Murdo Fraser

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it procures grit and salt for winter resilience.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Each trunk road Operating Company has the responsibility for all aspects of winter service provision, including the procurement of salt for their operational use to treat our trunk roads. A strategic salt supply was established for the first time in Scotland …

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which parts of the (a) road and (b) rail network will be given priority if there is not sufficient grit or salt for the entire network over the forthcoming winter.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We do not envisage a shortage of salt for winter service in 2016-2017. Salt stocks were increased for 2011-12 and 2012-13 and have since been maintained to improve Scotland’s resilience should another severe winter arrive. Meanwhile, the Scottish Salt Group h…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what profit has been made each month by Abellio Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Abellio ScotRail’s financial information is commercially sensitive and can only be publicly released by Abellio ScotRail Ltd.

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to monitor the delivery of the network performance improvement plan that was submitted by Abellio ScotRail in September 2016; which services will be prioritised, and how the cost of the improvement plan will be met.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has put in place a process to monitor the delivery of ScotRail's Performance Improvement Plan. This includes challenge to ScotRail on the progress made towards delivering the initiatives, assurance reviews and an analysis of progress r…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the new Abellio ScotRail rolling stock will come into operation on the Edinburgh – Glasgow line and what plans there are to introduce new rolling stock on other services, broken down by (a) date of introduction and (b) cost.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail is committed to gradually introduce the new c385 trains on services operating between Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High from September 2017 with all of the services on this route to be fully operated by the new fleet from December 201…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what public performance measure (PPM) targets have been set out in the contract with Abello ScotRail for (a) 2016-17 and and (b) 2017-18, and at what PPM level action will be taken, broken down by the what types of action are available.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the following table, which sets out the relevant Performance Levels. Schedule 7.1 (Paragraph 3.2 – Consequences for Poor Performance) sets out the consequences of the Franchisee failing to equal or exceed these Levels. {http://www.trans…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints Abellio Scotland has received each month, broken down by category of complaint, and how this compares with the each of the 12 months prior to Abellio taking over the franchise.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of complaints Abellio ScotRail receives each month, broken down by category of complaint is not held by the Scottish Government. As part of ScotRail’s four weekly Franchise Performance Report, details of ScotRail complaints per 100,000 passenger jo…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the contract with Abellio to run the ScotRail franchise can be terminated early if it fails to meet performance criteria, and under what circumstances.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-04948 on 5 December 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.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the service delays of 17 November 2016 has had on how it monitors the delivery of improvements pledged by Abellio ScotRail, and what improvements it plans to reduce the likelihood of similar delays in the future.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has put in place a process to monitor the delivery of ScotRail's Performance Improvement Plan and this includes challenging them on the progress being made towards delivering the initiatives set out in the plan to improve performance. …

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the revenue threshold is at which Abellio ScotRail is required to pay back 50% of its profits.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Profit Threshold at which Abellio ScotRail Limited is required to pay back 50% of its profits is thirty million pounds. The concept of a profit cap was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2008, a UK first for Rail Franchises, and was tightened consi…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what performance criteria Abellio must meet to retain the ScotRail franchise.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to Appendix 1 to Schedule 7.1, Appendix 2 to Schedule 7.1 and Appendix 3 to Schedule 7.1 of the ScotRail Franchise Agreement. http://www.transport.gov.scot/rail/scotrail-franchise/public-register

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the reported poor punctuality at rural railway stations.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the recently published Performance Improvement Plan on the ScotRail website. In the rural area the actions include signalling equipment performance, track renewals, fleet improvements and detailed operational planning reviews. The Scott…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress Abellio ScotRail is making with its plans to purchase rolling stock from Great Western Railway.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29965 on 4 March 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.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procurement process is being used by Abellio ScotRail to purchase new rolling stock from Hitachi.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The new fleet of class 385s are being manufactured by Hitachi with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, trading as Caledonian Rail Leasing, [CRL] funding the 70 trains in a deal worth around £370M. Abellio ScotRail followed an OJEU (Official Journal of the E…

22 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it is making for icy conditions on the (a) road and (b) rail network over the forthcoming winter.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland is responsible for preventing snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles on trunk roads in Scotland. Significant planning is undertaken in advance of winter to ensure that the trunk road operating companies are pr…

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Lord Advocate to discuss the introduction of speed awareness courses, and what the outcome of the meeting was.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Cabinet Secretary for Justice regularly meets with the Lord Advocate to discuss a wide range of justice issues.

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many first-time speeding offenders were given penalty points in 2015.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: This information is not held by the Scottish Government. The enforcement of speed limits is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Strategic Partnership Board, chaired by Transport Scotland, and comprising individuals from both within and outside the Scottish Government, last met on 28 September 2016 to discuss a variety of road safety issues with a particular focus on activity follo…

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of speed awareness courses in Scotland, similar to those that operate in the rest of the UK, and what steps would require to be taken to introduce these.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government supports the general principle of driver education as an alternative to prosecution, where this is appropriate and is committed through Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020 to consider if a Speed Awareness Course would make an effe…

15 Nov 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met industry and consumer stakeholders to discuss the regulation of private car parks.

10 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the change in Scottish Water (a) domestic and (b) business charges will be for 2017-18.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: On the 20 November 2014, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland announced, in its Final Determination of Charges 2015-21, that for 2017-18: Default (maximum) business water and sewerage charges will remain frozen; and Household water and sewerage charge…

7 Nov 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what lessons have been learnt following two Chinese companies withdrawing from a memorandum of understanding with the Scottish Government.

6 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any assessment that it has made on the likely modal shift from rail to air should air passenger duty be reduced by 50%.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government will publish information on the full range of impacts of a 50% reduction in the overall burden of Air Passenger Duty in Scotland when we publish our proposals on how the 50% reduction should be implemented.

4 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03132 by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016, whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding division between the loans recovered from the 2015 scheme and the underspends, also broken down by the origin of each underspend.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The funding breakdown for the scheme equates to £54 million expected to be recovered throughout the financial year from prior year loans, with the remainder to be met by underspends that will emerge from the budget monitoring management process.

4 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03132 by Fergus Ewing on 3 October 2016, what the estimated net expenditure for the scheme will be at 31 March 2017.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The majority of the payments for the 2016 National Basic Payment Support Scheme will be paid and recovered before the end of the financial year 2016-2017, therefore the net spend at 31 March 2017 cannot be estimated at this time.

3 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what resources have been allocated to improvements to the A9/A85 junction in Perth and Kinross.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In order to assist Perth and Kinross Council with its project which links to the trunk road network, a Minute of Agreement (MoA) has been entered into by the Council and the Scottish Government. This Minute facilitates the involvement of Transport Scotland an…

3 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with Perth and Kinross Council regarding funding for improvements to the A9/A85 junction.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There have been many meetings between officials at Transport Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council to discuss the Council’s proposal to redesign the junction of the A85 Crieff Road and the A9, the primary purpose of the proposal being to enable development o…

27 Sep 2016 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact on Scotland of the expansion of either Heathrow or Gatwick airports.

22 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 13 September 2016, what funding mechanism it is using to deliver its £300 million loan scheme for farmers and crofters.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The loan scheme will be funded, as it was in 2015, by Financial Transactions. As the majority of loans will be paid and then recovered before the end of the 2016-17 financial year, the net expenditure at 31 March 2017 will relate only to loans that are not ye…

21 Sep 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the rail industry in relation to its proposals for a 50% reduction in air passenger duty.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Transport Scotland officials met with representatives from Virgin Trains on 19 November 2015, 17 February 2016, 20 April 2016 and 8 September 2016. The Minister for Transport and the Islands also met with representatives from Virgin Trains on 21 September 201…