Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-07465

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether the data collected by the review into ferry tendering announced by the Minister for Transport and the Islands on 2 February 2017 will be put into the public domain after the conclusion of the review.

Question reference: S5W-07467

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce the road equivalent tariff for the Northern Isles.

The Scottish Government’s Ferries Plan 2013-2022, published in December 2012, was clear that introducing Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) at that time or in the next few years would mean an increase on a range of available fares. Therefore the Ferries Plan stated that the intention was to phase in RET to the Northern Isles over a much longer time-frame, beyond the term of the 2011-2016 Parliament.

This Government was elected in 2016 with a clear manifesto commitment to take action to reduce ferry fares to the Northern Isles.

Shortly after taking up post I visited Orkney and Shetland and met with elected members, local authorities and other stakeholders to hear their views. I also commissioned a public consultation which took place at the end of 2016.

Consideration is currently being given to the views expressed as part of that consultation. Decisions on future fare levels will be taken in due course.

In the meantime ferry fares to the Northern Isles were frozen for 2017, the second consecutive year that prices have been kept on hold.

Question reference: S5W-07461

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its ongoing review of the tendering process for ferry routes, what it means by the term, "in house operator".

Question reference: S5W-06999

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many scheduled ferry sailings were cancelled in each month in 2016 due to weather conditions, broken down by route.

Information in respect of cancelled and delayed sailings on the Northern Isles Ferry Services, operated by Serco NorthLink Ferries can be found on their website by following the link below. http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/information/publications/

In relation to information in respect of cancelled and delayed sailings on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services, operated by CalMac, and on the Gourock-Dunoon Ferry Service, operated by Argyll Ferries, that data has been collated and a copy has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 58550.)

Question reference: S5W-07000

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many delays to scheduled ferry sailings there have been in each month since January 2016, broken down by (a) route and (b) reason for the delay, and what it considers to be a delay in this context.

Question reference: S5O-00755

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-07254

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will still continue to hold competitive tendering processes for routes if the review into ferry tendering recommends that the Teckal exemption, or any other process that allows ministers to award contracts to publicly-owned operators without a competitive tendering process, should apply, and, if so, what action it will take to ensure that the process will be transparent, based on objective criteria and not weighted in favour of publicly-owned companies.

Question reference: S5W-07359

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the average speed cameras on the A9 have had on the number of (a) offences and (b) accidents.

Question reference: S5W-07358

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has in place to improve safety at the Laurencekirk Junction on the A90 over the next two years.

Our most recent statistics show that there have been no fatal or serious accidents at the southern Laurencekirk junction since 2005. As such, we have no plans for further measures at this time, however we will continue to monitor road safety.

In the longer term, Transport Scotland is developing the design of the A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement, which will bring improved road safety and economic benefits to road users and the local community in Laurencekirk and the wider north east.

Question reference: S5W-07253

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given assurances to any publicly-owned ferry operator that, if the review into ferry tendering recommends that the Teckal exemption, or any other process that allows ministers to award contracts to publicly-owned operators without a competitive tendering process, should apply, publicly-owned companies would automatically win these contracts.

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