- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 25 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Edinburgh tram project did not appear in the written evidence provided to the Public Audit Committee by the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Executive in January 2010 regarding progress on major capital projects.
Answer
In his submissions to the Public Audit Committee of 30 June 2009 and 21 December 2009 on major capital projects the Permanent Secretary stated that the information provided did not include projects which are the responsibility of local authorities. The Edinburgh tram project did not appear in the written evidence provided to the Public Audit Committee because the project is being delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual financial subsidy is to the Renfrew Ferry.
Answer
The issue of financial subsidy for the Renfrew Ferry is a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.
The Scottish Government provides revenue grant funding of £1.22 million per annum to support Strathclyde Partnership for Transport''s core operations and revenue projects. We are committed to maintaining this level of support for 2010‘11. Decisions on how this funding is to be allocated are a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport itself. We do not provide any specific subsidy for the Renfrew Ferry.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the planned payments to the building contractor for the new Southern General Hospital provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde comply with best practice.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31487 on 25 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde being able to pay the contractor for the Southern General Hospital project 99% of the build costs before the new sites are completed.
Answer
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has not entered into such a contract.
There will be a monthly payment cycle with payments due based on value of work completed during the month. Assessment and payment period is monthly resulting in the contractor being paid a maximum of one month after the end of the month in which the value has been earned “ i.e. paid in arrears. Retention amounts are also applied to each Stage of the Contract, and retention monies for the Adult & Children''s Hospitals are held for two years after handover of each works stage.
The contract is an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract and the payment terms follow the principles of the standard contract terms. Details of this contract were provided in the answers to questions S3W-29003 and S3W-29017 on 24 November 2009 and S3W-29188 on 2 December 2009.
Published NEC3 documentation includes the following endorsement from the Office of Government & Commerce (OGC) advises public sector procurers that the form of contract used has to be selected according to the objectives of the project, aiming to satisfy the Achieving Excellence in Construction (AEC) principles. This Edition of the NEC (NEC3) complies fully with the AEC principles. OGC recommends the use of NEC3 by public sector construction procurers on their construction projects.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 25 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the planned profile is of capital expenditure for the building of the new Southern General Hospital.
Answer
The profile of capital expenditure as at December 2009, as provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is as follows:
| Year | Estimate as at December 2009 |
| 2008-09 | £2,700,000 |
| 2009-10 | £8,000,000 |
| 2010-11 | £74,100,000 |
| 2011-12 | £161,700,000 |
| 2012-13 | £257,900,000 |
| 2013-14 | £241,900,000 |
| 2014-15 | £86,900,000 |
| 2015-16 | £3,000,000 |
| 2016-17 | £5,500,000 |
| | £841,700,000 |
The figures include the main contract (Stage 1 Laboratories construction, Stage 2 Detailed design of Adult and Children''s Hospitals, Stage 3 Construction of Adult and Children''s Hospitals and Stage 3a Demolition of surgical complex and landscaping) and elements covered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (enabling works, design fees, equipment and optimism bias). It is also inclusive of VAT.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 24 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive which of the recommendations in Audit Scotland’s Review of major capital projects in Scotland in June 2008 regarding reporting publicly on the progress of major capital projects (a) have been implemented and (b) remain outstanding.
Answer
The Scottish Government is taking forward a programme of measures to develop the management of major capital projects, in response to recommendations by Audit Scotland and the Public Audit Committee. The Permanent Secretary provided an update on progress to the Public Audit Committee on the 21 December 2009.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 February 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 24 February 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its plans for enhanced reporting of government spending include providing a planned capital expenditure schedule for each major capital project supported by the Scottish Government and, if so, with what regularity it will be updated.
Answer
Under its plans to provide greater information on government expenditure the Scottish Government has committed to publish online all items of expenditure above £25,000. This scheme will commence with the publication of our expenditure for April 2010 and will continue on a monthly basis thereafter.
The Scottish Government provides information about its capital programme annually in the Draft Budget, over a three year horizon through the Scottish Spending Review, and over a ten year horizon through the Infrastructure Investment Plan. The Government''s regular reports to the Public Audit Committee set out the planned expenditure profile and timescale for major capital projects which we are taking forward.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Bruce Crawford on 20 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason its document, Supporting Business and Enterprise - Taking forward our National Conversation, contains no discussion of what currency is envisaged under the independence option.
Answer
The currency options which would be available to Scotland under independence are discussed in the National Conversation paper Fiscal Autonomy in Scotland: The case for change and option for reform and in the National Conversation White Paper Your Scotland Your Voice.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 15 December 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on class actions to demand compensation for excessive bank charges.
Answer
While we support, in principle, measures to allow class actions, we do have some concerns about plans to hurriedly implement these measures.
The Financial Services Bill which has been introduced to the UK Parliament makes provision for such proceedings for consumers of certain financial services. The Scottish Government is currently giving consideration to the recommendations in Lord Gill''s Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review to establish class actions more generally, rather than in this sector specific manner, and initially in the Court of Session only.
We have notified the UK Government that we consider these provisions in the Financial Services Bill in relation to class actions for consumers of certain financial services to be a reserved matter, however, we have also advised them that we will want to consider the procedural changes required in the Court of Session to provide for these sector specific proceedings in a manner that is compatible with implementing Lord Gill''s recommendations and that we wish therefore to be consulted on proposals and timings for implementation.
- Asked by: Ms Wendy Alexander, MSP for Paisley North, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 15 December 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the full disclosure of bankers’ remuneration packages and bonuses for all those earning over £200,000 per annum, as is the case for directors.
Answer
We are clear that remuneration policies within our financial institutions should be consistent with effective governance and that transparency is an effective tool to assist major shareholders to reach informed judgements on governance issues.
