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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: S2W-23820

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 15 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-22931 by Tavish Scott on 2 March 2006, whether it will give consideration to establishing public transport links by one single mode of transport between (a) Glasgow International and Edinburgh Airports, (b) Glasgow International and Glasgow Prestwick Airports and (c) Glasgow Prestwick and Edinburgh Airports.

Question reference: S2W-23824

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 15 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive when the last safety audit was carried out on the A726 and which parts of the route were covered by this audit.

Question reference: S2W-23825

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 15 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to carry out a safety audit on the A726 between Strathaven and East Kilbride and whether it is aware of any safety study being carried out on this stretch of road by any other authority, agency or company.

Question reference: S2W-23829

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2006
Current Status: Answered by Andy Kerr on 10 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23485 by Mr Andy Kerr on 3 March 2006, whether it will publish the formula referred to in the answer.

The formula referred to in the answer to question S2W-23485 is the Arbuthnott Formula adjusted for cross boundary flows and weighted for theprovision of regional specialities. Island boards, due to low population levels, receive anadditional uplift to obtain parity and Special Health Boards, who continue to bidfor capital funding, are given sufficient funds to meet planned projects. The Arbuthnott percentages applied to capital allocationsfor NHS boards are as follows:

NHS Boards	Arbuthnott Percentages
Argyll and Clyde	7.110
Ayrshire and Arran	6.680
Borders	1.890
Dumfries and Galloway	2.860
Fife	5.490
Forth Valley	4.550
Grampian	8.780
Greater Glasgow	25.290
Highland	4.240
Lanarkshire	8.960
Lothian	15.340
Orkney	0.240
Shetland	0.270
Tayside	7.680
Western Isles	0.620
Total	100.00

Question reference: S2W-23496

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what recommendations it has made to public authorities in respect of their PFI/PPP contracts to ensure that the introduction of new technology requiring a change to infrastructure owned or leased by a PFI/PPP contractor does not cause the authorities to incur costs above the market rate for installation of such technology.

The standard form of PPP contractreflects key principles and terms used for PPP projects in all sectors and is adoptedas a standard throughout the UK. The standard form includes provision for a variationand for the variation to be brought about in accordance with prescribed change procedures.

The cost of any such change wouldbe negotiated at the time, and there is no reason why the cost of undertaking thephysical works should not be at the market rate prevalent at the time. The risksassociated with the change would also need to be assessed so that the PPP contractorcan bear such responsibilities for the remainder of the contract period. These mayaffect the life-cycle PPP contract and the risk transfer to the contractor may alterfrom the original position at contract signature. This may or may not result inadditional costs to the public sector body. In a conventional procurement situationthe responsible public body would have to take account of similar long-term serviceand cost implications of the change also.

Question reference: S2W-23495

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken in respect of its own PFI/PPP contracts to ensure that the introduction of new technology requiring a change to infrastructure owned or leased by a PFI/PPP contractor does not cause the Executive to incur costs above the market rate for installation of such technology.

Question reference: S2W-23497

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that, where it makes a change in its policy requiring an adaptation to infrastructure owned or leased by a PFI/PPP contractor, such an adaptation does not cause the Executive to incur costs above those that it would incur if it were to make such an adaptation to non-PFI/PPP infrastructure.

Question reference: S2W-23505

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Peter Peacock on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it is directing towards sex education in schools.

The development of sex and relationshipseducation programmes, including specific teaching materials, is a matter for localauthorities and schools. All schools arerequired to provide health education, including sex education, within the frameworkof Health Education 5-14 National Guidelines. Circular 2/2001 Standards in Scotland’sSchools etc. Act 2000: Conduct of Sex Education in Scottish Schools sets outthe framework for the development and delivery of sex and relationships educationin Scotland.

There are a number ofcontinuing professional development (CPD) sex andrelationships education courses available for teachers and as part of their contract,teachers are obliged to undertake 35 hours (CPD) each year.

Healthy Respect, a National HealthDemonstration Project on young people’s sexual health is funded by the ScottishExecutive and hosted by NHS Lothian. It aimsto demonstrate how increasing young people’s knowledge of sexual health issues througha multi-disciplinary approach to education, information and accessible servicesin a variety of settings can lead to improved sexual health and relationships. Thelearning from Healthy Respect will be shared across Scotland to enableother parts of the country to shape their own services according to local need.

Healthy Respect and the ScottishCatholic Education Service are jointly supporting a project to develop appropriatesex and relationships education programmes in three Catholic secondary schools inEdinburgh and three in the West of Scotland. This project has been funded by the ScottishExecutive (Health and Education Departments) over three years from 2005.

Question reference: S2W-23494

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the costs incurred by other Scottish public authorities in enforcing their PFI/PPP contracts.

Question reference: S2W-23499

Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 March 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in PPP/PFI projects and private prison projects.

The Infrastructure InvestmentPlan, which was published in February2005, outlines the detail of the Executive’s investment plans by ministerial portfolioand confirms the major investment opportunities available within Scotland. Thisis the first such Plan and it has been welcomed by industry, including smalland medium-sized enterprises, as allowing them to improve their forward resourceand tender plans. A copy of the plan can be found in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 35376).

PPP are advertised in accordancewith EC Procurement Directives. PPP projects tend to be large projects requiringmain contractors to have experience of organising large and complex work programmes,and requiring significant balance sheets. Therefore there is limited opportunityfor small and medium-sized companies to become directly involved in the PPP consortium,although a few Scottish regional companies have successfully developed into thatmarket. Many new opportunities across a wide range of services have been createdat sub-contractor level under use of PPP in Scotland.