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: S4W-01565

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what primary energy consumption was as a percentage of overall UK consumption for (a) oil, (b) natural gas, (c) coal, (d) nuclear energy, (e) hydro-electricity and (f) other renewable energy sources in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-01564

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the primary energy consumption was for (a) oil, (b) natural gas, (c) coal, (d) nuclear energy, (e) hydro-electricity and (f) other renewable energy sources in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-01558

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36681 by John Swinney on 26 October 2010, whether it will provide an update on what savings (a) are projected or (b) have been achieved for each local authority and public body as a result of the new public sector electricity contracts announced in its news release of 30 April 2009, Public sector power goes greener.

The Scottish Government’s national electricity contracts now cover over 99% public sector demand, some 25,000 buildings. Most public bodies migrated to these contracts on an incremental basis between October 2009 and April 2010, the first full financial year of operation for the contracts is, therefore, 2010-11. In that year, the actual delivered benefits are £10.6 million. Given that both the cost of electricity on the wholesale market and distribution charges have continued to increase significantly over the past year these benefits take the form of cost avoidance.

While it is for individual public bodies to calculate the benefits they have derived and will continue to derive from the contracts, we estimate that the £10.6 million annual benefits for the year April 2010 to March 2011 accrued to the participating sectors as follows:

Central Government: 6%

Local Authority, Fire and Police: 58%

NHS Scotland: 19%

Higher and Further Education: 16%

Third Sector: 1%.

Importantly, the contracts also allow increased budgetary certainty for public bodies, as the flexible procurement model adopted involves multiple purchases on the wholesale market, which “smooths out” the volatility inherent in large, one-off transactions in commodity markets. Significant process savings have also been achieved for through going to the market once, rather than many times, for the same commodity.

Question reference: S4W-01415

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of passengers travelling directly from (a) Helensburgh Central, (b) Glasgow Queen Street, (c) High Street and (d) Bellgrove to Edinburgh via the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link has been since the service started and how this compares with the estimated figure for the service.

Question reference: S4W-01417

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to monitor the number of passengers using the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link in comparison with the estimated figure for the service.

Question reference: S4W-01397

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will pay annually to subsidise the proposed two-new-trains-per-hour service between Croy and Glasgow Queen Street stations, as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme.

The provision of a possible turn-back platform at Croy Station is one of the infrastructure enhancements currently under consideration as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme. In addition to Edinburgh to Glasgow journey time improvements, the new facility if required, would enable new additional Glasgow to Croy local services to be introduced in 2016.

The new train services will be provided as part of any future contract for rail passenger services. The balance between subsidy levels and revenue generation will be determined through the negotiation of the future contract, which is due to come into effect in 2014.

Question reference: S4W-01055

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the decision of the Malawi Government to expel the British High Commissioner will have an impact on people delivering aid and development programmes in Malawi run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not expect there to be any impact on people delivering aid and development programmes in Malawi, run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government funding goes directly to Scottish based charities working with local partner organisations in Malawi. The Scottish Government’s Co-operation Agreement with Malawi identifies priority areas for development. Over £5 million has been allocated to the Malawi Development Programme over the next two financial years, to which the Scottish Government remains committed.

Question reference: S4W-01396

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost will be of the proposed turnback facility at Croy railway station.

The provision of a possible turn-back facility at Croy Station is one of the infrastructure enhancements currently under consideration as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvements Programme (EGIP).

The current estimates are for project infrastructure costs of around £1bn dependent on the level of infrastructure enhancements required to deliver the project objectives. At the current early stages of design development, the proposed turn-back facility at Croy has an indicative estimate of £40m (with a cost confidence level of plus or minus 25%).

Question reference: S4W-01056

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the decision of the Malawi Government to expel the British High Commissioner will have an impact on aid and development programmes in Malawi run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not expect there to be any impact on aid and development programmes in Malawi, run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government funding goes directly to Scottish based charities working with local partner organisations in Malawi. The Scottish Government’s Co-operation Agreement with Malawi identifies priority areas for development. Over £5 million has been allocated to the Malawi Development Programme over the next two financial years, to which the Scottish Government remains committed.

Question reference: S4W-01057

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the current political situation in Malawi and the potential impact on aid and development programmes in Malawi run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government.

I met with Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, on 10 June 2011, and reiterated Scotland’s commitment to the people of Malawi. There was solid agreement at the meeting that interventions channelled through Scottish NGOs should continue to be directed for the benefit of people in Malawi. The Scottish Government funding goes directly to Scottish based charities working with local partner organisations in Malawi. Over £5 million has already been allocated to the Malawi Development Programme over the next 2 years, to which the Scottish Government remains committed. Scottish Government officials remain in close contact with both the FCO and DfID about the current political situation in Malawi.