- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive which department is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the work of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
The Water Industry and ClimateChange Directorate of the Scottish Government is responsible for monitoring ScottishWater’s delivery of ministers’ objectives for the water industry. This includesin relation to its retail subsidiary.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with business water users before the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
The planned creation by ScottishWater of a separate retail subsidiary, as part of the preparation for the introductionof retail competition in the non-household water sector, was included in the consultationon the draft Water Services etc. (Scotland) Bill in October 2003.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 18 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a report on the first three years’ progress in implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy for the purposes of section 2(7)(a) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
I am today publishing
Scotland’s Biodiversity: It’s In Your Hands - A ProgressReport 2005-07 which outlinesprogress on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy over the last threeyears. Copies are available on the Scottish Government website.
This is the firstprogress report on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy since thestrategy was published in 2004.
It records activityon biodiversity conservation carried out by government, non-government and otherorganisations working in partnership. It addresses the Strategy objectives for Speciesand Habitats, People, Landscapes and Ecosystems, Integration and Co-ordination andKnowledge.
The report outlinesactivities which the Scottish Government and other public bodies have undertakento implement the Biodiversity Duty, which was imposed by the Nature Conservation(Scotland) Act 2004, which requires all public bodies in Scotland to “further theconservation of biodiversity” in carrying out their functions.
The publication of the progress report on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy satisfiesthe requirements of section 2(7)(a) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act to publish such a report by the end of 2007.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 17 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended design maximum is for (a) daily and (b) hourly peak traffic flows for dual (i) two-lane and (ii) three-lane motorways.
Answer
There are no recommendeddesign maxima for traffic flows for any category of road in either daily or hourlyterms. The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Volume 5, Advice Note TA 46/97“Traffic Flow Ranges for Use in the Assessment of New Rural Roads”,sets out opening year flow ranges for use only as starting points in the designand economic assessment of new rural road links. These are as follows:
| Carriageway Standard | Opening Year AADT |
| Minimum | Maximum |
| Dual 2 Lane Motorway | Up to 41,000 |
| Dual 3 Lane Motorway | 25,000 | 67,000 |
Note: AADT is Annual Average Daily Traffic in vehiclesper day.
These flows do not represent maximum throughputs whichdepend on vehicle type mix, driver behaviour, junction spacing, maintenance considerations,etc.
No hourly peak trafficflow ranges are given in the DMRB.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on motorway and trunk road construction in each of the last eight years.
Answer
The information requestedis given in table number 11.1 of
Scottish Transport Statistics No 25: 2006 Edition(updated version as at 8 November 2007) which is available on the Scottish Executive’s website at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Transport-Travel/TablesPublications/STSUPDChap11.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what aspirations it has for future traffic levels.
Answer
The recently publishedScottish budget set out our national performance framework. Fifteen national outcomessupport our plans to deliver a wealthier and fairer, smarter, healthier, safer andstronger and greener Scotland.
Working in partnershipwith local authorities, progress on these outcomes will be measured by nationaltargets and indicators including our commitments to “reduce the number of driverjourneys delayed due to traffic congestion” and to “increase the proportion of journeysto work made by public or active travel”.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) local authority, (b) NHS board and (b) government agency PFI/PPP contracts have increased in scope or complexity from the original proposals since 1999.
Answer
The information requestedis not held centrally for local authorities and NHS boards.
Of the threeGovernment PPP contracts (M6 DBFO, M77/GSO, HM Prison Kilmarnock) none haveincreased in scope or complexity to such an extent that there has been a major changefrom the original proposals.
As PPP contractsare for the long term, they contain provisions which allow for variations to bemade to the contract and this is carried out in accordance with prescribedchange procedures.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish companies that have entered into PFI/PPP contracts with (a) local authorities, (b) NHS boards and (c) government agencies have subsequently been acquired by companies based outside Scotland since 1999.
Answer
The information requestedis not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what standard indicators it uses to monitor and evaluate PFI/PPP contracts.
Answer
It is theresponsibility of individual public sector procuring bodies to monitor andevaluate their own PPP contracts and this is carried out through the paymentmechanism which is contained within the contract documentation. The payment mechanismconsists of performance and availability indicators and are tailored for eachindividual contract. Standardised PPP contract documentation is available forthe main sectors such as schools and health on the Scottish GovernmentFinancial Partnerships Unit’s website at
www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp under thepublications menu.In addition,there is a pre-financial close Key Stage Review which focuses on projectmanagement and monitoring during the construction and operational phases, andnew operational guidance in the form of 2 Briefing Notes. These are also availableon the website.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 11 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what the average European (EU-15) population growth has been in (a) 1950-60, (b) 1960-70, (c) 1970-80, (d) 1980-90, (e) 1990-2000, (f) 2000-07, (g) 1950-2007, (h) 1960-2007, (i) 1970-2007, (j) 1980-2007 and (k) 1990-2007, broken down by member state, and what the average population growth has been in Scotland in the same periods.
Answer
The percentage changesin population for EU-15 countries and Scotland are providedin the following table. Figures for EU member states are from the Eurostat website(
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/)and are as at 1 January. Figures for Scotland are from theGeneral Register Office for Scotland (
www.gro-scotland.gov.uk)and are as at 30 June.
Percentage Changein Populations of EU-15 Countries and Scotland Over VariousPeriods
| Country | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k |
| 1950-60 | 1960-70 | 1970-80 | 1980-90 | 1990-2000 | 2000-07 | 1950-2007 | 1960-2007 | 1970-2007 | 1980-2007 | 1990-2007 |
| EU-15 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 3.8 | N/A | 23.8 | 14.7 | 10.0 | 7.3 |
| Austria | 1.5 | 6.0 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 4.7 | 3.7 | 19.8 | 18.0 | 11.3 | 10.0 | 8.6 |
| Belgium | 5.7 | 5.8 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 22.5 | 15.9 | 9.6 | 7.4 | 6.4 |
| Denmark | 7.4 | 7.5 | 4.4 | 0.3 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 28.1 | 19.3 | 11.0 | 6.3 | 6.1 |
| Finland | 10.7 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 32.3 | 19.6 | 14.4 | 10.6 | 6.1 |
| France | 9.2 | 11.1 | 6.3 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 47.8 | 35.4 | 21.8 | 14.5 | 8.8 |
| Germany | 6.1 | 7.9 | -0.1 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 0.2 | 20.4 | 13.5 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 4.0 |
| Greece | 9.7 | 5.8 | 9.2 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 2.5 | 47.7 | 34.6 | 27.2 | 16.6 | 10.4 |
| Ireland | -4.5 | 3.8 | 15.3 | 3.4 | 7.7 | 14.2 | 45.3 | 52.2 | 46.6 | 27.2 | 23.0 |
| Italy | N/A | 7.3 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 3.9 | N/A | 18.2 | 10.1 | 4.9 | 4.3 |
| Luxembourg | 6.2 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 4.4 | 14.3 | 9.8 | 61.6 | 52.1 | 40.7 | 31.0 | 25.5 |
| Netherlands | 13.9 | 13.5 | 8.7 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 63.1 | 43.3 | 26.2 | 16.1 | 9.8 |
| Portugal | 4.6 | -1.5 | 11.7 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 25.6 | 20.1 | 21.9 | 9.1 | 6.0 |
| Spain | 8.3 | 10.8 | 10.9 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 11.0 | 58.8 | 46.7 | 32.4 | 19.4 | 14.5 |
| Sweden | 6.9 | 7.1 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 30.4 | 22.0 | 13.9 | 9.8 | 6.9 |
| UK | 3.1 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 20.2 | 16.6 | 9.6 | 8.1 | 6.5 |
| Scotland | 1.2 | 0.7 | -0.4 | -2.2 | -0.4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | -0.8 | -1.4 | -1.1 | 1.1 |
Note: The 2007 figurefor Scotland is taken from the 2006-based national populationprojections. The mid-year population estimate for 2007 will be published in April2008.
