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: S3W-36446

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken in relation to constraining public sector pay since May 2007.

Our consistent policy has been and remains to ensure that public sector pay settlements in Scotland are moderate, affordable, sustainable and demonstrate value for money.

In our annual pay policies, we have progressively tightened pay parameters, and will continue to do so in respect of 2011-12.

Ministers themselves have given a clear lead in pay restraint by freezing their pay in 2009-10 and 2010-11. We have also extended this approach to the highest paid people under the Scottish Government''s control, through freezing the basic pay of chief executives of non-departmental public bodies and of senior civil servants.

We have consistently borne down on non-consolidated performance-related payments for senior public sector staff, reducing the number of chief executives with a contractual entitlement to such payments, and also reducing their scale.

In addition, in 2009-10 and again this year, we have asked the chairs of non-departmental public bodies and public corporations to invite their chief executives to waive part or all of any bonus to which they may be entitled. A significant number of chief executives have chosen to respond positively to this invitation.

Question reference: S3W-36441

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what savings have been achieved by joint procurement in the (a) NHS, (b) education and (c) other sectors.

Significant collaborative procurement in Scotland is undertaken by a National and various Sectoral Centres of Expertise. This model was established on the recommendation of John McClelland CBE in his report Review of Public Procurement in Scotland. Under this model:

(a) Procurement reform is well established in the health sector “ a Business Improvement Programme commenced in 2003, with reform consolidated across the sector by the launch of a Centre for Procurement Expertise (National Procurement, NHS National Services Scotland) in 2005. This activity has delivered £172 million of savings to date and is on track to deliver a further £29 million in 2010-11.

(b) The Higher and Further Education Sector Centre for Procurement Expertise (Advanced Purchasing for Colleges and Universities) was established in 2007-08 and has delivered over £15 million savings since then, and is on track to deliver over £10 million in 2010-11.

(c) Collaborative procurement in other parts of the public sector has delivered savings of £94 million to date, and is on track to deliver a further £49 million in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-36454

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of competition it has achieved in relation to the Borders railway project procurement following the information day held on 20 January 2010.

Question reference: S3W-36453

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what reviews it has undertaken into the extent of innovation in the services sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of innovation as a key determinant of our long-term economic growth. Our focus is on alignment across the wider public sector to create a flexible, supportive business environment and we look to our enterprise agencies to deliver support for Scottish businesses, including those in the service sector.

Following the launch of the Scottish Government''s Innovation for Scotland framework last year, our enterprise agencies have reviewed existing programmes to provide support to companies for the development of more competitive products and services. For example, Scottish Enterprise has created a new Innovation Support Service which is designed to help businesses use innovation as a driver of competitive advantage in areas such as service innovation and ICT-driven business model innovation to increase revenues and profitability. We will continue to work along with our enterprise agencies and other public bodies to provide support for the competitive growth of all Scottish businesses.

Question reference: S3W-36457

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35576 by Jim Mather on 1 September 2010, in what format it holds information regarding the output of different forms of electricity generation and what percentage of total output is represented by (a) coal, (b) nuclear, (c) renewables, (d) oil and (e) other sources, in each year since 2005.

Table 1 shows a breakdown of electric generation by source in Scotland from 2005 to 2008. These data are published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Table 1: Electricity Generation, by Source, Scotland, 2005 to 2008

Fuel Source	Amount Generated (GWh)¹				Percentage Generated¹
Fuel Source	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
Nuclear	18,681	14,141	12,344	15,079	37.9%	27.1%	25.7%	30.2%
Coal²	12,158	17,560	13,877	11,767	24.7%	33.6%	28.9%	23.6%
Gas	9,367	10,212	10,925	11,440	19.0%	19.5%	22.7%	22.9%
Oil	1,903	2,189	1,505	1,544	3.9%	4.2%	3.1%	3.1%
Hydro Pumped Storage³	643	1,184	1,198	1,091	1.3%	2.3%	2.5%	2.2%
Renewables⁴	6,486	6,963	8,220	8,990	13.2%	13.3%	17.1%	18.0%
Total	49,237	52,250	48,067	49,911	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Notes:

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Coal includes a small quantity of non-renewable wastes.

3. Pumped storage is not a renewable source of energy because it uses electricity produced by other means to create a store of hydrological power.

4. Includes hydro natural flow, wind, wave, solar power and thermal renewables.

Question reference: S3W-36543

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to the inclusion of a direct link to the M9 in the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Question reference: S3W-36545

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what work has been undertaken to produce a ground survey report to determine the impact on households of the effects on the water table of work connected with the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

An assessment of the environmental impacts of the proposed scheme, during construction and operation, has been undertaken. Details of potential impacts, mitigation measures proposed to avoid or reduce impacts and any residual impacts are presented in the Environmental Statement, which can be found on the project website www.forthreplacementcrossing.info. These include groundwater and water environment impacts and highlighted a potential issue in the area around the South Queensferry junction.

A further assessment of this potential issue, based on the findings of the Forth Replacement Crossing project ground investigations carried out in 2008, 2009 and 2010 together with ongoing groundwater monitoring has been undertaken. This assessment, reported in September 2010, concludes that no adverse effects in relation to groundwater changes are foreseen in this area.

Question reference: S3W-36449

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest projection is of the number of homes available for rent or low-cost ownership in 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-33436

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 April 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the travel arrangements are for the First Minister’s visits to the Maldives and Delhi; how many officials will accompany him, and what the total estimated cost is.

As the next host nation of the Commonwealth Games, Scotland is required and proud to take part in the official handover ceremony at the Games in Delhi. The First Minister and the Minister for Public Health and Sport will each attend part of the 2010 Games as representatives of a competing nation and to support our athletes, explore economic opportunities in India and to prepare Scotland to host the Games in Glasgow 2014.

Ministers are attending the event as guests of the Commonwealth Games Federation and the organisers of the Delhi Games. The details of the programme and ministerial support are still being finalised but we are working to ensure the best value for money and that numbers are either comparable or less than the delegation which attended the 2006 Melbourne Games.

There are no plans for either ministers or officials to visit the Maldives. The visit was originally mooted as a reciprocal arrangement with the government of Maldives after a visit to Scotland, but their visit was postponed at the time of the volcanic ash disruption, and didn''t take place over the summer during the process of resignation and reappointment of the Maldives Cabinet. Scottish/Maldives climate change co-operation is making substantial progress, and we expect to announce a joint marine energy initiative in the very near future.

Question reference: S3W-36437

Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been of the production of the Independent Budget Review, also broken down by individual budget heading including payments to individuals and printing and publication.

The total cost of the production of the Independent Budget Review, including printing and publication, was as follows:

	£
a. Panel members'' expenses	2,000
b. Costs of design, printing, publication and media support	20,400
c. Launch, 29 July 2010	1,000
d. Total	23,400

Note: final costs have yet to be processed, and the figures provided represent a best estimate as at the date of this answer.

Members of the panel received no remuneration for their work between February and July 2010, when the panel''s report was published. However, reasonable expenses were met. These were modest. As can be seen from the table above, over 90% of the costs associated with the panel arose from the external work necessary to prepare the report for publication, to make it readily accessible, and to support communication of the report as widely as possible.

The Scottish Government believes that the modest costs associated with the work of the panel represent value for money.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35646 on 26 August 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