- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual cost to BP will be if the Forties pipeline system is damaged during construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Answer
Financial information relating to those costs is commercially confidential and cannot be released. In any event, the actual costs cannot be determined in the abstract and will depend on the particular facts and circumstances.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in relation to the BP Forties pipeline system, Transport Scotland investigated whether it would be safer to move the Southern Approach Road to link directly from the new Forth Bridge on the west side of Dundas Castle to the M9 at Winchburgh and, if so, for what reason the report of that investigation was not made available as part of the environmental statement for the Forth Crossing Act 2011.
Answer
During 2008, Transport Scotland considered a number of alternative options for the southern connecting roads. An assessment of the options and the reasoning for their rejection is provided in the DMRB Stage 2 Corridor Report. The location of the BP pipeline was considered in this assessment. This is outwith the remit of the Environmental Statement.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive what level of fire risk is posed by construction work on the Forth Replacement Crossing being carried out close to the BP Forties pipeline system.
Answer
The fire risk to the Forties Pipeline has been assessed as minimal in relation to the Forth Replacement Crossing works.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the issue of the BP Forties pipeline system was not raised during consideration of the Forth Crossing Act 2011.
Answer
The Forth Replacement Crossing Team has been in lengthy and detailed engagement with BP and the worldwide insurance market seeking the best possible solution for the public interest. The meeting with the Finance Committee on 22 February 2011 was the first opportunity to speak meaningfully with the Parliament on the issue.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 14 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has undertaken an assessment of the geographical area likely to be affected by any damage to the BP Forties pipeline system during construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.
Answer
Yes.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 10 March 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on research and development, broken down by portfolio, in each of the last five years.
Answer
Government spend on research and development (R&D) is collected through the Office for National Statistics Annual Government Research and Development Survey. The latest published figures are for the financial year 2008-09.
Scottish Government spend on research and development, 2004-05 to 2008-09
| Year | R&D spend by Portfolio (£ thousands) | Total |
| Education & Lifelong Learning | Finance & Sustainable Growth | Health & Wellbeing | Justice | Rural Affairs & Environment |
| 2004-2005 | 2,480 | 8,943 | 54,992 | 2,651 | 61,753 | 130,819 |
| 2005-2006 | 3,074 | 9,997 | 57,109 | 2,710 | 63,965 | 136,855 |
| 2006-2007 | 3,309 | 8,313 | 63,362 | 2,661 | 54,439 | 132,084 |
| 2007-2008 | 2,778 | 8,218 | 61,187 | 4,300 | 60,595 | 137,078 |
| 2008-2009 | 3,163 | 8,728 | 63,371 | 5,044 | 59,291 | 139,597 |
Source: Government Research and Development Survey, Office for National Statistics.
The table includes R&D spending by Scottish Government directorates, associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
However the table excludes:
Scottish Funding Council grants to universities for Research and Knowledge Transfer.
One-off funding mechanisms e.g. the £10 million Saltire Prize, £13 million WATERS scheme.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it funds work in Scotland in the fields of conflict resolution, non-violence and cooperation; whether it has received proposals regarding a role for Scottish Churches House in this respect, and, if so, what its response is to such proposals.
Answer
Whilst recognising the merits of the proposal and the potential role that Scotland could play in promoting conflict resolution, non-violence and cooperation, the Scottish Government is not in a position to fund activity of the kind proposed at the current time. As a result the Scottish Government has, with regret, been unable to lend its support to the proposal relating to Scottish Churches House.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 8 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36630 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 October 2010, whether it considers that police officers are not bound by the prohibition in section 3 of the Firearms Act 1968 on making guns without being registered as a firearms dealer.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36630 by Kenny MacAskill on 21 October 2010, whether it considers that police officers are not bound by the prohibition in section 24 of the Firearms Act 1968 on the supply of firearms to minors.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2011
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 7 February 2011
To ask the Scottish Executive whether its position on the entitlement of chief constables to deploy Taser weapons to frontline officers extends to the other weapons with the same legal classification under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.
Answer
It is not for the Scottish Government to provide detailed legal interpretation of the provisions in the Firearms Act 1968. Firearms policy and legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament.
