Richard Baker

25 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses there have been in NHS Grampian in each of the last five years.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested can be found in the Nursing and Midwifery staff in post table on the NHS Information Services Division website: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/Nursing_and_Midwifery_SIP_S2012.xls?53296406

25 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many dentists were practising in Grampian in each of the last five years.

Answer · Alex Neil: The information requested can be found in the Medical and Dental Staff in post table on the NHS Information Services Division website: http://www.isdscotland.org/Health%2DTopics/Workforce/Publications/2012-11-27/Dentists_S2012.xls

25 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic collisions there have been in (a) Aberdeen and (b) Aberdeenshire in each of the last five years.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the number of injury road accidents reported to the police in the areas requested. Year Aberdeen Aberdeenshire 2007 392 631 2008 512 692 2009 445 687 2010 350 598 2011 362 518

25 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) fatal and (b) serious road accidents heavy goods vehicles have been involved in in the North East Scotland parliamentary region, in each of the last five years.

Answer · Keith Brown: The following table shows the number of injury road accidents reported to the police involving heavy goods vehicles in the North East Scotland parliamentary region by severity. Year Fatal Serious 2007 5 16 2008 5 24 2009 4 14 2010 6 25 2011 1…

23 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Procurement Reform Bill will be published.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has signalled its intention to introduce a Procurement Reform Bill before summer recess. A public consultation on a range of issues relating to the procurement process ran from 10 August to 2 November 2012. A total of 251 consultation…

21 Jan 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle the issue of blacklisting.

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there was a delay in announcing the preferred bidder for the 2012-18 contract for Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: Following a thorough procurement exercise, the closing date for final tenders for the Northern Isles ferry services contract was set for 5 March 2012 and four final bids were received. Over the following weeks these bids were then required to be properly eval…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it has had with the UK Government regarding any safety implications of Serco NorthLink’s plans to reduce the number of dry dock maintenance visits by ferries working on routes to the Northern Isles.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has had no such discussions with the UK Government.

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it has had with the UK Government regarding any safety implications of Serco NorthLink’s plans to reduce staffing levels on ferry services to the Northern Isles.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has had no such discussions with the UK Government.

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the use of agency staff on lifeline ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: Decisions around the employment of agency workers are operational matters to be made by the companies running our subsidised ferry services.

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take steps to cap the profits that can be earned by Serco NorthLink in providing lifeline ferry services to the Northern Isles and on what grounds such a cap was not included in the 2012-18 contract for Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: The cost of operating the ferry services to the Northern Isles far exceeds revenues so no operator will ever run the services at a profit. This is why these services require to be subsidised by the Scottish Government. The Northern Isles contract (Volume 1,…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what definition of commercial sensitivity it used in redacting sections of Transport Scotland’s 2012-18 contract with Serco NorthLink for ferry services to the Northern Isles.

Answer · Keith Brown: As a general rule, reference has been made to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the exemption under section 33. Guidance on this section describes information as being commercially sensitive when its release might cause “real and actual harm …

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its decisions on redacting sections of Transport Scotland’s 2012-18 contract with Serco NorthLink for ferry services to the Northern Isles on grounds of commercial sensitivity.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government takes a proactive approach to the publication of our contracts for subsidised ferry services. In October 2012, the Northern Isles contract was published on the Transport Scotland website. At the time of publication, however, officials …

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to encourage a negotiated settlement of the industrial dispute between Serco NorthLink and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

Answer · Keith Brown: As I explained in my Parliamentary Statement of 13 December 2012, the dispute on the Northern Isles ferries is rightly a matter to be resolved between the ferry operator, Serco NorthLink, and the RMT union. However, I have on several occasions spoken to both …

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions are available to Transport Scotland in circumstances where a contractor providing lifeline ferry services does not honour employees’ contractual terms and conditions.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12076 on 21 January 2013. 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/parliamentar…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that the existing terms and conditions of employees working on Serco NorthLink ferry services to the Northern Isles are respected by the employer.

Answer · Keith Brown: Bidders for the Northern Isles ferry services contract were advised of our expectation that, in the event of a change of operator, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations rules would apply. Therefore, when Serco took over the contr…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to ensure that the machinery of negotiation between Serco NorthLink and the maritime trade unions is honoured in respect of (a) proposed redundancies and (b) the terms and conditions of employment of staff remaining in position but working in areas of the business…

Answer · Keith Brown: It is correctly a matter for Serco NorthLink and the relevant trade unions to establish procedural arrangements by which they can negotiate over matters of mutual interest. I am aware that Serco was involved in close negotiation with the RMT and Nautilus ove…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the impact on freight passengers of Serco NorthLink’s decision to reduce the freight ferry service to the Northern Isles to one vessel between January and June 2013.

Answer · Keith Brown: In the tender for the Northern Isles ferry services contract, bidders were invited to examine the level of freight demand on the Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick service and set out their proposals to meet that demand. Freight traffic varies at different times of th…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the savings that Serco NorthLink expects to make from the plan to reduce the number of staff working on Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: Serco’s bid for the Northern Isles ferry services tender included detail of their proposals for crewing levels following the introduction of variable passenger muster models. The company’s bid was fully examined by the tender evaluation panel and their propos…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the (a) level and (b) impact on passengers of Serco NorthLink’s increases in the price of (i) food and (ii) beverages sold on Northern Isles ferry services.

Answer · Keith Brown: This is an operational matter for Serco NorthLink. Since taking over the operation of the Northern Isles ferry services, Serco NorthLink has worked to improve the onboard experience for passengers including the catering on offer. This work is ongoing and is a…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the increases in passenger fares that will result from Serco NorthLink’s decision to abolish the mid-season period for ferry services to the Northern Isles.

Answer · Keith Brown: The tender for the Northern Isles ferry services contract invited bidders to propose their own fares and freight tariff methodology within certain parameters set down in the tender documentation. This included the requirement to set fares within different sea…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the economic impacts on Northern Isles communities of Serco NorthLink’s planned (a) job cuts, (b) passenger fare increases and (c) reduction in the number of sailings on ferry services to the islands.

Answer · Keith Brown: The introduction by Serco NorthLink of variable passenger muster modes will have an immediate positive impact on the Northern Isles economies as the operator will now be recruiting both a seasonal and temporary labour pool in Orkney and Shetland which will be…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Serco NorthLink consulted Transport Scotland before announcing plans to reduce the number of (a) staff and (b) sailings on ferry services between the mainland and the Northern Isles; how many such meetings there have been, and whether it will publish the minutes from any such mee…

Answer · Keith Brown: Serco NorthLink’s proposals with regard to crewing and timetabling were included in their bid for the Northern Isles ferry services contract and were fully discussed with Transport Scotland’s tender evaluation team during the procurement exercise. Transport …

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions ministers and officials have had with (a) Serco NorthLink, (b) trade unions and (c) community groups regarding Serco NorthLink's plans to reduce the number of (i) staff, (ii) sailings and (iii) dry dock maintenance visits by vessels on ferry routes between the mainland …

Answer · Keith Brown: The detail of Serco’s proposals for the configuration of the Northern Isles ferry services was fully discussed with Transport Scotland’s tender evaluation team during the procurement exercise. Serco NorthLink has undertaken extensive consultation with trade u…

3 Jan 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many sailings of (a) passenger and (b) freight ferry services were scheduled between the mainland and the Northern Isles in the off-peak season in each year since 2005-06 and how many have been scheduled for 2012-13.

Answer · Keith Brown: Under the previous (2006-2012) Northern Isles ferry services contract, details of all passenger and freight service sailings were set out in Part 4 (page 65) of the contract between Scottish Ministers and NorthLink Ferries Ltd. A copy of this contract has bee…

17 Dec 2012 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in tackling fuel poverty.

17 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it checks how much corporation tax is paid by companies that are awarded public sector contracts.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: No, however the Scottish Government’s standard Pre-Qualification Questionnaire requires companies bidding for public contracts to disclose if they have failed to comply with their statutory obligations relating to the payments of taxes. Companies which have n…

11 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-10835 by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 November 2012, what progress has been made on securing the £200 million per annum funding to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes and tackle fuel poverty.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: From 2013-14 the Scottish Government will make available £65 million for the National Retrofit Programme (NRP). In addition we anticipate that contributions from the utility companies will bring the total investment to around £200 million. We are continuing t…

5 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities in the north east to (a) maintain and (b) improve the transport network, in light of assessments that substantial investment is required in repairs.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is providing local government in Scotland with almost £11 billion in 2012-13, which together with capital funding represents a greater share of the Scottish budget than it was in 2007-08. The vast majority of the funding, including tha…

3 Dec 2012 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent per head of population on large road projects in the north east compared with the national average in each of the last five years.

Answer · Keith Brown: Since 2007 this government has invested over £2.5 billion to maintain and improve the trunk road network. During that time over £743 million has been invested in trunk roads in the North East which has enabled the delivery of schemes such as the A96 Fochabers…