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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-13416

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns among people in Culter in Aberdeenshire regarding the disruption that has been caused by installation of temporary traffic lights in place of the roundabout at Milltimber Brae.

Transport Scotland attended a community meeting in Culter on
5 December 2017 to explain the junction changes. Although permanent traffic signals have been operational since 5 December, they are still on a temporary phasing until the traffic is introduced from the AWPR itself. I am advised that this has improved the situation for road users. Temporary signals are also still in place outside peak times to complete associated barrier and verge works.

When complete, the AWPR will deliver over a £6 billion economic benefit for the North East, reducing costs to business and providing opportunities for increased sales and over 14,000 jobs created in the first 30 years after the scheme opens. Around 1,500 people are currently working on the project, including on-the-job training for apprentices and local employment opportunities for long-term unemployed people. I would like to thank road users in the area for their patience whilst these essential works are being undertaken.

Question reference: S5W-12906

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the (a) rail and (b) bus network in each year since 2007, also broken down by the amount invested in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Edinburgh and (iii) Glasgow.

Investing in rail is a key priority of the Scottish Government, with over £7 billion committed since 2007 to support Network Rail’s operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the rail infrastructure, and to deliver the economic and social benefits of the ScotRail franchise contract across the full network. This core investment is not disaggregated to individual route levels.

In respect of investment in the bus network we are unable to provide a geographical analysis. The national figures for Support for Bus Services in respect of Concessionary Fares and the Bus Service Operators Grant are published on the Transport Scotland website to 2015-16 - https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-no-35-2016-edition/. The investment in respect of 2016-17 is £53m for the Bus Service Operators Grant and £194m for Concessionary Travel.

The details of support for the Green Bus Fund are also published on the Transport Scotland website - https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/scottish-green-bus-fund/#45456

The Scottish Government also provided support for the Bus Investment Fund in financial years 2013-14 (£1m), 2014-15 (£2m) and 2015-16 (£4m).

Question reference: S5W-12889

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the 0.8% decrease in total sales in the last year reported by the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG.

Although the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor is a useful indication of retail trends the more widely recognised measure of retail sales activity is the Retail Sales Index, based on the Retail Sales Inquiry carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This survey captures approximately 90 per cent of the British retail industry in terms of turnover. Estimates of the Retail Sales Index for Scotland are produced by the Scottish Government. The latest release (2017 Q3) showed that the volume of retail sales in Scotland remained stable in 2017 Q3 compared to the previous quarter (2017 Q2) and expanded on an annual basis (2017 Q3 on 2016 Q3) by 0.6 per cent.

We recognise, and these figures show, that UK Government austerity measures and Brexit are affecting consumer confidence and spending. Despite this, we are doing everything within our powers to support our economy, including our retailers. For example, this year we have reduced the business rates poundage by 3.7 per cent and funded total rates relief of around £660 million, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which will lift 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. In addition, we are working with the Scottish Retail Consortium to develop a retail strategy which will set out a clear road map for future tax and regulatory changes.

Question reference: S5W-12886

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address A&E waiting times, in light of reports from NHS Scotland that almost 800 people faced long delays in September 2017, an increase of 42% from the previous year.

The Scottish Government National Unscheduled Care Team is working with hospitals across Scotland to minimise unnecessary long delays in A&E departments and deliver safe, person centred and effective care to every patient, every time through the six essential action improvement programme.

Scotland has outperformed the rest of the UK in terms of performance against the four hour A&E target for more than two and a half years and has the lowest rate of long (12 hour) delays in the UK. Figures released this week (5 December) show that the number of patients delayed more than 8 and 12 hours in October 2017 has reduced compared to the previous month (September 2017) and has also reduced by more than 10% and almost 50% respectively compared to the equivalent period the previous year; the number of patients waiting over 12 hours in October 2017 was the lowest in any October since 2013.

However, we recognise that more needs to be done to sustainably improve performance especially as we go in to the winter period, which is why we have put record investment and increased levels of staffing into hospitals to further reduce waits in A&E departments. I recently announced an additional £5million to support winter resilience this year, over and above the £9 million, announced in May 2017, to support unscheduled care - total of £14 million for winter 2017.

Question reference: S5W-12909

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been refunded through the Delay Repay Guarantee scheme for delayed train services in the last year.

Question reference: S5W-12887

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s reported concerns that many emergency departments lack a clear governance framework, often due to the cost of software.

Question reference: S5W-12888

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on requiring Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) on all cars, given reports that exceeding the speed limit was a factor in 291 car crashes in 2017, representing a rise of 26% since 2013.

Requiring the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) – formerly known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation – on all cars would be a reserved matter, as it relates to the regulation of the construction and use of motor vehicles. However, Scotland’s Road Safety Framework contains a commitment to promote the voluntary use of ISA, which the Scottish Government is currently exploring.

Benefits
Challenges
Legislative barriers
Availability
Involvement (for example, manufactures, insurance companies and governments)

This work will help inform future ISA policy direction

Question reference: S5W-12908

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the journey time will be for the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link to connect to the rail network, and how this compares with the present bus service.

The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils and it is for their project team to assess the future journey time of services. The recent independent audit commissioned by Scottish Ministers has highlighted that there are a number of factors that affect journey time when comparing the tram-train and bus, this includes the actual origin and destination of trips, the ease of access to either tram-train or bus, service frequency and journey times on the M8 and in Glasgow City Centre. These all vary over the course of the day.

A copy of the full audit report and executive summary can be found at:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/strategy/city-and-regional-growth-deals/#52913

Question reference: S5W-12907

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the economic impact of the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link.

The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils therefore it is for their project team to undertake the economic analysis of the costs, benefits and impacts of their proposals. An independent audit of the Outline Business Case was commissioned by Scottish Ministers, which included a review of the economic case as presented. A copy of the full audit report and executive summary can be found at:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/strategy/city-and-regional-growth-deals/#52913

Question reference: S5F-01800

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2017

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to improve the availability of organs viable for donation and transplant.