- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether the average price ranges envisaged for the 2021-27 period are based on a smooth price trajectory to meet investment levels defined as necessary in 2040.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether it will publish all the assumptions in the statistical modelling that is referred to, and whether it will make the full statistical model publicly available.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what the assumptions are for government borrowing in the statistical modelling to 2040-41.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, in the absence of a hard budget constraint, how the customer interest that they are not charged more than necessary is secured.
Answer
Section 29G of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 provides that Scottish Water must deliver the Objectives set by Scottish Ministers at lowest reasonable overall cost. In determining charges under section 29B, the Commission will identify the lowest reasonable cost of delivering those objectives.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what sums were specifically included for the costs of meeting the net-zero targets, and whether it will publish the analysis that was carried out to arrive at this conclusion.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether it will confirm what the aggregate annual cost is of the “prudent”, “reasonable” and achieving “high confidence” assumptions outlined in the paper.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, what cost allowance the Commission has used for additional cost pressures arising from (a) replacing assets while not interrupting service, (b) replacing assets in more developed areas and (c) new regulations, and whether it will publish details of the calculations and analysis the Commission used to form its view.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2020 decision paper, Prospects for Prices, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, whether it would support charges raised for the purpose of providing for the cost of emissions in appraisals being spent on investments not directly related to that purpose.
Answer
Scottish Water is funded through revenue raised from customer charges and borrowing from the Scottish Government. This finances, amongst other spend, Scottish Water’s investment programme and therefore charge revenue, or any parts thereof, is not hypothecated to particular investments.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 2 July 2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the 2019 decision paper, Asset Replacement, by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, how the figure of an additional £50 million per annum for service improvements and growth was calculated and whether it will publish the methodology used.
Answer
This is a matter for the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, and I have asked them to respond directly in writing to your question.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2020
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 June 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to roll out COVID-19 antibody testing more widely, and when will these tests will be made available by the NHS to the general public.
Answer
Any decision to purchase tests for a large-scale roll-out of antibody testing in Scotland will be led by clinical advice.
Antibody testing has been underway since 6 May in Scotland to support disease surveillance and we are in the process of validating a number of antibody tests to identify which ones carry the right level of efficacy and those which are identified as meeting the required quality standards will be prioritised for purchase.
As new and more reliable tests become validated, we are drawing on clinical and scientific advice to develop plans on how they will be best deployed. However, there are still significant uncertainties about what the presence of antibodies means in terms of a person’s immunity, which means that there are significant limitations in the usefulness of these tests at the current time.
These tests can have a crucial part to play in our response to COVID-19, and we will continue to listen to advice on the emerging scientific evidence on immunity.