Parliamentary questions
Lewis Macdonald
2,224 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what legal obligation has been undertaken by each signatory party as a result of signing the Heads of Terms agreement for the Aberdeen City Region Deal.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Heads of Terms agreement outlines the principles of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. Although the Heads of Terms does not form a legally binding contract it signifies both the Scottish and UK Governments' commitment to the region. Further detail on the impl…
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it made its decision to allocate £9 million to digital infrastructure developments in Aberdeen and when it first announced that decision.
Answer · John Swinney: The decision to allocate an additional £10 million over and above the city deal agreement for digital infrastructure development was taken following several months of work with local partners and was announced on 28 January 2016.
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it made its decision to allocate £24 million for design and construction of a new junction at Laurencekirk on the A90 and when it first announced that decision.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The decision to allocate an additional £24 million over and above the City Deal agreement for improvements to the A90/A937 Junction at Laurencekirk was taken following several months of work with local partners and was announced on 28 January 2016.
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it made its decision to allocate £20 million to infrastructure to support housing development in Aberdeen and when it first announced that decision.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: This decision was made as part of our reflections on the proposition put forward by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils for an infrastructure fund, which we see as beneficial to expanding housing supply in the area. It was announced as part of the Aberde…
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it made its decision to allocate £200 million of funding for the dual tracking of the East Coast railway line at Montrose and when it first announced that decision.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government committed to provide additional funding for rail improvements during its consideration of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. This new funding announced on 28 January 2016 demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to investing in o…
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what legal obligation it has undertaken in relation to its announcements of planned funding for (a) the dualling of the East Coast rail line at Montrose, (b) infrastructure to support housing development, (c) work on a new junction on the A90 at Laurencekirk and (d) digital infrastructur…
Answer · Derek Mackay: The announcement that the Scottish Government will invest a further £254 million over a period of up to 10 years in addition to the City Deal funding signifies our commitment to support the region to help achieve the ambitions of regional partners. Further de…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the allocation for Haudagain roundabout improvements was for (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18 in its draft budget published on 9 October 2014.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The draft budget published on 9 October 2014 set out the Scottish Government’s spending plans for 2015-16 and confirmed that we would progress development work on the A90 Haudagain improvement. The current projected spend for Haudagain in 2015-16 is £0.78 mil…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S4O-05500 by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2016 (Official Report, c. 5) how many jobs have been lost in Scotland as a result of the downturn in the oil and gas sector.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S4O-05546 on 10 February 2016. Please see the link to the Official Report: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10364.
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of its contribution to the Aberdeen City region deal, including (a) how much it will spend on each project and (b) in which years the spending will take place.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish and UK Governments are committed to jointly investing up to £250 million on a 50:50 basis over the next 10 years to support innovation, digital connectivity, the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour and transport projects. The Scottish Government will w…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how it will allocate and (b) when it will spend the £20 million in infrastructure funding to support the construction of houses, and how many houses this additional infrastructure will support.
Answer · Margaret Burgess: Officials have had early discussions with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Council. A considerable amount of work will now have to be done by local authorities with the housing industry to develop concrete proposals that when funded will unlock development at scale…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when work will begin on the extension of the digital infrastructure in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and when it will be completed.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29556 on 9 February 2016. 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/parliamentaryb…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on the extension of the digital infrastructure in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in each of the next three years.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is working closely with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils as part of the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme. The co-investment being delivered through the programme will extend fibre broadband coverage a…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when work will begin on improvements to the A90/A937 south junction at Laurencekirk, and when it will be completed.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Transport Scotland will look to appoint consultants and begin work to take the scheme through design development and statutory authorisation. It is not yet possible to say when a new junction will be completed as this is dependent on many factors which will b…
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when work will begin on dualling the single track stretch of the East Coast railway line at Montrose, and when it will be completed.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Discussions are underway with the ScotRail Alliance to develop options and a suitable programme for delivery. The works will be completed over the same time period as the City Region Deal.
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on improvements to the A90/A937 south junction at Laurencekirk in each of the next three years.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The profile of spend will be confirmed as the project progresses and related to the programme necessary to take the design through statutory processes as quickly as possible.
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it will spend on dualling the single track stretch of the East Coast railway line at Montrose in each of the next three years.
Answer · Derek Mackay: In addition to its support to the Aberdeen City Region Deal, the Scottish Government is committing an additional £200 million to increase line speeds and remove major capacity constraints along key sections of the route between Aberdeen and Dundee, including …
28 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S4O-05500 by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2016 (Official Report, c. 5), how many apprenticeships have been lost in Scotland as a result of the downturn in the oil and gas sector.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government is aware of 58 Modern Apprentices in the oil and gas sector who have been made redundant since December 2014 and that 38 of these Modern Apprentices are back in work. Work is underway through our skills agency, Skills Development Scotl…
27 Jan 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects to deliver the commitment that it made on 30 April 2014 that four specialist major trauma centres will be operational from 2016.
14 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been secured through the work of the Energy Jobs Taskforce.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The oil and gas sector faces a range of challenges as a result of the lower oil price. Within this context, if was agreed that the Energy Jobs Taskforce would implement a co-ordinated response to ensure Scotland retains, and where possible grows, the level of…
14 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-27023 by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 August 2015, whether it will provide an update on how many modern apprentices in the offshore oil and gas sector have been hired using the Adopt an Apprentice scheme.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: As explained in the response to S4W-27023, the figures for the enhanced oil and gas Adopt an Apprentice offer relate to the sector as a whole; it is not possible to provide figures relating to offshore employers only. As at 19 January 2016, Skills Developmen…
14 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many modern apprentices in the oil and gas sector have been made redundant each year, and what information it has regarding how many subsequently found (a) a new position in the sector, and at what level, (b) a modern apprenticeship elsewhere and (c) other employment or training.
Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. I will ask the Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland to write to you with the information you have requested.
12 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28954 by Shona Robison on 8 January 2016, what the result was of the testing of the new NHS 24 IT system between March and September 2015, and what issues were identified during this.
Answer · Shona Robison: NHS 24 have confirmed to Scottish Government that the testing programme for implementation of the new IT system in 2015 followed industry standard best practice. NHS 24 confirm that the programme took a phased approach and covered a wide range of phases desig…
12 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-28956 by Shona Robison on 6 January 2016, if none of the additional £41.6 million being spent on the procurement of the new IT system is as a result of the system failure in October 2015, (a) what the reason is for the additional expenditure and (b)…
Answer · Shona Robison: The delay of the implementation of the Future Programme from the original business case until October 2015 cost an additional £41.6 million which is broken down as follows: Double running of legacy and new system £11.7 million Contract costs £14.3 million…
11 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to apply a total local authority revenue support funding floor in the review period beginning April 2016.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has no plans to remove the total local authority revenue support funding floor, which provides funding protection and stability for all local authorities, from future local government finance settlements.
11 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the average local authority revenue support per capita Aberdeen City Council will be given in 2016-17.
Answer · John Swinney: In 2016-17, Aberdeen City Council's per capita revenue grant support from the Scottish Government will be 85% of the adjusted Scottish average figure.
11 Jan 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the average local authority revenue support per capita Aberdeen City Council has received in each year since 2011-12.
Answer · John Swinney: In 2011-12 Aberdeen City Council's per capita revenue grant support from the Scottish Government was 83.4% of the Scottish average figure. Following the introduction of the new funding floor which guarantees all local authorities 85% of the Scottish average r…
18 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the design and development work in preparation for the improvements to the Haudagain roundabout began.
Answer · Keith Brown: Following resolution of the legal challenge submitted against the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, design consultants for the Haudagain scheme were appointed in May 2013. Their work confirmed that the original preferred option through Middlefield best met t…
18 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date work will begin on the Haudagain roundabout improvements.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is committed to commencing improvements at the Haudagain Roundabout following completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.
18 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the 2015-16 budget is for the Haudagain roundabout improvements; how much has been allocated for (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18, and whether these budgets were revised as a result of the proposals in the Draft Budget 2016-17 and, if so, what the changes were.
Answer · Keith Brown: The projected spend for Haudagain (excluding land) is £0.7 million in 2015-16, £1.5 million in 2016-17 and £9.6 million in 2017-18. The 2016-17 funding announced in the draft budget will continue essential preparation work and, subject to completing the nece…
15 Dec 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the closure of the Forth Road Bridge has had on rail services to and from Aberdeen.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The closure of the Forth Road Bridge has not had a significant effect on trains to or from Aberdeen.