Parliamentary questions
David Stewart
1,651 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
21 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent changes to FlyBe management and services, what steps it has taken to ensure the security of the network of air services operated from Inverness to, from and within the Highlands and Islands by FlyBe and its franchise partner and whether it will make a statement on…
Answer · Keith Brown: There has been no suggestion that air services to and from Inverness and within the Highlands and Islands will be impacted by Flybe’s current turnaround programme. Services operated by Flybe’s franchise partner, Loganair, are not impacted by the recent change…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that there is a risk that Police Scotland will not deliver savings to the planned timescale.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The introduction of Police Scotland has been the most ambitious reform of our police service ever undertaken and the dedication and professionalism of the service has allowed us to deliver first-class policing across Scotland. Crime is at a 39 year low, viole…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out a review of policing arrangements in April 2014, following the creation of Police Scotland.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: Police Scotland operates independently of Ministers and the Scottish Government will not be carrying out a review of policing arrangements. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 clearly sets out how the single service will be kept under review by the…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its current position on fire control rooms represents a change to that announced in the Draft Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2009 in which it stated that the “Scottish Ministers [had] decided not to take any central action to reduce the number of Fire Co…
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The draft Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2009 related to the 8 pre-reform fire and rescue services in Scotland. Following the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in April 2013, decisions on the allocation of its resources, includin…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s budget to cover the extra costs that the service will accrue when it assumes sole responsibility for the management and maintenance of the Firelink communication system.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT WRITTEN ANSWER 29 November 2013 Index Heading: Learning and Justice David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s budget to cov…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the (a) management and (b) maintenance costs of the Firelink communication system is met by (i) it and (ii) the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: With the exception of some ancillary and discretionary expenditure by the eight former Fire and Rescue Services and, since April 2013, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the costs for Scotland of the GB-wide Firelink communication system, including managem…
18 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it cost to install the Firelink communication system, also broken down by fire control room.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scotland’s share of the costs of installing the GB-wide Firelink communication system, including shared costs and management costs, totalled £35 million. These costs, which were not broken down by fire control room, were fully funded by the Scottish Governmen…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding the development of catamarans.
Answer · Keith Brown: Work on the vessel replacement programme set out in the Scottish Government’s Ferries Plan (2013-2022) is being taken forward by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in partnership with CalMac Ferries Ltd. We are open-minded about any vessel design that meet…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had at (a) ministerial and (b) official level with the Department for Transport regarding the Regional Connectivity Fund.
Answer · Keith Brown: There have been no discussions at ministerial level with the Department for Transport (DfT) about the Regional Air Connectivity Fund. At official level, there have been discussions around the use of the fund to support air services from Inverness and Dundee.
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the railway line between Inverness and (a) Perth and (b) Aberdeen is (i) single and (ii) double track.
Answer · Keith Brown: The route between Perth and Inverness is 118 miles with double track sections between: Perth and Stanley Junction (7 miles); Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie (24 miles); and Culloden and Inverness (7 miles). Therefore, 67.8% of the route is single track and 32…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the Freight Facilities Grant has been spent on (a) rail and (b) sea projects in each year since 2010.
Answer · Keith Brown: The information is provided in the following table. Year Freight Facilities Grant – percentage of expenditure on rail projects Freight Facilities Grant – percentage of expenditure on sea projects 2010-11 3.2% 96.8% 2011-12 2.3% 97.7% 2012-13 (1) 0%…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what budget has been set aside for the Freight Facilities Grant in each year since 2010, and how much of it was spent.
Answer · Keith Brown: The information is given in the follwing table. Year Freight Facilities Grant budget (£) Freight Facilities Grant expenditure (£) 2010-11 8,100,000 3,531,377.70 2011-12 3,000,000 1,067,843.40 2012-13 (1) 750,000 -7,334.71 2013-14 2,000,000 0 N…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the completion of Dalcross railway station.
Answer · Keith Brown: The reopening of Dalcross railway station currently forms part of phase one of the Aberdeen to Inverness rail improvements project, which will be delivered between 2014 and 2019. To assist in the delivery of the new station, Network Rail will work with stati…
15 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the electrification of railway services between Inverness and (a) Dunkeld and (b) Aberdeen.
Answer · Keith Brown: No timescale has yet been identified for the electrification of rail services between Inverness and Dunkeld, and Inverness and Aberdeen. These routes will be considered as part of a wider strategy for future electrification.
14 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Inverness will be considered as the location of the proposed Scottish Fire and Rescue Service headquarters.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This is a matter for the Board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
13 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that universities and colleges meet the needs of disabled students.
6 Nov 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what power it has to sanction a moratorium on community pharmacy applications in rural areas where there are already dispensing GP practices.
Answer · Alex Neil: The process for considering applications for new community pharmacies is laid down by Parliament in primary legislation, and supplemented by regulations. It is not a discretionary framework and so it is not open to Scottish ministers or NHS boards to decide t…
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers in the (a) Highlands and Islands and (b) Moray Division carry out a role previously delivered by a member of the support staff.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally - it is a matter for Police Scotland. There is no policy to backfill staff posts with officers. The chief constable has repeatedly said that Police Scotland does not have a strategy or plan to backfill police staff role…
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police support staff have taken voluntary redundancy in the (a) Highlands and Islands and (b) Moray Division since 1 April 2013.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally - it is a matter for Police Scotland. We are committed to our pledge of no compulsory redundancies, and reductions in support staff are being delivered by not replacing people who leave, retirements and voluntary exit s…
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers in the (a) Highlands and Islands and (b) Moray Division have left Police Scotland other than on retirement since 1 April 2013.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally - it is a matter for Police Scotland. We will continue to safeguard officer numbers with more than 1,000 extra police in communities since 2007 helping to keep crime levels at a 39 year low.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers in the (a) Highlands and Islands and (b) Moray Division have taken early retirement at 25 years since 1 April 2013.
Answer · Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally - it is a matter for Police Scotland. We will continue to safeguard officer numbers with more than 1,000 extra police in communities since 2007 helping to keep crime levels at a 39 year low.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that fisheries companies comply with pollution regulations.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not revoked Wester Ross Fisheries' licence.
10 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Wester Ross Fisheries has complied with pollution regulations over the last 10 years and, if not, what action the Scottish Government will take to minimize any resulting damage.
4 Oct 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16946 by Paul Wheelhouse on 12 September 2013, when the composition of the management group of the Barra Special Area of Conservation will be known and whether a facilitator is to be appointed to the group.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The composition of the management group is unlikely to be known before summer 2014. Officials have been continuing positive discussions with community interests regarding possible approaches to the development of a management group structure and its future go…
25 Sep 2013 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the availability of educational psychologists.
24 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it plans with the Department for Transport regarding the next east coast franchise and whether these will include making provision for a hot food service for services travelling north of Edinburgh.
Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Transport Scotland is in regular dialogue with the Department for Transport as it prepares plans to re-let the InterCity East Coast franchise. In these discussions, and in previous written advice to the Department, we have highlighted that services between L…
23 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16944 by Keith Brown on 18 September 2013, for what reason the online link for the winter 2013 Oban-Castlebay-Lochboisdale service advises that "for operational reasons we are currently unable to take bookings for this route."
Answer · Keith Brown: We have been working closely with CalMac Ferries Limited to agree the final winter timetable for Barra and South Uist. This work has involved ensuring that we meet all of our Ferries Plan commitments, and considering what other opportunities might be availabl…
19 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions local authorities took action without notice on dangerous buildings in 2011-12 under sections 29(2) and (3) of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003.
Answer · Derek Mackay: In 2011-12 local authorities took action 992 times under subsection 29 (2) and (3) of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 on buildings they considered to be dangerous. The following figures are taken from the Building Standards Annual Return that shows there w…
19 Sep 2013 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16945 by Keith Brown on 18 September 2013, whether it will provide details of the discussions that have taken place.
Answer · Keith Brown: Regular discussions have taken place with CalMac about the introduction of the Ferries Plan proposals. We announced on 26 September 2013 that a three year winter pilot ferry service between Mallaig and Lochboisdale will start from this winter. This will be i…