Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-20716

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the delivery of reduced fares on Orkney ferry services.

The Scottish Government is engaging with the European Commission following a complaint made on 8 June 2018 regarding our plans to reduce ferry fares to the Northern Isles.

Scottish Government Officials met with European Commission officials in Brussels on 12 November 2018. The Scottish Government are awaiting a formal view from the Commission regarding the next steps in addressing the complaints.

The Scottish Government remains committed to pursuing all legally complaint avenues to deliver reduced fares for Orkney and this point has been communicated to Orkney Islands Council.

Question reference: S5W-20722

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how Highland and Islands Airports Limited’s plans to centralise air traffic control (ATC) towers could impact on (a) safety, (b) the resilience of ATC services, (c) employment and (d) the economies of the communities near the airports.

HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy aims to ensure that air services can continue to operate in the future in a safe and efficient way. The Air Traffic Management project will improve upon safety margins by introducing controlled airspace and centralised surveillance over the airspace which HIAL currently manages. The project will improve resilience in a number of areas, including the supply of air traffic management training, recruitment, connectivity and overall levels of redundancy in the system, not currently available. Current employment levels within HIAL will be maintained with better career development and progression prospects for staff. If HIAL do nothing then, in the longer term, air services will be compromised as reliable Air Traffic Control cover would no longer be able to be provided. The long term prospects of the economies of the communities that HIAL’s airports serve will be improved through ensuring that commercial air services will be able to continue operating in the future.

Question reference: S5W-20714

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what savings could be made from Highlands and Islands Airports Limited’s plan to centralise air traffic control towers.

Question reference: S5W-20718

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual economic impact on (a) Orkney and (b) Shetland has been of reduced fares on ferry services.

Scottish Ministers remain committed to pursuing all avenues to deliver Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) ferry fares for Orkney and Shetland. However, an official State aid complaint was made to the European Commission on 8 June 2018, which has to be dealt with first.

On 30 June 2018, a 20% reduction of passenger and car fares was implemented on ferry services to Shetland, which is the most that can be done until the complaint is resolved. It is not currently possible to reduce ferry fares to Orkney.

The April 2018 Northern Isles STAG report considered the potential demand, capacity and socio-economic impacts of RET, and set out proposals for monitoring and evaluation. The intention is to evaluate the socio-economic impacts of reduced fares in due course, similar to the evaluations on the Clyde & Hebrides network, once the position on future fare levels is clear.

Question reference: S5W-20717

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 9 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with ferry operators regarding the delivery of reduced fares on Northern Isles' services.

Extensive discussions regarding the planned delivery of reduced fares by June 2018 took place with all the relevant ferry operators prior to an official State aid complaint being made to the European Commission.

Since the complaint was made, the Scottish Government has been engaging with the Commission to establish the way forward.

Because of the complaint, no recent discussions have taken place with ferry operators regarding the delivery of reduced fares. We need to await the views of the European Commission on the complaint before resuming those discussions with operators.

Question reference: S5W-20723

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list those policies and positions that were set out in its 2013 white paper, Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland, which are no longer its current policy or preferred options.

Scotland’s Future set out the Scottish Government’s arguments for independence to inform the referendum held in 2014. There have been significant and material changes of circumstances since the publication of Scotland’s Future , most crucially the prospect of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU against the wishes of the people of Scotland. Those changes of circumstances will of course affect and strengthen the arguments for independence today and in the future.

Question reference: S5W-20724

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 8 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether its 2013 white paper, Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland, continues to reflect its policy.

Question reference: S5W-20376

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 12 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many participants in the Fair Start Scotland programme have (a) been offered and (b) received Individual Placement and Support, broken down by contract area.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold data on the numbers of Fair Start Scotland (FSS) participants being offered, or taking up Individual Placement and Support (IPS) broken down by contract area. This information is held by individual service providers.

The series of official statistics collated and published by The Scottish Government on Fair Start Scotland aims to provide comprehensive information about the operation of the service. This series is under a continuous process of development and given the interest in this area, we will consider how and when IPS data can be included as part of our regular dissemination of future statistics on FSS.

Question reference: S5O-02670

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in implementing the recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer’s advisory group on maternity and paediatric services at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.

Question reference: S5O-02566

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 15 November 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the local government financial settlement on public services.

In 2018-19 councils will receive funding through the local government finance settlement of £10.7 billion. This provides a real terms increase in both revenue and capital funding for public services.

The impact of the settlement on public services will depend on how local authorities have allocated the total resources available to them and the level of service they then provide. While local authorities are responsible for setting their own budgets, the total funding they have available has increased by almost £342 million in 2018-19.