Parliamentary questions

Murdo Fraser

2,062 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent to date on the administration costs of re-tendering on the Northern Isles ferry contract.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The core work on the current Northern Isles ferry tendering process is being carried out by a team based in the Transport Group of the Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department. However, inputs to the work are being made by sen…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on the administration costs of the previous Northern Isles ferry tendering process.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The core work on the previous Northern Isles ferry tendering process (which culminated in an award of contract to NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Limited in December 2000) was carried out by a team based in the Transport Group of what is now the Scottis…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which companies expressed an interest in bidding for the new Northern Isles ferry tender and what criteria were used to compose the short list of three companies.

Answer · Tavish Scott: Expressions of interest in the Northern Isles ferry contract were received by the Scottish Procurement Directorate from: ASP-Seascot Ship Management LtdAberdeen Harbour BoardAdsteam(UK) LtdAnglo-Eastern Ship Management (UK)B…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) P & O Scottish Ferries and (b) NorthLink Ferries bid to run the current Northern Isles ferry tender.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The bid submitted by P&O Scottish Ferries was for a total of £59.600 million at 2000 prices over five years. The bid submitted by NorthLink Ferries was for £45.652 million at 2000 prices over five years.

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what annual subsidy it had agreed to pay to NorthLink Ferries in each year from 2002 to 2007, prior to the commencement of the current Northern Isles ferry tender.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The grant agreement of December 2000 between the Scottish Executive and NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Ltd provided for basic grant payments, expressed in April 2000 prices, as follows: October 2002 to September 2003 - £10.773 millionOcto…

29 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has paid in subsidy to NorthLink Ferries to operate the Northern Isles ferry contract in each year since 2002, broken down by the nature of each payment.

Answer · Tavish Scott: The payments made to NorthLink in each year since they took over the contract, broken down by category of payment, are set out in the following table. <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3> <thead> <tr> <td> Category of Payment</…

27 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has placed a copy of the Cultural Commission’s final report in each public library and, if not, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18110 on 25 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp…

27 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that members of the public have access to the Cultural Commission’s final report.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: The Executive believes that members of the public should have access to the final report of the Cultural Commission, which was published on 23 June. The document is available via the Scottish Executive’s website - <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Ar…

27 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many copies of the Cultural Commission’s final report were printed and distributed.

Answer · Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18110 on 25 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.searc…

13 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to support those diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, what treatments are being offered to them by the NHS, and what research into the disease is taking place.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The Executive does notmanage the care of people with myasthenia gravis directly. We would expect NHS boardsto provide treatment and, with local authorities, support services based ontheir assessment of local needs.The treatment given for myasthenia gra…

13 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people suffer from myasthenia gravis, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Lewis Macdonald: The majority of patientsdiagnosed with myasthenia gravis are likely to be admitted to hospital fordiagnosis. An estimate of the prevalence of myasthenia gravis derived usinghospital discharge information is shown in the following table.<table border=1 ce…

11 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the output from hydro-electric generating stations was in each year since 1999 (a) in total and (b) broken down by station.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The requested information isnot held by the Scottish Executive. The UK Government’s Department of Trade andIndustry (DTI) has collected statistics from generating companies in respect oftotal output across all hydro stations since 2000.Hydro output sta…

11 Jul 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity was of each hydro-electric station in each year since 1999.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: This information is not heldby the Scottish Executive.

29 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the law on heritable succession.

Answer · Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Law Commission’sseventh programme of law reform, which will run from 2005-09, was published on 21 February 2005 andincludes a project on the law of inheritance, including heritable succession. Iattach a link to the seventh programme on the Scotti…

22 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected figures are for non-domestic rate income in 2005-06, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Local authorities have notifiedthe Scottish Executive of their Provisional Contributable Amounts of Non-DomesticRate Income for 2005‑06 as shown in the following table. These estimated figureswill remain provisional until they are audited by local autho…

8 Jun 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16516 by Mr Tom McCabe on 23 May 2005, why Perth qualified for funds from the Scottish Safe City Centres Initiative but not from the Cities Growth Fund.

Answer · Tom McCabe: Perth was invited to participate in the Safe City Centres Initiative alongside Scotland’s six cities because it already had key elements in place such as CCTV, Radiolink and centre management structures, which could best support the model being piloted. Hugh …

24 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16462 by Mr Jim Wallace on 23 May 2005, whether 120 to 145 gigawatt hours is the total capacity of the windfarm or its expected output after taking account of a windfarm's theoretical 30% maximum energy output.

Answer · Jim Wallace: My answer referred to the expected annual output of electricity, after accounting for load factor.

19 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the contribution of the manufacturing sector to gross domestic product has been in each year since 1990, shown in cash and percentage terms.

Answer · Jim Wallace: The following table details the value and percentage share of manufacturing sector gross value added (GVA) (also referred to as gross domestic product at basic prices) between 1990 and 2002. Table 1: Scottish Manufacturing Sector GVA: 1990-2002<tab…

19 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there have been in the manufacturing sector in each year since 1990.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Table 1 shows the number of employee jobs in the manufacturing sector in each year from 1990 to 2004. These estimates are sourced from the quarterly employee jobs series. The table shows data for December each year to ensure comparability. Table…

19 May 2005 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many cubic metres of paper waste have been collected from the paper recycling bins throughout the Parliaments buildings in each year since the Parliaments establishment.

Answer · John Scott: In 2004-05, the Parliament recycled approximately five tonnes of paper permonth increasing from just less than four tonnes per month in 2003-04. Paperincludes office paper, newspaper, magazines and pamphlets. Reliable data priorto this date is unavailable.

16 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual cost incurred by the NHS was for people aged (a) under one, (b) one to four, (c) five to 15, (d) 16 to 24, (e) 25 to 44, (f) 45 to 64, (g) 65 to 74, (h) 75 to 84 and (i) over 85 in the last five years for which figures are available.

Answer · Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the following table. Figures are available for the last three years and in the age bands shown in the following table. Average Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Costs per capita, 2003-04 to 2005-06</p…

13 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how it has used the findings contained in Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The results from the rural analysis were used by the Executive to improve the evidence base and to get a better understanding of how, if at all, businesses in rural areas differ from businesses in urban areas. For instance, the results were used in the produc…

13 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to it was of producing Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis.

Answer · Ross Finnie: The cost of producing the Omnibus Survey of Small Businesses in Scotland 2002: Rural Analysis was £3,000.

12 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its reasons were for allocating monies from its Cities Growth Fund only to the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Stirling and Inverness.

Answer · Tom McCabe: In response to the Review of Scotland’s Cities, the Cities Growth Fund was launched to provide a stable source of infrastructure investment funding for Scotland’s six cities as the keystones of a growing economy. The fund was allocated to the six citie…

12 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to provide funding for improvements to Perth train station.

Answer · Nicol Stephen: The Executive is supporting improvements to Perth Station under the First ScotRail Franchise Agreement. This includes funding approximately £155,000 for CCTV and Help Points, a new interchange shelter and station clocks. There is also additional funding of £1…

11 May 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much electricity the new Rothes Windfarm at Cairn Uish has generated in its first week and how much the wind farm is projected to generate over a year.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Rothes windfarm is expected to generate an estimated 120 to 145 gigawatt hours of electricity per annum. Information about weekly output of individual windfarms is not available centrally.

13 Apr 2005 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to remove the rights of parents to sit on school boards.

Answer · Peter Peacock: On the contrary, we are consulting on proposals to enhance the rights of parents to be represented and have their views heard and taken account of. It would be for the parents in each school to decide in future whether their representative body should be call…

17 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers Perth to be a city.

Answer · Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to city status.

15 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what expert opinions it has relied on to inform its position that wind power is significantly effective in reducing CO2 emissions.

Answer · Jim Wallace: Our policy is to support the development of a wide range of renewable technologies. Use of these technologies, including wind power, and where they replace fossil fuel generation, will help reduce CO2 emissions . A report commissioned by the…

2 Mar 2005 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and other public bodies have been created since 1997.

Answer · Tom McCabe: A list of Executive Agenciesand public bodies formally classified as non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs),established since 1997 is provided below. Details of those bodies not classifiedas Executive Agencies or NDPBs are not held centrally by the Exe…