Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-26606

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper was used by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Information on the amount of paper used by public sector bodies is not held centrally. However, the national contract for paper introduced by Procurement Scotland in September 2008 has been utilised by a significant number of public sector bodies and, during the period September to June 2009, approximately 1.3 billion sheets of paper were purchased through the new contract arrangements. All of the paper purchased under the new contract is from sustainable sources (either recycled or FSC certified).

Question reference: S3F-01854

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Salmond on 10 September 2009

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has put in place to assist local authorities dealing with flooding incidents such as those experienced last week.

Question reference: S3W-26608

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper was discarded by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Question reference: S3W-26610

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much material was recycled by public sector bodies each year over the past three years.

Question reference: S3W-26612

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much food waste was produced by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Question reference: S3W-26609

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much material was discarded by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Question reference: S3W-26607

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how much paper was recycled by public sector bodies each year over the last three years.

Question reference: S3W-26613

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 August 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to reduce food waste produced by public sector bodies.

Scottish Government has set out a range of measures to deal with food waste, and other kinds of waste, in Scotland''s Zero Waste Plans.

We are currently consulting on this plan and a draft may be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/19141153/2.

However, the reduction of food waste, as well as any other kind of waste, is not a matter solely for the Scottish Government. Public and private organisations of all types have a responsibility to reduce their own waste, including food waste, also to ensure any waste that is produced is handled responsibly.

Question reference: S3O-07652

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2009
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a timetable for implementation of the measures contained in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Question reference: S3W-25594

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2009
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 30 July 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households it intends to supply with energy efficiency measures.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of Scotland''s homes to alleviate fuel poverty and help meet our ambitious climate change targets. We have a range of initiatives to support households with this:

The Energy Assistance Package (EAP) provides a holistic package of support for fuel-poor households. It aims to offer advice to around 75,000 potentially fuel-poor people in the first year. Of this, an estimated 50,000 could be referred for advice on social energy tariffs and a benefits health-check, 30,000 to CERT providers for cavity wall and/or loft insulation and up to 10,000 for enhanced energy efficiency measures at stage 4.

The Home Insulation Scheme announced in the budget is an intensive area-based approach where every household in the area will be visited and offered an energy assessment and benefit/tariff check (where appropriate) along with insulation measures. The scheme will aim to contact 90,000 households in the first year and will link to the Energy Assistance Package as closely as possible mirroring the various EAP stages.

The Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grant scheme, formerly known as SCHRI, provides funding to householders towards the installation of small scale renewables systems in Scottish homes. This scheme provides grants to householders of up to 30% of the costs of the installation, to a maximum of £4,000. The Energy Saving Trust (EST), who deliver the scheme, hope to pay out 1,000 household grants this year.

The Energy Saving Scotland Network, also delivered by EST, provides energy efficiency and microgeneration advice to anyone who calls the network. They have a target in place to engage with 220,000 customers in 2009-10.

The Energy Efficiency Design Awards was launched on 3 February 2009. This offers £1 million in prize money this year and next to generate and encourage the development of novel ideas and solutions to improve energy efficiency in hard to treat homes which number around 624,000 in Scotland.

Proposals for a loan mechanism for investing in domestic energy efficiency measures will come forward later in the year.