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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-07866

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06190 by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2022, whether it will provide updated figures on how many young people have now 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 cards produced for the Young Persons Scheme (YPS) by close of business 25 April 2022, broken down to local authority level. 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. Please note this data might include a small number of cards produced without the travel product.

Aberdeen City	15,249
Aberdeenshire	14,750
Angus Council	3,878
Argyll and Bute	3,046
City of Edinburgh	42,142
Clackmannanshire	1,683
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	677
Dumfries and Galloway	4,763
Dundee City	14,151
East Ayrshire	9,574
East Dunbartonshire	4,146
East Lothian	7,761
East Renfrewshire	5,013
Falkirk	5,240
Fife	23,938
Glasgow City	25,066
Highland	8,178
Inverclyde	10,966
Midlothian	5,321
Moray	4,126
North Ayrshire	4,091
North Lanarkshire	13,060
Orkney Islands	596
Perth and Kinross	6,775
Renfrewshire	10,270
Scottish Borders	5,628
Shetland Islands	1,509
South Ayrshire	3,451
South Lanarkshire	7,881
Stirling	3,833
West Dunbartonshire	8,166
West Lothian	9,400

Question reference: S6T-00630

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that decisions about the procurement of vessels 801 and 802 were rushed "for political purposes".

Question reference: S6W-07240

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what equality impact assessment has been undertaken in relation to the proposed ScotRail station ticket office closures and reduced opening times.

Question reference: S6O-00943

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received to the external affairs secretary’s letter to the Russian Ambassador on 26 February.

Question reference: S6W-06565

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what the timescale is and (b) which groups it will consult for its “national conversation” about the future of ScotRail.

Due to the local elections period, it is expected that the national rail conversation will get underway after 5 May local elections. Decisions on a more definitive timescale will be arrived at when agreement has been reached with Trade Union partners and other interested stakeholders.

It is envisaged that the national conversation will engage a wide ranging group of stakeholders including passengers, regional transport partnerships, rail unions, disability groups, businesses and educational interests.

Transport Scotland officials are currently considering the details on the most effective and productive engagement programme to deliver the national rail conversation.

Question reference: S6W-06567

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what the timescale is and (b) which groups it will consult for its work regarding the experiences of women on public transport.

In addition to taking forward a National Conversation on rail, we will be consulting specifically on women’s safety when using public transport.

(a) Specific timescales will be outlined following the discussion underway with relevant representative groups on the preferred approach for carrying out this engagement.

(b) With regard to the groups we will engage with, we have already made initial contact with Engender. We will also engage with groups who represent women working on our public transport network to capture the views of female staff.

Question reference: S6W-06882

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the consultation on women’s safety will be (a) open to all or (b) closed, with identified stakeholders only.

In addition to taking forward a National Conversation on rail, we will be consulting specifically on women’s safety when using public transport.

The specific means by which we carry out this engagement are yet to be determined and will be informed by initial discussions with groups representing women and Transport Scotland Officials. A range of options will be presented for how this engagement takes place. It is envisaged that these will include options for engagement that is open to all, focussed on specific groups or combines elements of both.

Question reference: S6W-06172

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Energy Investment Fund is being closed to new entrants, and, if so, for what reasons.

The Energy Investment Fund will close at the end of this financial year 2021-22. The Fund was established in 2013, (succeeding the Renewable Energy Investment Fund) with funding from the Fossil Fuel Levy, to address market failure in capital funding in specific renewable energy sectors. The Fund has been very successful over the years, however, the market for capital funding has changed since 2013. There are new investment mechanisms in place, through the Scottish National Investment Bank, which supports the Scottish Government's strategic priorities to achieving our net zero ambitions.

Question reference: S6W-06173

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the budget allocated to the Energy Investment Fund in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-06554

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce will report its findings on how to fulfil the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to “remove a majority of fossil fuel buses from public transport in Scotland by 2023”.

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce agreed its remit and Guiding Vision at its first meeting on 11 November 2020, and discussed a first draft of its co-designed pathway to a fully zero-emission bus fleet in July 2021. The ongoing COVID pandemic has made progress slower than would have been ideal, and the Taskforce is expected to publish a final version of the pathway in Summer 2022. All meeting papers and minutes of the Taskforce are published on the CPT Scotland website.