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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-10864

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains is enforced, and who it is enforced by.

Question reference: S6W-10967

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Transport last visited Glasgow Airport.

Question reference: S6W-10961

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Transport Scotland has reportedly exceeded its projected timescale of six months to carry out the roadworks between Cairnryan and Glenapp on the A77 by over four years, and whether it will provide (a) an urgent update on the status of these roadworks and (b) a timescale for their completion, in order to prevent any further disruption due to any single-lane traffic convoy systems for both HGV traffic, and other drivers, on the A77 arterial route.

I understand the frustration of local communities and users of the A77 and the difficulties and delays they cause, but these works are essential to maintain the safety and resilience of this section of the A77. Work at Carlock Wall commenced in February 2020 and was due to be completed by the end of that year. However, unforeseen adverse ground conditions were identified during construction. This included bed rock to support the new wall being much deeper than anticipated and significant volumes of unstable material on the existing slope face requiring additional stabilisation. Work started immediately to tackle both of these issues. Good progress has been made despite impacts associated with Covid-19. Carriageway re-opening to two way traffic is currently programmed to be completed by late Autumn 2022. Further landscaping and finishing works to areas remote from the carriageway will be complete in Spring 2023.

Question reference: S6W-10861

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what estimates it has made of any potential revenue loss to ScotRail of not selling alcohol on trains.

Question reference: S6W-10969

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase the uptake of the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme, in light of reports from First Bus of just a 50% uptake since the scheme went live in January 2022.

We’re seeing many young people already benefitting from the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme, with well over 20 million journeys having been made since its commencement in January. We have now launched a national marketing campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the scheme and, ultimately, encourage more young people to apply and enjoy the benefits of free bus travel.

Transport Scotland has also provided communications and promotional resources for stakeholders at freebus.scot, and these have been shared with over 300 public, private and third sector organisations who work with young people and families, and within the transport sector.

Question reference: S6W-10865

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times enforcement action has been taken in relation to the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains, and what estimate it has made of how many times the ban has been breached.

Question reference: S6W-10746

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many laptops it has purchased since 1 March 2020, broken down by the brand of laptop, and what the total cost was of these purchases.

Question reference: S6W-10912

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Scotland will roll out the use of HeartFlow technology across all NHS boards, following its introduction in NHS Western Isles.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and provide advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing health technologies (excluding medicines). The SHTG made a recommendation in 2021 on the use of HeartFlow: 20210714-heartflow-adaptation-v20.pdf (shtg.scot) . Health boards are required to consider SHTG’s advice.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, includes the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). Work to promote HeartFlow technology across Health Boards is a key activity for the MPPP cardiology specialty group.

More information on the Centre for Sustainable Delivery can be found here: CfSD :: NHS Golden Jubilee , with information on the cardiology specialty network available here: Cardiology | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot).

Question reference: S6W-10747

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many computers it has purchased for each of its directorates in each of the last five years.

The breakdown of this information by Directorate is not held centrally and to collate this information would be at disproportionate costs. Computers have been defined as any device which has been configured for use on the SCOTS Network. The overall number for Scottish Government over the past 5 years are

Year	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023
Number of Computers	1523	6030	4070	3569	NIL to date

Question reference: S6W-10711

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent (a) discussions it has had on and (b) consideration it has given to improving lifeline interisland services in Orkney.

I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.

Number of laptops	Brand	Total Cost (inc VAT)
7584	HP	£4,845,550
55	Microsoft	£78,900