Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-25553

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 26 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average scheduled journey time on ScotRail services between (i) Edinburgh and Perth, (ii) Perth and Edinburgh, (iii) Perth and Inverness, (iv) Inverness and Perth, (v) Edinburgh and Inverness, (vi) Inverness and Edinburgh, (vii) Glasgow and Inverness and (viii) Inverness and Glasgow (A) was in 2007 and (B) is in 2015.

Detailed as follows, information from May 2007 and May 2015 timetables, the assessment portrays all the ScotRail services that operate on weekdays and Sundays. Other operator services are not included in the assessment.

(i) and (ii) Edinburgh and Perth

Origin	Destination	Year	(a) Longest (minutes)	(b) Shortest (minutes)	(c) Average (minutes)
Edinburgh	Perth	(A) 2007	85	77	80
Edinburgh	Perth	(B) 2015	78	71	74
Perth	Edinburgh	(A) 2007	88	77	80
Perth	Edinburgh	(B) 2015	83	73	77

(iii) and (iv) Perth and Inverness

Origin	Destination	Year	(a) Longest (minutes)	(b) Shortest (minutes)	(c) Average (minutes)
Perth	Inverness	(A) 2007	146	122	134
Perth	Inverness	(B) 2015	137	119	128
Inverness	Perth	(A) 2007	142	118	131
Inverness	Perth	(B) 2015	139	118	128

(v) and (vi) Edinburgh and Inverness

Origin	Destination	Year	(a) Longest (minutes)	(b) Shortest (minutes)	(c) Average (minutes)
Edinburgh	Inverness	(A) 2007	224	202	214
Edinburgh	Inverness	(B) 2015	215	195	204
Inverness	Edinburgh	(A) 2007	222	196	208
Inverness	Edinburgh	(B) 2015	223	194	206

(vii) and (viii) Glasgow and Inverness

Origin	Destination	Year	(a) Longest (minutes)	(b) Shortest (minutes)	(c) Average (minutes)
Glasgow	Inverness	(A) 2007	205	190	199
Glasgow	Inverness	(B) 2015	198	187	194
Inverness	Glasgow	(A) 2007	207	200	204
Inverness	Glasgow	(B) 2015	208	193	200

Question reference: S4O-04364

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether full fiscal autonomy remains its policy.

Question reference: S4O-04320

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of young disabled people in further education.

The most recent statistics from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) show that colleges are delivering more for young disabled students. In 2013-14, 22% of all learning hours delivered to students aged 16 to 24 were to students with a disclosed disability or requiring additional learning support; a two percentage point increase on the 2006-07 proportion.

The SFC has made improving access for disabled people a national priority. To support this, it will invest a record £100 million across the sector in 2015-16 to ensure colleges are resourced to meet the needs of this group.

Additionally, the SFC is working with the Equality Challenge Unit, Enable Scotland, College Development Network and other partners to continuously improve access and outcomes for these learners.

Question reference: S4W-25428

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 April 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 7 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce an age restriction of 18 on e-cigarettes.

Question reference: S4O-04275

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 May 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on reducing journey times on the Highland mainline between Inverness and Edinburgh.

Question reference: S4O-04273

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to raise the speed limit on A roads for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes.

Question reference: S4W-25040

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 21 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been employed by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals in each year since 2007-08.

Question reference: S4W-25038

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 20 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many language support assistants have been employed in primary schools in each of the last five years.

There are several kinds of language support assistants managed by local authorities and the details of these are not held centrally.

The British Council Language Assistant Programme is a nationally available form of language support. The number of British council modern language assistants working in the primary and secondary sector in Scottish publicly funded schools over the last five years is as follows:

2014-15	88
2013-14	54
2012-13	48
2011-12	41
2010-11	105

We want all young people in Scotland to have excellent language learning opportunities as a normal and expected part of a broad, relevant school education and have provided an additional £7.2 million to support local authorities deliver this in 2015-16. It is up to local authorities to decide how to spend this but we would hope the use of language assistants will increase as they can be an effective enhancement to classroom practice in the implementation of the 1+2 languages policy.

Question reference: S4W-25036

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 20 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many primary school teachers have an undergraduate degree in a modern foreign language.

Question reference: S4W-25037

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 March 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 20 April 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many primary school teachers have received training for teaching modern languages in each of the last five years.

This information is not held centrally.

There is a growing established expectation that all teachers identify and undertake career long professional learning in a planned and strategic manner. To support implementation of our 1+2 languages policy and deliver more and earlier language learning in schools, we have provided local authorities with an additional £7.2 million in 2015-16 which can be used to fund training. In addition, free ‘Train the Trainer’ languages courses have been run by Education Scotland and Scotland’s National Centre for Languages, which all local authorities were invited to participate in.

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