Jamie McGrigor

3 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20838 by Keith Brown on 9 May 2014, whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with making the MV Argyll Flyer the lead vessel.     

Answer · Keith Brown: The MV Argyll Flyer was switched to 'lead' vessel on the Gourock-Dunoon route to improve reliability, following a formal request to Transport Scotland from local ferry users. This switch required changes to the established rosters and shift patterns. These, …

20 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20999 by Keith Brown on 19 May 2014, who owns the shares of David MacBrayne Limited and whether the owners are able to remove the retained reserves held by the company.

Answer · Keith Brown: The shares of David MacBrayne Ltd (DML) are owned 100% by the Scottish Ministers. Any decision to pay a dividend to the shareholder would be made by the DML board of directors with due regard to their fiduciary duties.

19 May 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reverse the projected population decline in Argyll and Bute.

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20841 by Keith Brown on 9 May 2014, what the lay-up costs of the craft were in 2013-14, and what the reason is for any difference with the 2012-13 figure.

Answer · Keith Brown: The MV Coruisk was not in lay-up in 2013-14 as it was operating on the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay route prior to moving to Gourock-Dunoon and therefore incurred no lay-up costs.

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20840 by Keith Brown on 9 May 2014, whether it will provide a breakdown of the craft's deployment costs for (a) Argyll Ferries and (b) Transport Scotland. 

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-21206 on 2 June 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybus…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20840 by Keith Brown on 9 May 2014, whether the difference in costs arose because of the anticipated lay-up costs for the MV Coruisk had it not been deployed on the Gourock-Dunoon route.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost to Argyll Ferries (£658,000) of the deployment of the MV Coruisk includes a commercial charter fee from CalMac Ferries for a fully crewed vessel plus Argyll Ferries’ additional costs for fuel, berthing dues and ticketing staff. The net cost to Trans…

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the lay-up period of the MV Coruisk was in winter (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Answer · Keith Brown: The lay-up period for 2012-13 was from 8 December 2012 until 27 March 2013. There was no lay-up period for 2013-14.

16 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20838 by Keith Brown on 9 May 2014, what the cost is of each of the revisions.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost of the revisions is detailed in the following table:- Revision Cost Strathclyde Passenger Transport have reduced the level of grant payable for the carriage of concessionary card holders £4,000.00 Funding was provided for training to meet the re…

6 May 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of David MacBrayne Limited's bid to operate ferry services between the Swedish mainland and Gotland, and whether permission to make the bid was granted at ministerial level.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost of bidding for this and any future contracts will be met from David MacBrayne Ltd’s own reserves and any financial returns that may have accrued from these contracts would have been reinvested in the company. It is considered that these costs are com…

2 May 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the condition of the road network in the Highlands and Islands.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20487 by Keith Brown on 22 April 2014, on how many of the 28 occasions that the MV Coruisk was used the MV Ali Cat and the MV Argyll Flyer were both unable to operate.

Answer · Keith Brown: 28.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) scheduled sailings, (b) sailings completed on schedule, (c) sailings cancelled due to weather conditions and (d) sailings cancelled due to technical issues there were on Scottish Government-subsidised ferry services between 19 December 2013 and 11 March 2014.

Answer · Keith Brown: Please see the information below for services subsidised by the Scottish Government through the Clyde and Hebrides, Northern Isles and Gourock-Dunoon Ferry Services contracts: scheduled sailings 30,536 sailings completed on schedule 29,969 Sailings can…

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm that the replacement bus service will continue to operate between Gourock and Dunoon using the Western Ferries service when the Argyll Ferries Ltd service is suspended for the remainder of the contract.

Answer · Keith Brown: The replacement bus service will continue to be provided by Argyll Ferries Ltd under their current contract with the Scottish Ministers for as long this is required for the maintenance of a resilient public service.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the lay-up costs were of the MV Coruisk for the 2012-13 winter period.

Answer · Keith Brown: The lay-up costs for the MV Coruisk for the 2012-13 winter period, December 2012 to March 2013, were £379,000.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) costs to Argyll Ferries Ltd and (b) net costs to Transport Scotland of the MV Coruisk's deployment on the Gourock to Dunoon route.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost of the MV Coruisk’s deployment on the Gourock to Dunoon route in winter 2013-14 was (a) £658,000 to Argyll Ferries Ltd and (b) £142,000 net costs to Transport Scotland.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20487 by Keith Brown on 22 April 2014, how many passengers the MV Coruisk carried on the 28 occasions.

Answer · Keith Brown: 477.

24 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-20524 by Keith Brown on 22 April 2014, for what reason the costs for the Argyll Ferries Ltd public service contract have risen compared with the figures provided in response to question S4W-08559 in 2012.

Answer · Keith Brown: A number of revisions have been made to the financial base case of the contract with Argyll Ferries Ltd. These changes are all in accordance with the provisions of that contract: SPT have reduced the level of grant payable for the carriage of concessionary c…

17 Apr 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that dialysis services are accessible.

4 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on communities and tourism, what its position is on the continued operation of unstaffed petrol stations on islands, and what support it provides if unmanned stations no longer comply with regulations.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20662 on 30 April 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…

4 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on the community and tourism, what action it is taking to support the continued operation of the petrol station on Jura.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government recognises the unique challenges that face Scotland’s island communities and is committed to maintaining a supportive business environment to enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities available, including the development …

2 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the adjusted budgeted grant figures for the remaining years of the Argyll Ferries Ltd public services obligation (PSO), including the costs associated with the deployment of the MV Coruisk, the replacement bus service and any other anticipated payments made in rel…

Answer · Keith Brown: Please see the following information relating to the remaining three years of the Argyll Ferries Ltd public service contract: Contract year (July-June) Grant (£)’000 Fuel Cost (£)’000 2014-15 2,160 tbc 2015-16 2,174 tbc 2016-17 2,237 tbc This …

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the MV Coruisk will be deployed on the Gourock-Dunoon route in winter 2014-15 and on the Wemyss Bay-Rothesay route.

Answer · Keith Brown: A trial of the MV Coruisk on the route had been proposed and the results of this winter’s deployment will provide good information to inform future decision making. The purpose of the deployment was to improve the resilience and reliability of the service thi…

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, while MV Coruisk was deployed on the Dunoon-Gourock route, how many scheduled sailings of the MV (a) Ali Cat and (b) Argyll Flyer were anticipated; how many were completed; how many were late, and how many were cancelled (i) due to weather conditions, (ii) for technical reasons and (iii…

Answer · Keith Brown: During the period of the deployment of the MV Coruisk, the MV Ali Cat had 1894 scheduled sailings. 1733 of these scheduled sailings were completed and 109 were late. 159 scheduled sailings of the MV AliCat were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, non…

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many passengers travelled on the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon route.

Answer · Keith Brown: The MV Coruisk carried 9514 passengers during the period of her deployment.

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the MV Coruisk was deployed on the Dunoon-Gourock route to cover for the MV Ali Cat or the MV Argyll Flyer when they were unable to operate due to weather conditions and on how many occasions the MV Coruisk was late.

Answer · Keith Brown: The MV Coruisk covered the route when the other 2 vessels were unable to sail on 133 occasions. The MV Coruisk was late on 224 occasions.

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many scheduled peak sailings from Monday to Saturday it anticipated for the MV Coruisk on the Dunoon-Gourock route; how many scheduled sailings took place and how many sailings were cancelled, (a) as a result of weather conditions, (b) for technical reasons or (c) due to unavailabili…

Answer · Keith Brown: There were 479 scheduled peak sailings for the MV Coruisk with 444 of these scheduled sailings taking place. 32 scheduled sailings were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, one for technical reasons and two due to the unavailability of the Gourock pie…

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to Argyll Ferries Limited was of deploying the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon route.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost to Argyll Ferries Ltd of deploying the MV Coruisk on the Gourock-Dunoon service this winter was £658,000. The net cost to Transport Scotland was £142,000.

1 Apr 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the MV Coruisk was deployed on the Dunoon-Gourock route in light of advice from CalMac that it was not well suited to the route and there was no guarantee that it would provide a more reliable service.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Argyll Ferries Ltd (AFL) Gourock-Dunoon service suffered significant weather disruption during winter 2012-13 with a significant deterioration on the previous winter. Bad weather affected reliability during the winter season (November 2012 to March 2013) …

31 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement the commitment in the National Marine Plan to increase salmon production sustainably by 4% each year from 154,000 tonnes in 2010 to 210,000 tonnes by 2020.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is fully supportive of aquaculture and wild fisheries as reflected by the National Marine Plan. Both are key sectors underpinning sustainable economic growth that supports employment and economic wellbeing of many fragile rural communi…

31 Mar 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its criteria are for determining whether a company is entitled to state aid; whether it adopts a so-called blanket approach in applying the criteria, and, if so, what steps are available to a company that wants to amend its classification.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government applies the criteria set by the European Commission for state aid eligibility. The main criteria are the beneficiary’s sector, size, and the activities being funded. It is therefore impossible to have a blanket approach in applying the…