Jamie Greene

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when a pedestrian crossing will be put in place at Balbirnie on the A92, north of Cadham.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government recognises the concerns of the local community following the tragic death of Logan Carrie in 2015 on the A92 north of Glenrothes and is committed to improving crossing provision on the route. We have invested over £35.1 million on the …

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will minimise any disruption to train services over the festive period arising from an increase in the number of passengers.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to manage the delivery of rail services, to accommodate the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the festive holiday period. While the responsibility for day to day operation rests with ScotRail, Tr…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many alcohol-related crimes on trains the festive period have been recorded in each year since 2006-07, and what action it is taking to reduce such crime.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Year Number recorded 2006-07 16 2007-08 6 2008-09 13 2009-10 9 2010-11 7 2011-12 9 2012-13 19 2013-14 10 2014-15 19 2015-16 17 2016-17 5 The figures are defined as follows: Niche Occurrences (all crimes/offences) recorded on D Divisio…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on people being asked to pay to park their cars at work in order to encourage greater use of public transport.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is strongly committed to encouraging increased use of public transport. That is why we invest over £1billion a year in public transport. It is a matter for individual employers whether they levy a charge on employees to park at work. I…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many motorists were caught drink driving over the festive period in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The information requested is not held centrally. The data the Scottish Government receives from Police Scotland is a general count of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority, and the number cleared up by the police. …

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total annual salary of nurses has been in each year since 2006-07.

Answer · Shona Robison: Nurses are on the Agenda for Change pay system which matches staff to a series of pay bands according to their job description. There are nursing staff from Band 2 to Band 9, depending on their level of responsibility, with qualified nurses starting at Band 5…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the article in The Scotsman on 8 December 2017, which suggests that the number of crimes involving hunting dogs has more than doubled in the last year.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The source of the statistic provided by The Scotsman article in question is the Scottish Government's 2016 Annual Report on Wildlife Crime in Scotland which is available via the following web link: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/12/7653. Hare coursin…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce obesity levels among children.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government wants all children and their families to eat healthily, have a healthy weight and enjoy the same healthy life expectancy no matter where they live. We recognise there is no simple solution and are presently consulting on a bold new die…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce class sizes in primary schools.

Answer · John Swinney: In 2010, the Scottish Government legislated to reduce the maximum class size in Primary 1 to 25, its lowest ever level. Since then the number of P1 pupils in a class size of 26 or more has decreased by 90% from 6,896 in 2010 to 631 in 2017. The Scottish Gov…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that there is an infestation of bed bugs in the Govanhill area of Glasgow.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Across Scotland, environmental protection - including pest control and nuisance - is the responsibility of the environmental health department of the relevant local authority.

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the compulsory teaching of LGBT issues in schools to help tackle bullying.

Answer · John Swinney: We published guidance on relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education in 2014 and the LGBTI Inclusive Education Working Group are currently looking at what else can be done to improve the delivery of LGBTI inclusive RSHP education. Scotland do…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the proposal by the SQA to phase out hand-written exams.

Answer · John Swinney: Any change to the way in which exams are delivered in Scotland is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked the Chief Executive of SQA to write to you.

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns among people in Culter in Aberdeenshire regarding the disruption that has been caused by installation of temporary traffic lights in place of the roundabout at Milltimber Brae.

Answer · Keith Brown: Transport Scotland attended a community meeting in Culter on 5 December 2017 to explain the junction changes. Although permanent traffic signals have been operational since 5 December, they are still on a temporary phasing until the traffic is introduced from…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the (a) terms and conditions and (b) pensions of British Transport Police officers will be affected by the merger with Police Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has given clear assurances in Parliament that the terms and conditions, pay and pensions of British Transport Police officers and staff will be the same as they are currently, or that an equivalent level of benefit will be provided to …

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the possible (a) advantages, (b) disadvantages and (c) costs of the proposed merger of British Transport Police and Police Scotland.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The benefits of integration were identified in the Policy Memorandum to the Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill:  - ensuring that railway policing in Scotland is accountable, through the Chief Constable and the SPA, to the people of Scotland; - enhancing railw…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of services each year on the Borders Railway have arrived at each stop on time.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of services each year on the Borders Railway that have arrived at each stop on time. Performance in the railway system in Great Britain is measured using the Public-Performance Measure (PPM)…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which stops on the Borders Railway have been skipped each year, broken down by how many times.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the stops that have skipped each year broken down by how many times, on the Borders Railway. ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with performance information by Sector Group and these are monitored agains…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is spending a reported £43,853 on promoting the new average speed cameras on the A90.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Over £2m has been invested in average speed cameras (ASC) on the A90 to make the road safer for everyone travelling along the route. As part of this spend, £43,853 was invested to develop and deliver a robust communication strategy which aimed to raise awar…

13 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans its has to promote moving freight from road to rail.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government's approach to supporting rail freight is outlined in the rail freight strategy, Delivering the Goods, which was published in March 2016. This is backed by significant investment in our railways including a £30 million ring-fenced Scott…

4 Dec 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to improve the availability of organs viable for donation and transplant.

21 Nov 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to recruit and retain GPs in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

21 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been refunded through the Delay Repay Guarantee scheme for delayed train services in the last year.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to provide a delay-repay scheme to passengers, which offers compensation when their journey is delayed by more than 30 minutes when using a ScotRail or Caledonian Sleeper service. In the year to mid-Novemb…

21 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the journey time will be for the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link to connect to the rail network, and how this compares with the present bus service.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils and it is for their project team to assess the future journey time of services. The recent independent audit commissioned by Scottish Ministers has hig…

21 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the economic impact of the proposed Glasgow Airport Access Project tram link.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Glasgow Airport Access Project is being taken forward jointly by Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils therefore it is for their project team to undertake the economic analysis of the costs, benefits and impacts of their proposals. An independent audit o…

21 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the (a) rail and (b) bus network in each year since 2007, also broken down by the amount invested in (i) Aberdeen, (ii) Edinburgh and (iii) Glasgow.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Investing in rail is a key priority of the Scottish Government, with over £7 billion committed since 2007 to support Network Rail’s operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the rail infrastructure, and to deliver the economic and social benefits of …

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will attract new maths teachers, given reports from the Scottish Funding Council that only 47% of student maths teacher positions were filled in 2017.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12808 on 23 November 2017. 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/parliamentarybusi…

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the 0.8% decrease in total sales in the last year reported by the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Although the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor is a useful indication of retail trends the more widely recognised measure of retail sales activity is the Retail Sales Index, based on the Retail Sales Inquiry carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This…

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on requiring Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) on all cars, given reports that exceeding the speed limit was a factor in 291 car crashes in 2017, representing a rise of 26% since 2013.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Requiring the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) – formerly known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation – on all cars would be a reserved matter, as it relates to the regulation of the construction and use of motor vehicles. However, Scotland’s Road Safety F…

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s reported concerns that many emergency departments lack a clear governance framework, often due to the cost of software.

Answer · Shona Robison: We welcome input from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The Scottish Government’s National Clinical Lead for Patient Safety, who is a member of the RCEM, will meet with representative from the College to discuss their concerns.

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will address A&E waiting times, in light of reports from NHS Scotland that almost 800 people faced long delays in September 2017, an increase of 42% from the previous year.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government National Unscheduled Care Team is working with hospitals across Scotland to minimise unnecessary long delays in A&E departments and deliver safe, person centred and effective care to every patient, every time through the six essential …