- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Awaiting answer
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that regional transport partnerships make proper provision for cycle projects by specifying a minimum percentage of their funding to be used for that purpose or by rewarding partnerships that do include such schemes in their regional transport strategies.
Answer
Awaiting answer
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Elish Angiolini on 2 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it believes that the prosecution service is equipped to deal with complex cases.
Answer
I am confident that the professional and dedicated staff within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have the appropriate expertise and are well equipped to deal effectively with complex cases. This was highlighted recently in the successful prosecution of Transco, which led to the imposition of a fine of £15 million - the highest fine ever imposed by a court in this country.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 2 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits patients in Edinburgh can expect from the most recent announcement on NHS waiting times.
Answer
Patients in Edinburgh - andindeed across Scotland - are already receiving significant benefits as a resultof our policies to improve access and drive down waiting times. The national maximumwaiting times for first out-patient consultations and for hospital inpatient andday case treatment are now six months – the lowest ever level.
Further improvements will beevident as the NHS in Scotland makes progress towards delivery of our commitment toreduce these maximum waiting times to 18 weeks by the end of 2007.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees that the new EU Public Sector and Utilities Directives do not simply clarify existing guidance but provide additional scope to undertake public procurement in such a way that achieves value for money whilst meeting social, employment and environmental challenges.
Answer
The new directives and implementing regulations do provide such additional scope in allowing contracts to be reserved for supported businesses.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive why the draft regulations implementing the new EU Public Sector and Utilities Procurement Directives implement Articles 25 (sub-contracting) and 27 (obligations relating to taxes etc) as being optional and not mandatory.
Answer
These articles refer to information which prospective bidders may be requested to provide in the context of a procurement process. Making it a mandatory legal requirement that the information must be sought and provided by tenderers on every occasion might result in unnecessary burdens on suppliers and purchasers alike. The Scottish Regulations which give effect to the directives, therefore, allow individual public authorities and utility entities the scope to decide whether the information should be sought.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive why it has chosen to mirror the Office of Government Commerce’s implementation of the new EU Public Sector and Utilities Procurement Directives.
Answer
The Executive’s approach to implementation was set out in the draft Scottish Regulations implementation of the Public Sector Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC and Utilities Directive 2004/17/EC. Essentially, our regulations are close to the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) because we are both subject to the same overarching EU law framework. Also, suppliers operating in Scotland and the rest of the UK might find it difficult to interpret regulations which were substantially different in style and/or substance. Scottish Regulations therefore differ from OGC only where we believe this to be necessary in a Scottish context, for example in respect of the tier of the court in which remedies may be sought.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 27 February 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive, given the deadlines for transposing the new EU Public Sector and Utilities Procurement Directives, whether it will publish its own separate and distinct social issues guidance in respect of the directives or whether it will copy the guidance currently being prepared by the Office of Government Commerce.
Answer
I can confirm that the Executive intends to publish guidance on social issues in respect of the directives. Given that both Scotland and the rest of the UK operate under the same overarching framework of EU procurement law, the terms of the Executive’s guidelines will inevitably be similar to the Office of Government Commerce’s. However, in preparing Scottish guidance we would expect to draw on any unique Scottish examples and experience. For example, the Executive has been working on a pilot programme to examine the use of community benefit clauses in public contracts. In preparing its guidance for Scotland the Executive intends to consult relevant stakeholders, including the STUC.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 12 January 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether increased health service investment is helping to improve services.
Answer
Yes. Health services and patient care are improving. Waiting time targets are being met. Deaths from cancer, heart disease and stroke are coming down. People are living longer. There remain some real challenges to be met, and we will continue to increase investment in order to continue to improve both health services and health outcomes for patients.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Allan Wilson on 14 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce a similar scheme in Scotland to the new Low Carbon Building Programme funding scheme announced by the UK Minister of State for Energy.
Answer
We are working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry on their proposed Microgeneration Strategy and Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP). Linked to this, we propose to begin shortly, work to determine what might be an appropriate such strategy for Scotland.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Edinburgh Central, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2005
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 10 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many fines have been issued for abuse of the Blue Badge scheme following the introduction of the right to inspect badges.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
