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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: S5W-32134

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the extension of the Abellio ScotRail Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) from 20 September 2020, whether discussions can commence with trade unions regarding the outstanding 2020-21 staff pay award.

The Scottish Government has already provided around £250 million of additional financial support which has allowed Abellio ScotRail and Serco Caledonian Sleeper to maintain full employment for their staff despite the significant drop in passenger revenue during the pandemic, and substantial additional sums will be required in future.

The UK Government has not yet provided clarity about the future additional funding for the Scottish Government arising from UK transport spending. Any pay discussions between ScotRail and its staff will need to reflect the extremely challenging budgetary position and the ongoing budgetary uncertainty.

Question reference: S5W-32136

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the total rolling stock lease cost is that it paid under the initial (a) Abellio ScotRail and (b) Serco Caledonian Sleeper Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA) for the period until 20 September 2020.

Question reference: S5W-32185

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many laptops or other devices were received by pupils as a result of the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020 to roll out the provision of digital devices to school pupils, broken down by (a) type of device and (b) local authority area.

Local authorities are responsible for distributing devices from the initial tranche of 24,485 chromebook devices, and for securing and distributing further devices and connectivity solutions from their grant allocations. We are working with local authorities to collate and assure information on how many devices have been ordered, received and distributed to learners, although indications are that up to 70,000 individuals will benefit from this investment.

Question reference: S5W-32184

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the processes it used to decide where to allocate the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020 to roll out the provision of digital devices to school pupils.

Question reference: S5W-32065

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address reported concerns regarding (a) worker safety and fatigue and (b) lack of rest berths for workers on the Serco Caledonian Sleeper.

Question reference: S5W-32328

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Serco Caledonian Sleeper’s announcement on 29 September 2020 that it had cancelled trains on 4 and 5 October due to possible industrial action by the RMT union, in light of this announcement being made prior to the commencement of ACAS talks on 30 September.

Caledonian Sleeper is bound by the Franchise Agreement to inform passengers in a timely manner of any potential changes to their timetabled travel.

Caledonian Sleeper advises it took the decision to announce on 29 September the cancellation of trains on 4 and 5 October to ensure that all passengers were fully informed ahead of the strike action, allowing them to make alternative plans for any travel or onward accommodation bookings.

Question reference: S5W-32182

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020, to roll out the provision of digital devices to school pupils, remains to be allocated.

Question reference: S5W-32183

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £25 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 23 June 2020, to roll out the provision of digital devices to school pupils, was spent.

The breakdown of allocations to individual local authorities is set out in the following table. We are working with local authorities to collate and assure more detailed information on how their funding allocations have been spent.

LA	Allocation
Aberdeen City	£503,633
Aberdeenshire	£1,320,234
Angus	£511,133
Argyll and Bute	£447,007
City of Edinburgh	£943,823
Clackmannanshire	£225,168
Dumfries and Galloway	£733,257
Dundee City	£761,110
East Ayrshire	£742,413
East Dunbartonshire	£314,648
East Lothian	£469,946
East Renfrewshire	£211,436
Falkirk	£651,885
Fife	£1,847,197
Glasgow City	£3,123,122
Highland	£1,393,009
Inverclyde	£433,829
Midlothian	£396,645
Moray	£488,001
Na h-Eileanan Siar	£152,880
North Ayrshire	£551,172
North Lanarkshire	£1,612,911
Orkney Islands	£142,900
Perth and Kinross	£721,467
Renfrewshire	£706,764
Scottish Borders	£631,807
Shetland Islands	£180,151
South Ayrshire	£524,128
South Lanarkshire	£1,468,744
Stirling	£454,473
West Dunbartonshire	£448,170
West Lothian	£844,736

Question reference: S5W-32209

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31976 by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2020, when it expects the management fees due to Abellio ScotRail and Serco Caledonian Sleeper to be agreed, and whether the amounts will be made public at that point.

Question reference: S5W-32112

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 October 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31747 by Michael Matheson on 23 September 2020, whether it expects any parts of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to be fully in place by the end of the current parliamentary session, and, if so, which.

The implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 has been affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. However, Part 1 of the Act requires the publishing of a National Transport Strategy, and this was brought into force on 15 January 2020. Provisions around Regional Transport Partnerships and Canals are also fully in place. As I indicated at my appearance before the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee on 2 September 2020, there is limited space in this current parliamentary session to implement the other aspects of the Act.