Parliamentary questions
Murray Tosh
706 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7186 by Sarah Boyack on 12 July 2000, whether the analysis of the 1997 survey of aggregate working has led to the drawing of any meaningful conclusions; if so, what these conclusions are, and when it expects to publish the results of the survey.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Sarah Boyack wrote to you on 14 August 2000 confirming that the low level and lateness of returns, together with a number of other difficulties, made it impossible to publish any meaningful conclusions and that the 1997 survey was therefore being abandoned. T…
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6862 on 22 June 2000 by Sarah Boyack, whether work in relation to the Kingston Bridge Phase 1 Strengthening contract has now been completed and when existing traffic restrictions on the bridge are expected to be lifted.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: All major strengthening operations have been completed and the remaining minor works such as landscaping and site clearance are programmed for completion by April.<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2><P>Revised traffic management arrangements are in hand, including re-o…
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6054 by Sarah Boyack on 20 April 2000, whether it is now able to provide details of how the Public/Private Partnership (PPP) proposed for the A77/M77 upgrade (Malletsheugh-Fenwick) will differ from that used for the Paddy's Rickle Bridge-Cleuchbrae p…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The nature and extent of the proposed Public/Private Partnership and the extent of the contract have not been finalised, but will take into account matters raised by the Audit Committee in relation to the M74 contract.<P>It is intended that the M77 Fenwick to…
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8809 by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000, whether the full business case for the Larkhall to Milngavie rail route project has been received and considered; whether a decision has been taken on the project's suitability for level playing field support u…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has still to receive for our consideration the Full Business Case for this project.
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3850 by Sarah Boyack on 3 February 2000, whether it will list all applications for Freight Facilities Grant received since then, specifying in each case whether a decision has been reached and what each such decision was.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Since 3 February 2000, the Scottish Executive have received a further five applications for Freight Facilities Grant. Of these applications one has recently been awarded (£693,000) and four are under review.
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3850 by Sarah Boyack on 3 February 2000, which of the nine applications for Freight Facilities Grant being assessed at that time (a) have been funded (i) in full and (ii) in part, (b) are still under review, (c) were deferred and (d) were rejected.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: Of these nine applications for Freight Facilities Grant, six have now been funded up to the level justified by economic and financial appraisal as necessary in order to tip the balance of costs in favour of rail or inland waterway. The other three application…
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2904 by Sarah Boyack on 12 January 2000, whether it has published any estimates provided by local authorities in interim road traffic reduction reports; if not, whether it now considers it appropriate to do so, and when it will publish any such esti…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: I did not consider it appropriate to publish the figures as these were interim reports. I am currently considering the statutory reports received from local authorities towards the end of last year.
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2899 by Sarah Boyack on 13 January 2000, whether the route profiles of all routes in the trunk road network have now been updated and, if so, whether it will place a copy of the findings of this exercise in respect of each route in the Scottish Parli…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The work to update the Route Profiles should be completed next month. Thereafter the Route Profiles will be widely distributed and a copy of each placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre.
16 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8803 by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000, whether the final draft of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance has now been issued for consultation; if so, what the timescale is for the consultation period, and when a final version of the guidance will…
Answer · Sarah Boyack: I expect a draft of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance to be issued in early March 2001 to a wide range of interested bodies. A copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre. The first major application of the guidance will be in the Central…
9 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7184 by Ms Wendy Alexander on 7 June 2000, whether the seminar with all relevant parties in relation to the employment and training opportunities arising from New Housing Partnerships has been held; what outcomes have resulted from the seminar, and w…
Answer · Jackie Baillie: The seminar was held in August 2000. Following the seminar, a Working Group has been established including representatives from the Scottish Executive, Scottish Homes, Scottish Enterprise, the Employment Service, CoSLA, the Construction Industry Training Boar…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects all area waste plans to be submitted to it; when it expects to be able to approve the plans and how it proposes to help local authorities fund the capital costs of implementing the proposals brought forward in the plans.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: I expect the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to have prepared all 11 Area Waste Plans for public consultation by October this year, although some will be published before then. There is no plan for formal approval of the individual plans by the …
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive which area waste plans have now been lodged with it; which plans contain proposals for incineration; whether any plan proposes incineration schemes unrelated to energy from waste projects and whether it will estimate the indicative capital costs of full implementation of all incineration …
Answer · Sam Galbraith: No Area Waste Plans have been submitted to the Scottish Executive. I am therefore unable to say what detail the plans may contain or what the cost of any proposal may be.
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all planning decisions taken personally by Scottish Ministers, after a public inquiry, since 1 July 1999.
Answer · Sam Galbraith: Decisions on planning cases coming before the Scottish Ministers may be taken either by Ministers or, under delegated authority, by officials. All decisions are, however, taken in the name of the Scottish Ministers. The decisions personally authorised by the …
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has carried out any audit of planning policy departures by planning authorities in recent years; what trends, if any, it has detected in the volume, frequency, or significance of departures, in general or in the case of any specific authorities; what assessment it has made of t…
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The table shows the numbers of planning applications relating to developments representing departures from relevant development plans, by local authority area. Overall, approved departures as a proportion of applications determined are fairly constant at 13 o…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11108 by Sam Galbraith on 23 November 2000, how the planning system protects the public interest in circumstances where local authorities propose to grant notifiable planning applications or proceed with notifiable developments which do not raise iss…
Answer · Sam Galbraith: The Town and Country Planning (Notification of Applications)(Scotland) Direction 1997 requires planning authorities to notify the Scottish Ministers if they are minded to grant planning permission in respect of a number of types of development. The Scottish M…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11040 by Sam Galbraith on 23 November 2000, how many of the called-in applications in each year were (a) approved and (b) rejected and whether it will provide details of all called-in applications approved and rejected since 1 July 1999.
Answer · Allan Wilson: I have asked Graeme Munro, Director and Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:<P>I have been asked by the Minister to respond. Further to the answer provided to question S1W-11040 on 23 November 2000, the number of called…
5 Jan 2001 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9278 by Sarah Boyack on 8 September 2000, whether the planning application in relation to a leisure and retail development at Anchinlea Park, Easterhouse, was subsequently notified to it; whether ministers exercised their right to call it in for dete…
Answer · Sam Galbraith: This planning application was notified to the Scottish Ministers on 11 September 2000. The right to call-in was not exercised and the case was cleared back to Glasgow City Council for their own determination on 20 October 2000. I understand that planning perm…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer, further to the statement by the Parliament's Clerk/Chief Executive on 3 October 2000 regarding the provision of information on the costs of major works packages (Audit Committee, Official Report, col. 407), what information will be made available to the Audit Committee about the value of …
Answer · David Steel: As the Clerk indicated, the Audit Committee will be provided with information in respect of a number of imminent major works contracts as they are let, subject to the agreement of the relevant contractors. This information will indicate any variance in the fi…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether the cost plan allowances for the substructure east and superstructure east are #5.8 million and #17 million respectively, as stated by the Holyrood Project Manager on 3 October 2000 (Audit Committee, Official Report, col. 408); whether potential contractors are routinely made aware…
Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the figures quoted are relevant cost plan allowances which are indicative estimates of contract values. In normal circumstances these figures are not put in the public domain nor provided to poten…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether all works packages issued to date, and to be issued, in relation to the Holyrood project contain or will contain penalty clauses to protect the client's interest against late completion or other contingencies and whether the value of penalty clauses is calculated in relation to a s…
Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that works package contracts stipulate that trade contractors will be liable for all damage, expense, loss or cost suffered or incurred by the client due to default by the trade contractor, including…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether any contracts have been let to date in relation to the Holyrood project with less detailed construction information than is desirable, as outlined in paragraph 1.39 of the Auditor General's report The new Scottish Parliament building.
Answer · David Steel: No.<B> </B>Contracts are only let when sufficient information is available to allow construction to take place.
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer which works packages still to go to tender in relation to the Holyrood project may be compromised by a decision to divulge the value of contracts let after earlier, similar tendering exercises.
Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has already stated that, in principle and with the agreement of the contractors involved, information concerning the value of contracts let should be put into the public domain. However, I understand that at this po…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer whether the value of any works package contracts let to date in relation to the Holyrood Project could be identified without prejudice to later, similar tendering exercises and, if so, whether the details of any such contracts can now be made available.
Answer · David Steel: The Holyrood Progress Group has previously indicated that it will be happy to release values of contracts awarded where they do not prejudice the future commercial interests of the Parliament or the individual contractors concerned. The Project Team is now in…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what works packages have still to go out to tender in relation to the Holyrood Project and what the indicative timescale is in each case for issuing and return of tenders, award of contract and commencement and completion of works.
Answer · David Steel: The information is as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1.	Assembly Building Brick/Blockwork.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">2.	General Builderswork.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">3.	Assembly Building Foyer Frame & Glazing.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">4.	Assembly Building Specialist G…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what the total value is of all works packages let to date in relation to the Holyrood Project, and what proportion of the construction and construction contingency budget of #119 million has been (a) spent and (b) committed to date.
Answer · David Steel: The total value of all works packages let to date is £21.8 million. Some 13% of the construction and contingency budget of £119 million has been spent to date and around 20% of that total figure is committed. To date, none of the contingency element of the bu…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what capital contracts are currently out to tender, in relation to the Holyrood Project, indicating in each case the timescale for return of tenders, award of contracts, commencement on site and completion of works.
Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has provided a list of<B> </B>contracts which are currently out to tender, including those where tenders have been returned but the contract award has still to be made, as follows.<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1.	MSP Buildi…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer what capital contracts have been let to date in relation to the Holyrood Project, indicating in each case the successful tenderer and the timescale for each works package.
Answer · David Steel: The information is as follows:<TABLE BORDER CELLSPACING=1 CELLPADDING=7 WIDTH=616><TR><TD WIDTH="38%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Works Package</TD><TD WIDTH="44%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER">Contractor</TD><TD WIDTH="18%" VALIGN="TOP"><P ALIGN="CENTER…
4 Jan 2001 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Presiding Officer which of the works package contracts let in relation to the Holyrood Project have been completed; whether each ongoing contract is proceeding according to the agreed timescale, and what the original and revised date of completion is in each case where any contract has been subject to delay.
Answer · David Steel: The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has provided a list of<B> </B>works package contracts, which have been completed to date, as follows:<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">1.	Retention West Basement<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">2.	Excavation West<P ALIGN="JUSTIFY">3.	W…
14 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline all research commissioned or about to be commissioned into the development and implications of local urban road charging schemes.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: We have commissioned research on the range of impacts of road user charging within the area of City of Edinburgh Council and on optimal charging levels.
14 Dec 2000 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has withdrawn from participation in the road user charging trial at Hermiston Gait, Edinburgh and, if so, what alternative proposals it now has to assess the practicality of electronic charging schemes.
Answer · Sarah Boyack: The direction of our policy has altered since Hermiston Gait on the M8 was identified in 1998 as a suitable location for research on inter-urban charging. We have made it clear that there will be no charges on existing trunk roads and motorways. The Executive…