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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-09432

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07791 by Lorna Slater on 3 May 2022, whether it will provide an update on the status of the discussions, and when it anticipates contracts will be signed.

On 19 July 2022, Circularity Scotland Ltd announced that it has signed a contract with Biffa to become Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme’s logistics service provider.

The award of this contract is a key milestone in the roll out of the scheme and the agreement is expected to create around 500 jobs in Scotland. It comes after several months of close collaboration between Circularity Scotland and Biffa as they progress towards DRS going live in August next year.

Work is also underway to deliver the IT infrastructure for the scheme, and I expect the contract for IT services to be finalised very shortly.

Question reference: S6W-09516

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will list the routes within the scope of the Ferries Plan 2013-22 that are provided “without government intervention”.

Question reference: S6W-09480

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether any attempt has been made to measure the financial and economic losses to the Uist community from ferry disruptions in 2022.

As the member will know, disruption to the network in early 2022 linked directly to weather conditions and Covid impacts. Whilst no specific analysis of the financial and economic impacts from this ferry disruption on the Uist community has been undertaken, the Scottish Government recognises the impact these disruptions have on island life.

CalMac forms part of the local resilience partnership and prioritises the shipment of essential supplies during disruption to minimise welfare issues on the islands. Transport Scotland works with CalMac to monitor the impact of cancellations, listening to feedback directly from island communities and local resilience partnerships as well as transport operators.

Question reference: S6W-09517

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will list the ferry routes that have been prioritised for assessment.

The Scottish Government is prioritising those routes associated with live investment projects as set out in the answer to the question S6W-06702 on 8 March 2022, namely Mallaig – Lochboisdale Vessel Replacement Project, Oban – Craignure and Gourock – Dunoon – Kilcreggan. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-09518

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06701 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022, whether it will provide an update on the timescales for carrying out the (a) community needs and (b) market assessments.

Question reference: S6W-09527

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on the potential impact of the reported low-wage crewing model, imposed by P&O Ferries, on seafarers working for other ferry operators.

Question reference: S6W-09528

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the ports industry in Scotland regarding the UK Government’s legislative response to P&O Ferries replacement of seafarers in Scotland with agency crew, reportedly being paid below the minimum wage, from 17 March 2022.

Question reference: S6W-09478

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to translate the full 72-page publication, Independence in the Modern World. Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland?, into other languages.

Question reference: S6W-09493

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what further upgrades it has planned for the A77 in 2022.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving safety on our trunk roads including the A77. While there are no road improvement schemes or upgrades planned for the A77 in 2022, £6.75m has been allocated for the A77 through our provisional road maintenance programme for financial year 2022-23.

The Scottish Government has invested over £105 million on the A77 since 2007 to March 2022 to ensure its safe and efficient operation. In addition, we have spent approximately £64 million on five separate road schemes on the A77 including the recent completion of the £29m Maybole bypass which opened in January 2022 .

Question reference: S6W-09479

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the new booking system for CalMac Ferries, Ar Turas, will gauge unmet demand for ferry services, and, if not, what systems can be put in place to ensure that unmet demand is recorded.

CalMac has noted that it is not possible to measure unmet demand using booking systems, including the eBooking solution being delivered by the Ar Turas Programme. We understand the desire to measure bookings “not made” for a specific set of reasons, principally vessel capacity on peak-demand sailings.

CalMac has been running a working group with a number of CalMac Community Board members during the last 18 months to help clarify and support understanding of measures that can be tracked. The group has explored a range of ideas and CalMac has developed a number of reports designed to support enhanced understanding of how and when vehicle bookings are made, amended, cancelled and the resulting impact on capacity. These requirements have been taken-forward for delivery against the improved data that the new system will capture.

A number of these items have already been made available in monthly Ferry User Group performance reporting packs.