine the length of time SfP measures should remain in place and to take decisions on their removal. Sustrans has provided support and advice to local authorities intending to make SfP infrastructure permanent.

The Spaces for People programme provided local authorities with funding to deliver temporary active travel infrastructure. As local authorities are fully responsible for the delivery of SfP measures, they hold information on installation and removal costs for individual interventions.

A total of £38.9 million was awarded to local authorities, Regional Transport Partnership (RTPs), the National Health Service (NHS) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) via Spaces for People as set out in the following table:

Partners	Funding award
Aberdeen City Council	£ 1,760,000
Aberdeenshire Council	£ 310,000
Angus Council	£ 788,958
Argyll & Bute Council	£ 915,000
City of Edinburgh Council	£ 5,000,000
Clackmannanshire Council	£ 367,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)	£ 128,850
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£ 595,000
Dundee City Council	£ 2,460,000
East Ayrshire Council	£ 555,000
East Lothian Council	£ 1,400,000
East Renfrewshire Council	£ 1,030,000
Falkirk Council	£ 190,000
Fife Council	£ 2,420,000
Glasgow City Council	£ 7,500,000
Inverclyde Council	£ 585,000
Midlothian Council	£ 191,962
Moray Council	£ 778,800
NHS Grampian	£ 817,500
NHS Lanarkshire	£ 210,000
NHS Lothian	£ 90,000
North Ayrshire Council	£ 400,000
North Lanarkshire Council	£ 1,066,978
Perth and Kinross Council	£ 1,353,000
Renfrewshire Council	£ 695,000
Scottish Borders Council	£ 1,200,000
Scottish Environment Protection Agency	£ 120,000
South Ayrshire Council	£ 510,000
South Lanarkshire Council	£ 1,200,000
Stirling Council	£ 513,000
TACTRAN	£ 250,000
The Highland Council	£ 1,968,560
West Dunbartonshire Council	£ 740,000
West Lothian Council	£ 641,500
ZetTrans	£ 200,000

Question reference: S6T-00146

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement by the UK Government not to proceed with plans to introduce vaccine passports.

Question reference: S6W-02373

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it put in place to prevent money allocated through the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) from being spent outside of Scotland and the UK.

Question reference: S6W-02372

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether buses funded through the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) that were built abroad have been subsidised by foreign governments, and, if so, to what extent.

Of 272 buses supported by the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme only 61 are being imported from abroad. This is in line with Scottish Government's Trade Vision, where we committed to supporting domestic manufacturing while balancing this with active participation in diversified Global Value Chains. Scotland remains committed to a rules-based trade agenda and supports open, fair and transparent trade without protectionism.

Question reference: S6W-02371

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of where buses funded through the Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) are being built.

The completed bids are published on the Transport Scotland website. The manufacturer that has been contracted by the Bus Operators to supply the battery electric buses is noted at https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/scottish-ultra-low-emission-bus-scheme/scottish-ultra-low-emission-bus-scheme-completed-bids/ 207 of the total 272 buses funded under SULEBS have been ordered from Alexander Dennis Ltd, the bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-02205

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent estimate is of government investment in infrastructure, and what information it has regarding how this compares with other OECD countries.

Our National Infrastructure Mission plans for over £33 billion of Scottish Government investment over the course of the current Parliamentary term. This means that annual investment in our hospitals, schools, houses, transport, low carbon technology and digital connections, will be around £1.56 billion higher by 2025-26 than in 2019-20.

All international studies show that boosting infrastructure investment is expected to have a positive impact on Scotland’s long-term economic growth. Scottish Government analysis published in 2018 available at www.gov.scot/Infrastructure investment: evidence summary showed the annual UK government investment was around 2.6% of UK GDP, one percentage point below the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average.

The National Infrastructure Mission represents an increase in annual investment by 1% of 2017 Scottish GDP by the end of this Parliament, raising the level of public investment in infrastructure in Scotland to internationally competitive levels and providing economic stimulus.

Question reference: S6W-02202

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the adoption of the sustainable investment hierarchy will have an impact on decisions to proceed with any of the road-building projects that it has previously committed to.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party agree that transport plays a crucial role in supporting a green and fair recovery and our shared position on this is included in the draft shared policy programme, forming part of the cooperation agreement.

We believe that bold action is needed to increase the pace of change and the scale of investment to support the priorities and outcomes set out in the National Transport Strategy, including our ambitious climate goals. We agree that in the face of the climate emergency we need to shift away from spending money on new road projects that encourage more people to drive, and instead focus our money and effort on maintaining roads, improving safety and providing a realistic and affordable alternative through investing in public transport and active travel.

The Sustainable Investment Hierarchy contained in the second National Transport Strategy and published in February 2020, can trace its linage back to the first Strategic Transport Projects Review in 2008, which in turn was developed from Scotland’s first National Transport Strategy (NTS) published in 2006. This was enhanced as part of the second NTS to include reducing the need to travel unsustainably at the top of the hierarchy. In addition, NTS sets out the commitment to ensure we will not build road infrastructure to cater for forecast unconstrained increases in traffic volumes.

We need to balance the significant changes in travel behaviour required to meet a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions with our duty to ensure that Scotland has high quality infrastructure to meet the needs of all our residents, businesses and visitors. That is why we are continuing work on our programme of trunk road improvement scheme to improve resilience, safety and deliver sustainable inclusive growth for the people of Scotland. Work on the trunk roads projects and programmes under construction, procurement or design and development continue and are subject to the statutory assessment and business case processes.