Jamie Greene

1 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what minimum volume of grit it advises local authorities to have in preparation for the winter weather, and what its response is to reports that Dundee City Council has significantly reduced its supply.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Salt supplies came under extreme pressure during the severe winters of 2008-09 and 2010-11. Despite this, no roads authority ran out of salt. Scotland's 32 local authorities are responsible for the maintenance and safe operation of the local road network, in…

1 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to improve the junctions on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland has not undertaken any assessment of the cost of improving the junctions on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven, other than at Laurencekirk, where design work is being taken forward to deliver a grade separated junction on the A90. It is …

1 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much is expected to be collected each year in speeding fines from the A90 average speed cameras.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Average speed cameras on the A90 are expected to improve road safety. The cameras are already encouraging improved driver behaviour and better speed limit compliance, which will lead to fewer camera detections, fewer penalty points, fewer drivers fined, and…

1 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many British Transport Police (BTP) staff will be affected by the merger with Police Scotland, broken down by total salary, and how many BTP staff have left because of the merger.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Information provided by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) suggests there are around 60 staff and around 230 officers based in Scotland who would transfer to Police Scotland, with the details currently being refined as part of the work of the Joint…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Transport Scotland’s response time to major disruptions on the Glasgow-Falkirk-Edinburgh railway service.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Responsibility for the response time to major disruptions on the Glasgow-Falkirk-Edinburgh railway service is an operational matter and rests with ScotRail and Network Rail. However, officials from Transport Scotland meet regularly with their counterparts f…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated under the Bellwin scheme to each local authority in each of the last five years to deal with flooding.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Additional revenue funding allocated to local authorities over the last five years under the Bellwin Scheme as a result of flooding was as follows: 2013-14 – No claims made. 2014-15 – No claims made 2015-16 – Aberdeenshire Council received £2,065,929; An…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to deal with fuel shortages during winter 2017-18, and whether it plans to stockpile resources in rural and remote areas.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has no statutory functions in relation to the security of energy supplies, including fuel. This is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament and UK Government Ministers. However, Scottish Ministers take the wellbeing of customers and com…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what precautions it has taken to deal with flooding during winter 2017-18; what funding it has made available to deal with the consequences, and what assessment it has made of (a) local authorities' and (b) the trunk road and motorway network's capability to deal with this, including wha…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Floods are natural events and can affect all modes of transport however, safety for all transport users is our primary concern. (a) We have treated local government very fairly, despite the cuts to the Scottish Budget from the UK Government. Taking the 201…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ferries were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in winter 2016-17 due to weather conditions, and what steps it is taking to help reduce this in 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of ferries that were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in winter 2016-17 (24 October 2016 to 30 March 2017 inclusive) as defined within the Public Service Contracts with the Scottish Ministers due to weather conditions is as follows: • CalMac - (a)…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ferries were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in each of the last two quarters.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of ferries (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in the last two quarters as defined within the Public Service Contracts with the Scottish Ministers (1 April 2017 to 30 September 2017 inclusive) is as follows: CalMac - (a) 1354 delayed and (b) 1222 cance…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many flights from each airport were cancelled in winter 2016-17 because of the weather; how many runways were closed; what the economic impact was, and what action it is taking to help ensure that the airports are runways remain operational in winter 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold information on flight cancellations. The operation of airports is a matter for the management of individual airports. Scotland’s airports have long standing processes in place for dealing with inclement weather. Working …

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many snow ploughs were required to clear trunk roads in winter 2016-17, and how many are available for 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: 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. Transport Scotland discharges th…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on road grit each winter since 2006-07, and how much it plans to spend in winter 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Salt stocks are fundamental to a successful winter on our roads and we currently have more salt in stock than was used for the whole of last winter. National salt figures are published on Transport Scotland’s website: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publicatio…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it has made to be ready for heavy snowfall on roads over winter 2017-18, including what resources it has allocated to deal with this.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We know heavy snowfall causes disruption and Transport Scotland continue to recognise the importance of a reliable and resilient transport network to people and the economy. Transport Scotland is responsible for preventing snow and ice endangering the safe p…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many collisions there were on trunk roads in (a) the last quarter and (b) winter 2016-17.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: (a) The last quarter for which we hold the latest complete personal injury accident figures is 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017. In this period, there were 8 Fatal, 36 Serious and 178 Slight Injury accidents giving a total of 222 injury accidents across the t…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

How many bus services were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in winter 2016-17 due to road conditions.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on delayed or cancelled bus services.

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many bridge closures to high-sided vehicles there have been in each of the last two quarters.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: High winds are a regular feature of our Scottish weather and can affect all modes of transport. Safety for all transport users is our primary concern. There were 9 closures in April/May/June 2017 and 2 closures in July/August/September 2017.

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent clearing rail tracks of debris in the calendar year, 2016, and what the estimate is for 2017.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government does not hold the detailed cost breakdown on the amount spent clearing rail tracks of debris in the calendar year, 2016, nor the estimate of expenditure for 2017. However, we would expect, as funder and specifier, that Network Rail wil…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To Ask the Scottish Government how many carriages ScotRail has; how many will operate in winter 2017-18; how it will ensure that they all have adequate heating, and whether it has concerns that some might not.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are 803 carriages in the Abellio ScotRail (ASR) fleet and they will operate over winter 2017-2018. In the coming months ScotRail will gradually introduce new electric Class 385 trains. Transport Scotland monitors the franchisee’s quality of facilities …

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in 2016-17 due to ice, and what steps it is taking to help reduce this in 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In 2016-2017, the percentage of trains delayed due to ice (that is, all types of freezing conditions) represented 0.06% of services planned to run. The percentage of trains cancelled represented 0.0045% . Transport Scotland is working with the ScotRail Allia…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many trains were (a) delayed and (b) cancelled in each of that the last two quarters.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The percentage of services delayed and cancelled in each of the last two quarters is set out in the following table. Time period Trains delayed Trains cancelled in full Quarter 1 (Periods 1-3, 1 April - 24 June 2017) 6.7% 0.8% Quarter 2 (Periods 4-…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what preparations have taken place to help ensure that rail services face minimal disruption over winter 2017-18; how many snow ploughs it has invested in to help clear tracks; what resources has ScotRail has determined that it requires to ensure that services can continue to operate ove…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Transport Scotland is working with the ScotRail Alliance to prepare for potential severe winter weather and expect to see further improvements in operational and customer services and travel advice offered. The preparedness will include snow clearing equipmen…

23 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to help ensure that there is minimal disruption to transport over winter 2017-18.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: 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 daily life back to no…

4 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Health Survey findings that (a) the average body mass index (BMI) is at its highest level since 2003 and (b) two-thirds of people are overweight or obese.

Answer · Shona Robison: Improving weight and diet is a top priority for this government as we made clear in the Programme for Government. We will shortly publish and consult on our new Diet and Obesity Strategy which will be brought forward this year. In developing that strategy we …

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) adults and (b) children were diagnosed as obese in 2016.   

Answer · Aileen Campbell: Most recent figures from the Scottish Health Survey (2016) indicate that 65% of adults were overweight, including (29%) who were obese. For children, around (29%) were at risk of being overweight including (14%) who were at risk of obesity. We aim to continuo…

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it plans to have the new 35km of cycle track completed to connect the A9 route to the wider national cycle network to encourage more cycling on the North Coast 500 route.

Answer · Keith Brown: 35 km of new cycle track will be included as part of the A9 Dualling Programme, which is scheduled to be completed by 2025. The first section of new dualled carriageway between Kincraig and Dalraddy became fully operational from 30 September. As part of this …

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people currently rent a private property in Edinburgh, and what percentage this is of the total number of people living in the city.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Scottish Government analysis of Scottish Household Survey data shows that there were an estimated 120,000* people living in a privately rented property in the Edinburgh local authority area in 2016, a figure which includes both adults and children. This equat…

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many train services were affected by "leaves on the line" in 2016.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail’s performance information does not capture the train services affected by 'leaves on the line’ as low rail adhesion can be experienced on many services during the autumn and early winter months, for a variety of reasons including contamination of rai…

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average salary was for nurses and midwives in 2015-16.

Answer · Shona Robison: It is not possible to provide an average for these staff groups as pay for all staff in the Agenda for Change system is dependent on individual job descriptions which are then matched to the appropriate pay band. However, the largest nursing group are paid on…

3 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many student teachers there have been in each year since 2011.

Answer · John Swinney: The following table shows the number of entrants each year on teacher education courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from 2011-12 to 2015-16. 2015-16 data is the latest data available from the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA). …