Parliamentary questions
Colin Smyth
990 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
17 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Green Bus Loan Fund has been used; how it was used, and what the terms of the loans have been.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The £10m of financial transaction loan facilities previously included in 2018-19, were not used. No viable option for their use was identified with the bus industry.
17 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who carries out the maintenance of the ScotRail fleet, broken down by location.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The fleets which are currently leased by Abellio ScotRail from rolling stock owning companies (ROSCOs) are all maintained in Scotland at four main depots (Inverness, Haymarket, Corkerhill & Shields) with the split as follows: staff apprentices Corkerhill …
12 Dec 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Dumfries and Galloway Council, and what was discussed.
11 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the lease is renewed on the ScotRail maintenance depot at Springburn prior to the March 2019 deadline.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have formally written to Gemini Rail Services UK Ltd indicating we will be working with rail industry partners, the trade unions, the workforce and the company, to convene an urgent meeting to explore all options to prevent this closure, and to support the …
11 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that ScotRail's property and facilities management function remains in-house.
Answer · Michael Matheson: It is not within the remit of Scottish Government to intervene or interfere on operational matters of a commercial business. However, ScotRail has confirmed it not planning nor actively looking to outsource the Property and Facilities management function.
11 Dec 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that ScotRail rolling stock is maintained in Scotland.
Answer · Michael Matheson: I have formally written to Gemini Rail Services UK Ltd and requested the assurance from Gemini Rail Services that existing contracted work at Springburn will be completed at Springburn and not transferred anywhere else in the UK. TS officials meet with Rollin…
29 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17823 by Michael Matheson on 10 August 2018, which stations that are (a) partially and (b) not accessible it (i) plans to improve access at, broken down by the date that this improvement work will (A) commence and (B) be completed and (ii) does not …
Answer · Michael Matheson: A list showing the extent of accessibility at each of Scotland’s railway stations is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 60294). The Scottish Government priority list of stations for the Access for All Programme, a reserved …
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its winter resilience budget is for 2018-19, and what it has been in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: As the trunk road authority in Scotland, legislation requires Transport Scotland to take such steps as it considers reasonable to prevent snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles over public roads. We discharge this duty by having…
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any additional funding will be made available to local authorities to assist in managing the impact of extreme weather this winter.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Despite continued UK Government real terms cuts to Scotland resource budget we have continued to treat local government very fairly. In 2019-20, councils will receive a real terms increase in funding for public services. As the vast majority of revenue fundi…
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects ScotRail to (a) next meet a franchise PPM target and (b) meet its Control Period 6 PPM target of 92.5%.
Answer · Michael Matheson: As I stated at the RECC on 5 December, it will be challenging to meet the target, but I am confident that a course of action is being taken to give us every opportunity to ensure that that target is achieved. However, I cannot provide you with a precise date …
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure winter preparedness and resilience of the transport network, and how it ensures that the action it is taking will be sufficient.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Transport Resilience Whilst we know severe weather will cause disruption, this Government has taken a wide range of steps to improve our resilience to the challenges of winter, to mitigate its impacts and to recover our transport networks, businesses and get…
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects ScotRail’s PPM Moving Annual Average to increase above the breach level set out in the franchise agreement.
Answer · Michael Matheson: As I stated at the RECC on 5 December, I am aware that an extensive amount of work has been done to try to achieve the PPM Moving Annual Average targets and that includes new rolling stock, infrastructure investments, changes in personnel and certain arrangem…
27 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of (a) its and (b) local authorities' additional spending as a result of last winter’s extreme weather.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government allocated an additional £10 million to local authorities to assist with additional winter maintenance costs and road repairs following the extreme weather last winter. Scottish Government's policy towards local authorities spending is…
26 Nov 2018 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that ScotRail has failed to fully deliver 29 franchise obligations.
26 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much Transport Scotland has received in committed obligation payment adjustments each year under the current ScotRail franchise.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Committed Obligation Payment Adjustments are financial payments for the late or unfulfilled delivery of Committed Obligations. The values of individual Committed Obligation Payment Adjustments are redacted from the publicly available Franchise Agreement due …
22 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking as part of its R100 scheme to co-ordinate with commercial suppliers to ensure that there is no overlap and that 100% coverage is reached.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The R100 Open Market Review took place between November 2016 and January 2017 to identify those premises that did not have access to superfast broadband at the time, and those for which there were no commercial delivery plans over the following three year per…
22 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by Audit Scotland, whether it will publish clear timescales for R100 by summer 2019.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: It has always been our intention to publish timescales for R100, when contracts have been awarded and high level deployment plans are in place during 2019.
22 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details on its R100 aligned intervention scheme; how it will work, and where it will be targeted.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The extent to which an aligned intervention scheme will be required is entirely dependent upon the outcome of the on-going R100 procurement exercise. If required, the scheme would be targeted on any premises that won’t have superfast access delivered via the …
22 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation by Audit Scotland, whether its digital infrastructure board will have an overall strategy in place by summer 2019.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: We published our digital strategy - Realising Scotland's full potential in a digital world - last year. This sets out our vision for Scotland as a vibrant, inclusive, open and outward looking digital nation, and sets the context for our digital investment pro…
21 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of the tendering process for the next contract for the Gourock-Dunoon ferry service
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Arrangements for this lifeline service will be announced to, all stakeholders shortly.
21 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any adjustments have been made to the conditions in which MV Loch Seaforth is insured to sail.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: CalMac Ferries Ltd has confirmed to the Scottish Government that there have been no changes to the insurance for the MV Loch Seaforth.
15 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19398 by Mairi Gougeon on 14 November 2018, for what reason this decision was made in relation to prong collars but not citronella collars, and whether it plans to seek expert advice on the impact of prong collars on animal welfare.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Citronella collars are one of the many different types of electronic training aid and their use was consulted on as part of the Scottish Government’s consultation on potential controls or prohibition of electronic training aids in Scotland. These electronic c…
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Transport Scotland maintained bridges have been identified as being in need of repairs.
Answer · Michael Matheson: There are 1,720 bridges with defects requiring repairs.
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what Transport Scotland's budget for maintenance and repairs of bridges has been in each of the last 10 years.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The budget for the maintenance and repairs of bridges in each of the last 10 years is set out in the following table: Bridges Budget for Last 10 Years Year Final Allocation ? (£m) 2008-09 22.75 2009-10 21.75 2010-11 24.03 2011-12 17 2012-13 27.25…
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Transport Scotland maintained bridges are currently out of use as a result of needing repairs, and how many have been out of use in each of the last five years for this reason.
Answer · Michael Matheson: No bridges are out of use as a result of requiring repairs. There has been one bridge in the last 5 years out of use due to requiring repairs. This was the Forth Road Bridge, due to the Truss End Link failure.
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of Transport Scotland's backlog of repair and maintenance work on bridges.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The current backlog of bridge repairs is estimated at £570 million.
6 Nov 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it estimates the backlog of repairs to Transport Scotland maintained bridges will be completed.
Answer · Michael Matheson: We are unable to determine an accurate estimate for the time to clear the current bridge maintenance backlog because the calculation is dependent on a number of unknown variables, such as future funding levels, deterioration rates and network availability. We…
31 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19440 by Michael Matheson on 31 October 2018, what the public performance measure (PPM) for each sector was at the start of the franchise commencement date, and whether all benchmarks are set in relation to this.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Public Performance Measure (PPM) for each sector as at the start of franchise commencement is set out on the following table. Express SectorOther Express SectorE&G Rural Sector Suburban EastSector Suburban WestPeak Suburban WestOff Peak Total 86.5…
31 Oct 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will respond to the proposals from the five cross-border local authorities regarding a Borderlands growth deal.
29 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice it is providing (a) electric shock collar trainers and (b) other stakeholders regarding whether they can continue to train dogs with electric shock collars.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Dog trainers and owners that contact the Scottish Government for advice are being referred to the published Guidance at: https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/10/1535 .