Des McNulty

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the time bar of 1964 will still apply to any further proceedings being taken in connection with cases of historical institutional abuse in the care sector, following the publication of Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950 to 1…

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: The <i>HistoricalAbuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in </i><i>Scotland</i><i> 1950 to 1995</i> does not affect the law on damages. The Scottish LawCommission (SLC) Report on Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claim…

28 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what costs were involved in the conduct of the investigation into historical institutional abuse in the care sector by the independent expert, Tom Shaw, and the preparation and publication of the findings of that investigation.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The total cost, includingpublication, of all aspects of the independent Historical Abuse Systemic Review:Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950-1995 from its establishment in August 2005 until 6 December 2007 is £295,578.69.</p>

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average peak hour rail journey time between Glasgow and Edinburgh has been since May 2007 and what percentage of trains have been delayed by five minutes or more.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: No statistics arecurrently available of the average peak hour rail journey time between Glasgow andEdinburgh.</p><p>In the period sinceMay 2007, 12 percent of all trains on the Edinburgh and Glasgow route have been delayed by five minutes ormore.</p>

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether more non-stop services between Haymarket and Glasgow Queen Street are under consideration as a means of taking forward the Executive’s commitment to speeding up rail services between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Currently there areno non-stop services running between Haymarket and Glasgow Queen Street.</p><p>The proposed improvementsto the Edinburgh and Glasgow route include the possibility of a service increasefrom the current four trains per hour each way to six tr…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Glasgow to Edinburgh rail service via Falkirk High is specified as an express service or an intercity service and whether trains can be given priority over other services if they are specified as express or intercity services under the rail franchise.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Under the FranchiseAgreement, First ScotRail are obliged to operate services in accordance with a ServiceLevel Commitment (SLC). The SLC protects the passenger’s interest by specifyingthe frequency of service, early service, late service, calling patterns and…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which new or upgraded road projects the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change has committed to taking forward in press releases since his appointment.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Amongst the manypress statements and comments I have made about progress on existing trunk roadprojects and our planning for the future I have always been clear that we willpress ahead with more than 40 major projects in the current programme to 2012.I have b…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set a target for the lifetime of this administration for reducing carbon emissions and, if so, what that target will be.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6397 on 17 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps local authorities will be required to take under outcome agreements between now and 2011 in respect of contributing towards its climate change objectives.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: As part of the newpartnership arrangements, the Scottish Government is seeking to agree there willbe a move to a Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) for every local authority based onan agreed set of national outcomes and indicators. SOAs are expected to be in pla…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage reduction in emissions by 2011 would be in line with the target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-6397 on 17 January 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what options have been considered in examining the best use of resources deployed in the operation of the Warm Deal and central heating programme and whether any carbon use assessment has been undertaken on the matter.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Officials are currentlycarrying out an internal review of the extent of fuel poverty in Scotland whichwill assess how effective current programmes have been in making progress towardsour target to end fuel poverty, as far as is reasonably practicable, by 2016…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many tonnes of carbon emissions will be saved each year as a result of increased spending on community renewables and microgeneration and what estimate it has made of the reduction in carbon emissions when such spending is being phased in.

Answer · Jim Mather: The Scottish Governmentis committed to encouraging greater uptake of community renewables and microgenerationas demonstrated by the commitment to triple funding for community and microgenerationin our spending review.</p><p>The Scottish Governmentwants to ens…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive when notification will be sent to the statutory objectors to the proposed route for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route of the date of any public local inquiry.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The public local inquiryis expected to take place early in 2008. We are currently working in preparationfor this. Arrangements are currently in hand and the next step will be to hold apre-inquiry meeting to which all statutory objectors will be invited. That …

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the carbon impact is of its proposals for a new spur and an overland connection between existing rail lines and Edinburgh airport.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The proposals arefor an electrified railway. On average electric trains are responsible for in theorder of 15% less carbon emissions than equivalent diesel trains and emissions ata local level (along the route and in stations) are virtually zero. Modern elect…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made an assessment of the carbon impact of proposed road projects such as dualling the A9 and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and, if so, where such assessments are published.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: New road projectssuch as the dualling of the A9 are subject to appraisal in accordance with ScottishTransport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), which include an assessment of the impact onthe environment.</p><p>An assessment of theemissions of carbon dioxide from tr…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it would contribute towards supporting a fast rail link to Scotland from England, as suggested in an SNP press release entitled “It's Time for Real Action on Climate Change” on 30 October 2007 and where such funding can be found in the spending review and draft budget.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Governmentdid not issue a press release entitled “It’s Time for Real Action on Climate Change”on 30 October 2007.</p><p>As an SNP press releaseexactly a year earlier made clear, lead responsibility for cross border rail serviceslies with the Secr…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is being prepared to assist local authorities and devolved agencies to become carbon neutral.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Decisions to becomecarbon neutral are for individual local authorities and agencies and there are presentlyno plans to produce Scottish Government guidance.</p><p>The Scottish Government supports the Sustainable ScotlandNetwork (SSN) to provide assistance to …

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives are being considered to encourage businesses in Scotland to become carbon neutral.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The ScottishGovernment will be issuing a consultation in January on proposals for the ClimateChange Bill which will include a target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. Achievingsuch an ambitious target willrequire action by all sectors. The most effective …

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the contribution that the work of the Forestry Commission can make towards (a) reducing CO2 in the atmosphere between 2007 and 2011 and (b) meeting the Executive's target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Climate Change Programmesets a carbon contribution for the forestry sector of 0.6MtC savings annually by2010, rising to around 1MtC per year by 2020. This equates to the annual removalof 2MtCo2 and 3.7MtCo2 respectively.</p><p>We will be issuing …

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what amounts were identified in its Autumn budget revision or in the end-year flexibility announcement as having been made available to support climate change programmes.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Whilst some expenditurein the autumn budget revision will support the Scottish Government’s climate changeobjectives, it is not necessarily identified as such. However, provision totalling£16.7 million was made in the autumn budget revision for a Forestry Com…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed Climate Change Bill will place specific duties on local authorities, Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Governmentrecognises the important part that the public sector has to play in reducing Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions. It has not yet been determinedhow the proposed Climate Change Bill will take this into account but the forthcomingconsulta…

26 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce schemes to help car owners convert to cleaner road fuels in order to cut pollution, along the lines of schemes referred to in an SNP press release entitled “Scotland's green car schemes stalled” on 26 February 2006.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Such schemes havebeen of value in the past and helped us to understand better the issues relatingto both air quality, and the emissions causing climate change. We are currentlyconsidering new measures which will best offer value for money and help deliversign…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated carbon footprint of ministerial travel by official car is for 2007-08; whether it is taking any additional steps now to reduce the carbon footprint and the financial costs involved, and whether it has set a target for reducing such costs in the remainder of this financi…

Answer · John Swinney: The Government Car Service (GCS) was responsible for 6.8% (195 tonnesof CO₂) of the emissions attributed to business travel by the Scottish Government in 2006-07. The majority of this was for ministerial travelbut others are also entitled to use th…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that “Officials should not be inhibited by the costs/carbon footprint of travel to secure invaluable face-to-face time”, as reported in Scotland on Sunday on 5 August 2007.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: <b>The </b>Scottish Government believes that it willalways be necessary to balance the cost and emission caused by travel againstthe fact that face-to-face meetings are important for good government. Becausethis will inevitably involve ministers and officials…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the relative proportions, by sector, from which it is estimated that the 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, as proposed in the SNP manifesto, will be met.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: the Scottish Government will be issuing a consultation in January on proposals for the Climate Change Bill which will include a target ofreducing emissionsby 80% by 2050. The levels of reduction required in each sector have not beendetermined. We believe that…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on proposals for increased incineration of waste as an alternative to landfill.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The current NationalWaste Plan envisaged that energy would be recovered from 14% of municipal wasteby 2020.</p><p>The Scottish Governmenthas received an Outline Business Case from the City of Edinburgh Council, West Lothian Council, East Lothian Council, Midl…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is meeting current targets for (a) reducing, (b) reusing and (c) recycling waste and what targets are being set to be achieved under each category by 2011.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We have a target tohalt the growth of municipal solid waste by 2010. Latest figures suggest municipalwaste growth is between 1% to 1.5%.</p><p>We have no targetsfor the reuse of waste but the impact of successful programmes on reuse is to contributeto the tar…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued in respect of green procurement.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Governmenthas issued guidance to the wider Scottish public sector on how, and under what circumstances,social and environmental criteria can be specified in public contracts. All guidanceon green procurement can be found on the Scottish Procureme…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Governmentwill be issuing a consultation in January on proposals for the Climate Change Billwhich will include a target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. Whether the targetwill be based on a basket of greenhouse gases, or carbon dioxide emiss…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all proposals under consideration for programmes or initiatives that will reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-6404 on 29 November 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <ahref="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/w…

23 Nov 2007 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which new initiatives or programmes implemented since May 2007 have increased greenhouse gas emissions, also showing the estimated tonnage of carbon involved in each case.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer themember to the answer to question S3W-4254 on 21 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions areavailable on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can befound at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/…