Mike Rumbles

6 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether ministers were aware that government officials had reportedly held meetings with representatives of the United States developer, Todd Warnock, regarding the proposed golf links development at Dornoch.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Ministers were aware that Scottish Government officials had pre-application meetings with representatives of the developer regarding the proposed golf links development at Coul Links near Dornoch.

6 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposed golf links development at Dornoch.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The planning application for a golf course at Coul Links near Dornoch is currently under consideration by The Highland Council. As this is a live application and could come before Scottish Ministers in the future, it would be inappropriate to comment on this …

2 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported incident on the ScotRail Edinburgh to Aberdeen service on 1 February 2018, which involved the evacuation of passengers at Cupar Station due to a fire on the undersection of a 170 Class carriage, whether it will publish a full report of the incident, and whether …

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Day to day operation of the ScotRail Franchise is the responsibility of Abellio ScotRail, the safety case holder and vehicle maintainer. It is their responsibility for the publication for any reporting through established rail industry processes. ScotRail has…

1 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to replace the three-band income tax rates system with the proposed five-band system, and whether there will be any additional cost to administering the new system.

Answer · Derek Mackay: HMRC estimate total implementation costs of between £20m and £25m for the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, with a further £2.6m for the Scotland Act 2016 income tax powers. These costs are required to implement the income tax powers devolved to the Scottish Parli…

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding there is to ensure that users of British Sign Language have a qualified interpreter during healthcare appointments.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The responsibility for compliance with legislation is a specific responsibility of individual NHS Boards. We would expect Health Boards to deliver their legislative commitments within their baseline funding allocation.

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that users of British Sign Language have a qualified interpreter during healthcare appointments.

Answer · Maureen Watt: The Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities clearly sets out what everyone can expect when they use NHS Scotland services and receive care. This includes the right to be given the information they need in a way they can understand. Under the Equality …

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ScotRail trains have skipped stops in the last year; how this compares to previous years; which stations are most frequently skipped; how many times trains have failed to stop at these stations in the last year; at what times of the day skipped stops normally occur, and what act…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In terms of how many ScotRail trains have skipped stops in the last year and in previous years, the situation is as follows: Year/period Services skip-stopped % 2015-16 0.40% 2016-17 0.58% 2017-18, to period 10 (rolling annual total) 0.78% Th…

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13961 by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2018, on what date it plans to publish the analysis of responses to the consultation on concessionary travel.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There was a considerable response to our consultation on the National Concessionary Travel Scheme, with over 2,800 members of the public and more than 100 organisations offering their views. We will consider all the views expressed during the consultation pro…

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13951 by Fergus Ewing on 29 January 2018, what its position is on Audit Scotland's statement in its document, Common Agricultural Policy Futures programme: further update, issued on 15 June 2017, that funding the National Basic Payment Scheme loan f…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The 2016 Loan Scheme was funded via financial transaction loan recoveries from the LFASS 2015 scheme as well as from emerging underspends identified throughout the financial year. Financial Transaction and capital support was increased at budget revision whi…

31 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13951 by Fergus Ewing on 29 January 2018, whether the National Basic Payment Scheme loans are funded from the Scottish Government's financial transactions budget; what percentage of this budget has been used for these loans in each year since they w…

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Loans for the 2015 and 2016 National Basic Payment Scheme Loans were made in financial year 2016-17. £53.5m or 14.5% of the total financial transactions budget for the year was provided to the Loan Scheme, identified from emerging underspends throughout the f…

19 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Grampian performance standards recorded by ISD Scotland have been in decline.

Answer · Shona Robison: Heath and social care services are under increasing pressure to meet service demand. The Scottish Government are committed to delivering the investment and reform necessary to ensure our NHS is fit for the changing needs of a 21st century Scotland. We are u…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of an increase of 5.8% to the budget for concessionary fares for bus travel and the public consultation seeking views on concessionary travel now having closed, by what date it will publish its plans for the future of concessionary bus travel.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We have received close to 3,000 responses to our consultation on the National Concessionary Travel Scheme. This is a considerable response and we will need to consider the views expressed during the consultation process carefully. The analysis of responses wi…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the recently-published ISD Scotland statistics, which record people reporting to A&E in NHS Grampian waiting over 12 hours to be seen by a nurse or doctor, and what its position is on concerns that a reported lack of resources for the NHS board is …

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is working with hospitals across Scotland, including NHS Grampian, to minimise unnecessary long delays in A&E departments and deliver safe, person centred and effective care to every patient, every time through the six essential action…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how NHS Grampian's level of performance compares with that of the other NHS boards.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Grampian's Performance against the Local Delivery Plan Standards is reported through Scotland Performs alongside that of other NHS Boards. This information can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/About/Performance/scotPerforms/NHSScotlandperformance

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of staff overtime accrued to process common agricultural basic payments in each year since 2015-16.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Details of overtime accrued are as follows  Year Amount Notes 2015-16 £531k 2016-17 £430k 2017-18 £375k To end of December 2017 Please note that the figures in each case are totals, across the Rural Payments and inspections Division (RPID) and …

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the debate on motion S5M-08497 on the Promotion of Active Travel in Scotland on 31 October 2017, whether it plans to publish details of a programme to provide universal access to cycle training for school pupils and, if so, when; how much a programme is estimated to cost, and…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In 2018-19 all Scottish schools will have access to Bikeability Scotland training, which is administered on our behalf by Cycling Scotland. While it is a matter for individual schools whether they access this training, we intend that funding will be available…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) will be open to traffic.

Answer · Keith Brown: I previously stated that the AWPR was scheduled to open this Spring and indeed, work has been progressing at pace in recent months. However, following the announcement that Carillion filed for insolvency on 15 January, it is important that we now take the nec…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns regarding the possible closure of the NHS Tayside minor injury units in North Angus.

Answer · Shona Robison: Redesign of the Minor Injuries and Illness service in Angus is a matter for the Angus Integration Joint Board working with its NHS and Local Authority partners. We expect provision of modern, high quality services across health and social care.

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the next round of transformational changes for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and what its goals for these are.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: Service transformation is one of the 10 priorities set out in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016. The goal of service transformation is to create a modern and effective fire service which meets new and emerging risks facing communities in Scotlan…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland regarding branch closures in rural communities.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Following the Royal Bank of Scotland's announcement on 1 December of a further 62 Scottish branch closures I spoke with the bank's Managing Director, Personal Banking in Scotland to immediately raise the Scottish Government's concerns and to seek assurances t…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the IT system responsible for processing common agricultural basic payments is expected to be fully functional.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The system is working and making payments. We continue to add functionality as required, in-line with the CAP stabilisation plan published on 12 September 2018.

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects all 2017-18 common agricultural basic payments to be paid.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: In any year there are a small number of more complex cases that take longer to process, which could extend completion of all payments beyond the end of June. However, our intention is to complete all payments by the end of the payment period, that is 30 June …

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many farm businesses applied for the basic payments loan scheme by the end of 2017, and how many of those have received a loan payment.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: By the end of 2017 13,342 farmers and crofters had accepted the Scottish Governments offer of a National Basic Payment Scheme loan with 13,291 of them receiving payment by 29 December 2017. I am conscious that some farmers and crofters have yet to take up th…

16 Jan 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what action it is taking to correct the £165.6 million discrepancy in NHS Grampian's funding, which the Scottish Parliament Information Centre has suggested has arisen because the board's NRAC funding targets have not been met since 2009.

12 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported criticisms that a consultation held by NHS Tayside into local mental health services did not take into account the majority of views submitted, what consideration it has given to requesting that the consultation be re-opened.

Answer · Shona Robison: We expect NHS Tayside and the local Integration Joint Boards (IJB) to provide high quality mental health care and support to patients in the area. The published consultation response on the future of Tayside mental health services takes into account all views…

8 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on ScotRail reducing on-board facilities such as catering in order to improve profitability.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail has confirmed it has vacancies in its hospitality team which were affecting its ability to provide the advertised catering service. In response to these issues I can advise that ScotRail is undertaking targeted recruitment to ensure that it can deliv…

7 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns that the present ScotRail franchise agreement was not correctly priced.    

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The competition previously held to procure the present ScotRail Franchise was evaluated rigorously on the basis of the most advantageous balance of quality (35%) and price (65%). Reviews by both Audit Scotland and independent auditors supported the process an…

7 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether ScotRail should be a profit-making franchise.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The structure of rail franchising in the UK as determined by the Railways Act 1993 and as amended by the Railway Act 2005, recognises the right of the Franchisee to make profit. However, profit is not guaranteed for ScotRail, they must manage the services and…

7 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many passenger journeys there have been each year under the current ScotRail franchise, and what the estimated figure is for 2017-18. 

Answer · Humza Yousaf: With respect to the number of passenger journeys in each year (2015-16; 2016-17) under the current ScotRail franchise, this information is available on-line, at the ORR Data Portal. While the Scottish Government has sighted estimates for patronage within Sco…

7 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what was the annual net (a) income, (b) expenditure and (c) profit has been each year under the current ScotRail franchise, and what the estimated figure is for 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The current ScotRail Franchise made a profit of £9,519k for the 9 months of 2015 (Income of £485,703k, and Total Expenditure of £476,184k) and a loss of £3,370k for the full year of 2016 (Income of £610,118k, and Total Expenditure of £613,488k). Figures for 2…