Parliamentary questions
Liam Kerr
2,176 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
24 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which budget is being used to scope, project manage and deliver construction of the Laurencekirk A90 flyover.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: In January 2016 the Scottish Government announced £24 million for the design and construction of a new grade-separated junction at Laurencekirk as part of a package of additional capital investment alongside the Aberdeen City Region Deal. This additional inve…
24 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which budget is being used for the cost of installing and maintaining average speed cameras on the A90.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The £2m average speed camera system on the 51.5 mile stretch of the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven is being introduced to make the road safer for everyone travelling along the route. More than three in every five vehicles speed on the route, with more th…
24 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, of the train services that have arrived late to their final destination on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen route since 1 January 2016, how many of these are as a result of a delay at Usan, also expressed as a percentage of all services on the route.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of trains that have arrived late to their final destination on the Edinburgh-Aberdeen route since 1 April 2016, has been reported as the answer to the question S5W-10939 on 19 September 2017. However, the Scottish Government does not hold informati…
24 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many services on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen route since 1 January 2016 were held for one minute or more at the single track section at Usan.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of services on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen route, which were held for one minute or more at the single track section at Usan.
24 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many trains from Edinburgh to Aberdeen have arrived later than the scheduled arrival time since 1 January 2016, also expressed as a percentage of total services on the route.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The lateness of ScotRail services is measured using the industry standard of the Public-Performance-Measure (PPM). In the year to mid-August 2017 (period 5), 87.7 percent of trains arrived at Aberdeen within the 5 minutes allowed under the PPM measure. More i…
21 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place to measure and address (a) the housing difficulties of and (b) poverty among offenders, (i) generally and (ii) upon release from prison.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government (SG) is committed to supporting prisoners to secure appropriate housing on release, and to addressing homelessness amongst prisoners and their families. All prisoners who are assessed by local authorities as unintentionally homeless up…
21 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place to measure and address (a) illiteracy, (b) substance abuse and (c) mental health issues among (i) prisoners and (ii) offenders.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The responsibility for provision of healthcare to prisoners, including substance misuse and mental health services, in Scotland was transferred from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to the National Health Service (NHS) on 1st November 2011. The Scottish Gove…
9 Aug 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times in each year since 2013 have police control rooms been unable to answer (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls, broken down by (i) control room and (ii) the reason.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland publish performance information on call handling, including information…
27 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is has been informed of any issues at the Police Scotland Dundee control room arising from a lack of space necessary for it to take over operations from Inverness control room and, if so, what action it has taken.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The operation of individual Area Control Rooms is a matter for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
27 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff there are at the Police Scotland Dundee control room, broken down by grade, and how this compares with the number immediately prior to the transfer of operations from the Aberdeen control room.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function, including the staffing of Area Control Rooms, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
27 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents at the Police Scotland (a) Aberdeen service centre, (b) Aberdeen control room and (c) Dundee control room (i) were recorded in (A) 2015-16 and (B) 2016-17, broken down by quarter, and (ii) have been recorded since April 2017.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
27 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the overtime costs at the Police Scotland Dundee control room (a) were in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17, broken down by quarter, and (b) have been since April 2017.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function, including the staffing of Area Control Rooms, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
19 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to (a) issue renewed guidance to local authorities and (b) review the 2010 research to support measures to tackle issues arising from gull nesting and, if so, when it plans to do so.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Urban Gull Task Force (UGTF), which consists of members of the Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage, Dumfries and Galloway Council, and an experienced independent contractor, has been working on approaches since 2009 to try and (a) deter gulls f…
19 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Councillor Nick Cook calling for a gull de-nesting programme in Edinburgh, whether it will support local authorities in pursuing such an initiative.
Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The management of urban gulls is the responsibility of local authorities. Local authorities can help to minimise the problems caused by gulls by preventing the eggs from hatching, including by egg and nest removal, egg oiling or egg replacement with artific…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many contractor-limited company oil and gas workers in the (a) North East Scotland parliamentary region and (b) rest of the country have had their contract for services terminated in each year since 2014.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not have access to data on the number of contractor limited company oil and gas workers who have had their contract terminated in each year since 2014. The Scottish Government holds information on the number of registered business…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding whether the unemployment statistics from the Office for National Statistics take account of self-employed job losses in the oil and gas sector.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Office for National Statistics estimates the level and rate of unemployment based on International Labour Organisation definitions. Further information can be can be found at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment: …
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many self-employed oil and gas workers in the (a) North East Scotland parliamentary region and (b) rest of the country have lost their jobs in each year since 2014.
Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Information on the number of self-employed jobs lost is not held centrally. Estimates of the level of self-employment, in each year, by industry are available from the Annual Population Survey, ONS. However estimates for this query, for those directly self-e…
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of all communication that it has had with Police Scotland regarding the recent IT failure at the Dundee Police Scotland control room and other similar incidents.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Scottish Ministers do not routinely release details of communications with Police Scotland.
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent IT failure at the Dundee Police Scotland control room, what other failures of the force's integrated communications control system there have been.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent IT failure at the Dundee Police Scotland control room; whether it will formally investigate the matter, and what action it is taking to prevent a reoccurrence.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland continue to monitor progress in …
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Police Authority monitors Police Scotland’s integrated communications control system, and whether it will publish the findings of any reports.
Answer · Michael Matheson: This is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority. Ministers expect the Authority to have robust arrangements in place to monitor all aspects of police performance.
17 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how often police officers relied on hand-held radios to make so-called assistance shouts in the last year, and how many times this method of communication was required following the recent IT failure at the Dundee Police Scotland control room.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland’s contact, command and control function is an operational matter for the Chief Constable with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority.
5 Jul 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when hospital beds were removed from the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro and where they were deployed following its temporary closure in February 2017.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Mulberry ward moved from the Susan Carnegie Centre in Stracathro on 1 February 2017. There were 25 beds. 9 patients were transferred. 20 beds were opened in the relocated Mulberry Unit based at Carseview in Dundee.
26 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of figures from Transport Scotland showing that, in the last year, 53.8%, 50.4% and 50% of trains arrived late at Stonehaven, Inverurie and Dyce stations, what steps it is taking to address punctuality of services in the North East Scotland parliamentary region, and when custom…
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The industry convention for reporting performance across the franchise as a whole, and for comparing ScotRail’s performance with other train operating companies in England & Wales, is the Public-Performance-Measure, which measures arrivals against a five-minu…
21 Jun 2017 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in tackling poverty.
Answer · Angela Constance: Our Fairer Scotland Action Plan sets out 50 concrete actions that we will take to tackle poverty and inequality. These include the Child Poverty Bill, currently at Stage 2, with ambitious targets to reduce and eradicate child poverty and establishing a Povert…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish minutes of any meetings at which the potential closure of the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital was discussed.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has no minutes of meetings at which the potential closure of the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital was discussed.
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it was informed by NHS Tayside of the consultation on the closure of the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government was informed by Perth and Kinross Integrated Joint Board of the conclusion of the options appraisal on the redesign of general adult psychiatry and learning disability services and the intention to move to consultation on 27 January 20…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 20 June 2017, Queensferry Crossing to open August 30, on what date the final public transport links to the north of the Forth Road Bridge will be completed.
Answer · Keith Brown: Following the Queensferry Crossing opening to all traffic and the completion of the opening events, work will commence to carry out the final tie-in construction for the public transport slip roads at the north end of the Forth Road Bridge. This will result i…
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have taken a leave of absence with the reason given by the officer as stress or any reason that could reasonably be considered to fall within the category of stress in each year since 2012, broken down by division and, if this data is not held centrally, whether …
Answer · Michael Matheson: The recording and management of sickness absence for police officers is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.
20 Jun 2017 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have taken a leave of absence with the reason given by the officer as mental health or any reason that could reasonably be considered to fall within the category of mental health in each year since 2012, broken down by division and,if this data is not held centra…
Answer · Michael Matheson: The recording and management of sickness absence for police officers is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.