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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-03220

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many diesel buses will have to be replaced to meet the 2023 net-zero target.

Question reference: S6W-03225

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what impact introducing free bus travel for under-22s will have on bus operators, and whether any subsequent fare pressure will lead to 23- to 59-year-old passengers paying more.

It is an objective of the National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons that bus operators are reimbursed for the costs of carrying concessionary passengers so as to leave them no better and no worse off through their participation in the Scheme. This objective should mean that there are not subsequent fare pressures on fare paying passengers as a result of the scheme.

We have worked with the Confederation of Passenger Transport to arrive at the reimbursement rates for the Scheme which seek to deliver this objective.

The new Scheme will be monitored closely in order to identify any significant adverse financial impacts, generally or for individual operators or groups of bus operators.

Question reference: S6W-02867

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02205 by Michael Matheson on 8 September 2021, what percentage of Scotland’s GDP is spent on infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-03037

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02372 by Graeme Dey on 13 September 2021, whether it will provide the information requested regarding 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, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its response.

Question reference: S6O-00260

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the latest estimate is of the public cost of procuring the ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802.

Question reference: S6W-02548

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, in light of its previous commitment to dual the A96, whether this remains a commitment, and, if so, when work will begin on dualling the A96, and when the new road will be open.

We are not stepping away from our commitment to the north and north east of Scotland to improve A96 corridor. The current plan is to fully dual the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen, however we have agreed to conduct a transparent, evidence-based review to include a climate compatibility assessment to assess direct and indirect impacts on the climate and the environment which will report by the end of 2022.

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

Question reference: S6W-02553

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 whether it anticipates making design changes to the dualling of the A96, and, if so, what these will be.

The current plan is to fully dual the A96 route between Inverness and Aberdeen, however we have agreed to conduct a transparent, evidence-based review to include a climate compatibility assessment to assess direct and indirect impacts on the climate and the environment which will report by the end of 2022. We are still committed to improving the A96 and will take forward a transport enhancements programme that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues.

All projects, including the A96 Programme, are subject to detailed review and assessment work to ensure we deliver the right schemes and keep impacts on the environment to the absolute minimum.

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-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-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.