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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-11048

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions regarding public ferry contracts it has had with private operators in Scotland since 1 October 2016, and when the last such meeting took place.

Question reference: S6W-11074

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise has formally excluded companies or organisations that have complained about the award of loans or grants from receiving them.

Questions S6W-11074 - 77 are operational matters for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and I have asked Stuart Black, HIE’s Chief Executive to respond directly. I have also provided detail below which I hope the member will find helpful.

The agency's statutory functions are laid out under the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 (the Act). It fulfils a series of financial duties and other functions, under Section 24 of the Act. It also operates under a range of general and specific powers, set out in full in Section 8 of the Act.

HIE is required to follow guidance on the proper handling and reporting of public funds, as detailed in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM). This includes its duty to focus its activities to deliver Best Value. The SPFM is also clear that guidance in HM Treasury’s Green Book has been adopted by the Scottish Government and applies to all organisations to which the SPFM is directly applicable.

HIE operates a number of funding schemes for which companies and other organisations can apply. For one-off and bespoke support, HIE’s process is aligned to treasury appraisal principles with market failure being a key consideration for all funding decisions. Any support provided by the Scottish Government and its associated public bodies must be contingent upon completion of satisfactory due diligence as required by the Borrowing, Lending & Investment section of the SPFM. This would require a robust business case. Prior to any investment, all other avenues of finance should have been explored and the additionality of HIE’s intervention confirmed. This includes availability of other government schemes, financing options and private sector support. Any investment should also consider Government or public sector support already being provided to the business.

HIE does not exclude companies or organisations that have submitted complaints. Its funding is discretionary and decisions are supported by proportionate appraisal aligned to Treasury guidance and Best Value characteristics.

Question reference: S6W-11133

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what projections or estimates it has for the amount of money that will be collected through the implementation of Low Emission Zones and the subsequent penalties imposed.

The Scottish Government will not collect any monies as a result of Low Emission Zone enforcement. Any funds received by the relevant local authority will be ring fenced for LEZ enforcement system running costs, and/or air quality improvement works. The penalty charge structure of the LEZs has been designed to deter entry by non-compliant vehicles, in addition, a grace period has been included so that members of the public have time to familiarise themselves with LEZs and how they might impact their lives and travel habits. To help with this, we have launched a national website and a targeted marketing campaign. We anticipate that this will result in fewer fines being issued.

Question reference: S6W-11119

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review, and consider increasing, the sum of £74 million that has been allocated to the Community Bus Fund, in light of reports that the total cost of bus franchising in Manchester alone is estimated to be £200 million.

The Scottish Government introduced the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to provide an enhanced suite of options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to their local needs. Local Authorities now have the power to run their own bus services, and secondary legislation to enable bus franchising and partnership options will be introduced before the end of 2023.

It is important that the options within the Transport Act 2019 are fully explored to ensure they are appropriate for the area, and are sustainable for local authorities long term. As such, the Community Bus Fund aims to support local authorities to explore their powers under the Transport Act 2019, and enable options to be trialled on a smaller scale.

Question reference: S6W-11099

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Fampridine will be made available on the NHS for people living with multiple sclerosis.

Fampridine (Fampyra ®) was accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) as a treatment for improvement of walking in adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with walking disability, with a score of 4-7 on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) in April 2020.

There is also an alternative route of access to fampridine out with the SMC advice through the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two process, where a doctor considers there would be a clinical benefit for an individual on a case-by-case basis. Individuals can discuss this option with their treating clinician.

It is worth noting that the decision to prescribe any medicine for an individual, and which medicine to prescribe, is entirely one for the clinician in charge of the individual’s care to make, having taken into account their clinical condition.

Question reference: S6W-11077

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Highlands and Islands Enterprise needs to demonstrate best value when attempting to address market failure in particular companies.

Question reference: S6W-11213

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10441 by Jenny Gilruth on 20 September 2022, in light of it being late September, how it defines “later this year”; whether it will provide a specific date or more specific timescale for the publication of the findings; for what reason it did not provide a specific date or more specific timescale in its answer; whether there has been a delay to the publication, and, if so, for what reasons.

Question reference: S6W-11104

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement by the Minister for Transport on 8 September 2022 on the Future of Scottish Ferries, what definition of a “period of prolonged disruption” it will use to convene meetings of the proposed ferries resilience group.

Question reference: S6W-11106

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the private ferry companies that have expressed an interest in bidding for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract on each occasion that it was put out to tender.

Information on the organisations that were invited to tender for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract on each occasion that it was put to tender is already in the public domain and is below

For CHFS1 tender in 2005 - Three organisations (Western Ferries, Caledonian MacBrayne and V-Ships) completed and returned a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire by the closing date of 15 December 2005.

For CHFS2 tender in 2016 - CalMac Ferries Limited and Serco Caledonian Ferries Limited both passed the pre-qualification stage of the process and were invited to submit tenders.

Question reference: S6W-11317

Current Status: Withdrawn