- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed borrowing powers contained in the Scotland Bill will be used to finance the Forth Replacement Crossing project.
Answer
The Forth Replacement Crossing will be fully funded through capital budgets.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what costs will be added to the Forth Replacement Crossing project when Value Added Tax is raised to 20%.
Answer
The new VAT rate will be applied to the project, but we have reviewed the matter and are confident that the outturn cost can be kept within the present range.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive when the contracts for the Forth Replacement Crossing will be published.
Answer
It is anticipated that the principal contract (main crossing and approach roads) will be awarded in late spring 2011, while the M9 Junction 1a and Fife ITS contracts are due to be awarded in summer 2011.
Following award of each contract a contract notice will also be published in the Official Journal of the European Union to provide details of the successful contractor.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what effect the capital spend on the Forth Replacement Crossing will have on other capital programmes.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to effective management and delivery of its capital programme and we are working to manage the impact of the Forth Replacement Crossing on it. In order to provide maximum support for our wider capital programme following the massive reduction in our capital budget by the UK Government, we plan to take forward a major new pipeline of transport, education and health infrastructure projects worth up to £2.5 billion through the revenue-funded non-profit distributing model. This decision will boost capital spending next year and in subsequent years.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the cost of the successful tender for the Forth Replacement Crossing will be less than the upper estimate of £2.3 billion for the project.
Answer
The Forth Replacement Crossing Project has been separated into three main contracts. We expect the final cost for the project to be less than the upper estimate of £2.3 billion.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to maximise jobs for the construction sector and involve smaller firms in the Forth Replacement Crossing project.
Answer
Following award of the contract, the successful contractor is required to advertise all subcontract opportunities on the Public Contacts Scotland website.
In addition the project team has worked to encourage opportunities for small and medium enterprises through briefings and presentations with business representatives including the CBI.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how it determines value for money when considering the costs associated with the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Answer
The estimated costs of the Forth Replacement Crossing costs have been considered in relation to the Scottish Government definition of value for money (VfM), as the optimum combination of whole-life costs and quality (or fitness for purpose) of the goods or service to meet the users'' requirements. This is not necessarily based on lowest costs as VfM includes both quantitative and qualitative assessment.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 20 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive when the Forth Replacement Crossing project will be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union; for how long it will be required to be advertised, and whether this will occur immediately after the Forth Crossing Bill is granted Royal Assent.
Answer
The procurement of the project has been taken forward in parallel with the promotion of the Bill. The Project has been divided into three separate contracts, namely the Principal Contract, M9 Junction 1a and Fife Intelligent Transport System (ITS). Under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, where a public authority has transmitted a Contract Notice by electronic means, the minimum time for advertisement, which is the time elapsed between publication and requests to be selected to participate, shall not be less than 30 days.
The three contracts were advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union on the following dates:
Principal Contract: 29 June 2009 to 3 August 2009
M9 Junction 1a: 8 June 2010 to 12 July 2010
Fife ITS: 2 July 2010 to 2 August 2010
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how many more insulin pumps would have been provided to eligible patients if the expected savings from Procurement Scotland’s multi-supplier ranked framework agreement had been implemented in full by all NHS boards.
Answer
Procurement Scotland is the Scottish Government''s centre for procurement expertise covering cross sectoral commodity strategies and contracts. NHS National Services Scotland''s National Procurement Division works closely with the Scottish Government on all aspects of procurement. As this purchasing strategy related to the health sector, it fell to NHS National Services Scotland''s National Procurement Division to agree, develop and award the contract.
The terms of the insulin pumps and consumables multi-supplier ranked framework agreement indicate that NHS boards must consider the use of the first ranked supplier in the first instance, and then the second and third ranked suppliers dependant on meeting clinical needs. On the assumption that each insulin pump and the related consumables were purchased based on the clinical need of patients, it is not possible to say if there would be any further savings achieved for reinvestment in more pumps.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 19 January 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of developing Procurement Scotland’s national multi-supplier ranked framework agreement for insulin pumps and related consumables.
Answer
Procurement Scotland is the Scottish Government''s centre for procurement expertise covering cross sectoral commodity strategies and contracts. NHS National Services Scotland''s National Procurement Division works closely with the Scottish Government on all aspects of procurement. As this purchasing strategy related to the health sector, it fell to NHS National Services Scotland''s National Procurement Division to agree, develop and award the contract.
This project is one of approximately 200 contracts currently managed by National Procurement''s Strategic Sourcing team. The combined annual expenditure of these contracts is some £700 million, however, the costs of developing individual contracts are not calculated separately.
