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: S1W-30340

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 4 November 2002

To ask the Presiding Officer what hourly rate or rates are charged by Shepherd and Wedderburn WS for the legal services it is providing to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Limited and Flour City International Inc.; whether there is any contract between the SPCB and Shepherd and Wedderburn WS, and whether the contract for these legal services was put out to tender.

A tendering exercise was carried to procure outsourced legal services and contracts were agreed with three firms. The services provided by Shepherd and Wedderburn in connection with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and Flour City International Inc. have been at the rates quoted in the contract. It would not be appropriate to divulge the competitive rates which prevail as a further tender round is likely when the current contracts expire.

Question reference: S1W-30336

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 1 November 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken, or will take, to ensure that one national insurance policy is obtained in order to provide cover for children participating in sport, recreational physical exercise and outdoor activity, including school excursions and foreign holidays, and whether the establishment of such a policy could effect savings for local authorities who are presently responsible for ensuring that such insurance cover exists.

Question reference: S1W-30331

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 1 November 2002

To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-29304 on 30 September 2002, how many visitors there were to the public gallery in the chamber on each (a) Wednesday and (b) Thursday that the Parliament has met since 1 September 1999 and what the average number of visitors was on these days during the periods (i) 1 September to 31 December 1999, (ii) 1 January to 31 December 2000, (iii) 1 January to 31 December 2001 and (iv) 1 January to 30 June 2002.

The information requested broken down by years is given below. Since access and egress of visitors is a continuous process it is not possible to identify total numbers in the gallery at any one time.

1 September to 31 December 1999							1 January to 31 December 2000
Number of Visitors							Number of Visitors
Wednesday			Thursday				Wednesday		Thursday
8/9	233		9/9		387		1/1 - 7/1 - Recess
15/9	242		16/9		534		12/1	133	13/1	327
22/9	319		23/9		397		19/1	143	20/1	483
29/9	248		30/9		604		26/1	147	27/1	465
6/10	287		7/10		445		2/2	170	3/2	710
11/10 -22/10 - Recess							9/2	154	10/2	447
27/10	384		28/10		636		16/2	349	17/2	481
3/11	235		4/11		582		23/2	218	24/2	624
10/11	194		11/11		347		1/3	171	2/3	558
17/11	267		18/11		480		8/3	102	9/3	537
25/11	300		26/11		476		15/3	209	16/3	439
1/12	198		2/12		480		22/3	297	23/3	559
8/12	269		9/12		405		29/3	73	30/3	658
15/12	89		16/12		299		5/4	631	6/4	738
20/12 -31/12 - Recess							10/4 - 21/4 - Recess
							26/4	205	27/4	865
							3/5	258	4/5	378
							10/5	266	11/5	554
							15/5 - 2/6 - Parliament met in Glasgow
							7/6	237	8/6	526
							14/6	262	15/6	642
							21/6	346	22/6	677
							28/6	214	29/6	519
							5/7	242	6/7	722
							10/7 - 1/9 Recess
							6/9	243	7/9	245
							13/9	151	14/9	660
							20/9	174	21/9	358
							27/9	143	28/9	379
							4/10	284	5/10	482
							9/10 - 20/10 - Recess
							25/10	351	26/10	397
							1/11	175	2/11	533
							8/11	227	9/11	417
							15/11	102	16/11	405
							22/11	163	23/11	412
							29/11	168	30/11	574
							6/12	195	7/12	447
							13/12	143	14/12	381
							17/12 - 31/12 - Recess
Total		3,265		Total		6,072	Total	7,346	Total	17,599
Average		251		Average		467	Average	216	Average	517

1 January to 31 December 2001					1 January to 30 June 2002
Number of Visitors					Number of Visitors
Wednesday			Thursday		Wednesday		Thursday
1/1 - 5/1 - Recess					1/1 - 4/1 - Recess
10/1	91		11/1	318	9/1	141	10/1	324
17/1	142		18/1	436	16/1	117	17/1	369
24/1	108		25/1	524	23/1	200	24/1	403
31/1	201		1\2	474	30/1	123	31/1	416
7/2	140		8/2	322	6/2	226	7/2	330
14/2	262		15/2	442	13/2	616	14/2	429
19/2 - 23/2 - Recess					18/2 - 22/2 - Recess
28/2		100	1/3	471	27/2	330	28/2	616
7/3		186	8/3	431	6/3	182	7/3	525
14/3		404	15/3	886	13/3	357	14/3	628
21/3		168	22/3	530	20/3	401	21/3	621
28/3		130	29/3	501	27/3	283	28/3	501
4/4		152	5/4	499	1\4 - 13/4 - Recess
9/4 - 20/4 - Recess					17/4	204	18/4	514
25/4		241	26/4	387	24/4	314	25/4	592
2/5		158	3/5	433	1/5	269	2/5	454
9/5		131	10/5	586	8/5	197	9/5	608
16/5		205	17/5	412	15/5	277	16/5	740
23/5		150	24/5	526	20/5 - 7/6 - Committee Work and Parliament meeting in Aberdeen
30/5		269	31/5	357
6/6		332	7/6	113	12/6	294	13/6	464
13/6		332	14/6	510	19/6	230	20/6	671
20/6		195	21/6	605	26/6	168	27/6	621
27/6		180	28/6	361
2/7 - 31/8 - Recess
5/9		182	6/9	340
12/9		166	13/9	542
19/9		426	20/9	604
26/9		291	27/9	570
3/10		359	4/10	682
8/10 - 19/10 - Recess
24/10		338	25/10	707
31/10		181	1/11	746
7/11		239	8/11	603
14/11		256	15/11	504
21/11		253	22/11	608
28/11		181	29/11	821
5/12		207	6/12	681
12/12		201	13/12	392
19/12		118	20/12	226
24/12 - 31/12 - Recess
Total		7,676	Total	18,150	Total	4,929	Total	9,826
Average		213	Average	504	Average	259	Average	517

The member may wish to know that the SPCB has already increased the planned seating capacity for press and public in the Holyrood Chamber from 200 to 267 seats, and that there will be further 275 public spaces in committee rooms as against only 53 in our temporary accommodation.

Question reference: S1W-30523

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 1 November 2002

To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will give a detailed breakdown of the #14.2 million landscaping costs in relation to the Holyrood Project; what cost savings the SPCB has considered, detailing which savings have been incorporated and, where cost savings were considered but not made, what the reasons were, and what cost savings the SPCB is currently considering or plans to consider in the future.

The information of the landscaping costs are as follows:

Category	£ million
Construction	7.7
Fees	1.9
Land acquisition	0.3
Risk and Inflation	1.8
Muster Room	0.5
VAT	2.0
Total	14.2

The SPCB and the Holyrood Project Group consider opportunities for cost savings on an on-going basis across the whole project, including savings for the landscaping development. Decisions to implement cost saving measures are taken whenever the quality of the finished product and the integrity of the architects' design concepts will not be materially compromised and are balanced against the impact on other works packages and any programme implications. The cost savings information is not collated in the detailed manner requested, and no separate exercise is being undertaken.

Question reference: S1W-30333

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the waste presently disposed of at Longman landfill site, which is due to be closed from April 2003, will be disposed of in a landfill site near Peterhead and, if so, what estimate has been made of the additional haulage traffic that will use the A96 and other trunk roads in order to complete the journey from Inverness to Peterhead.

Treatment and disposal of municipal waste is the responsibility of the local authority, in this case Highland Council. The council is preparing a public private partnership (PPP) scheme as a long-term sustainable waste management solution which will be in accordance with the agreed Area Waste Plan. However, the council has informed the Executive of their intention to arrange for interim disposal of municipal waste, which is currently disposed of at Longman landfill site, in a landfill near Peterhead. The council has assessed that for this waste, traffic will amount to some 15 articulated vehicles per day.

Question reference: S1W-30603

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 30 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people work in the scallop industry, broken down by fishermen, processors and others.

Question reference: S1W-30604

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 30 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all research and the cost of such research into amnesic shellfish poisoning commissioned or carried out by the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS).

The FSAS have advised me that the following table details all research they have carried out or commissioned into amnesic shellfish poisoning. Food Standards Agency Scotland Research into ASP

Date	Title	Purpose	Total Cost (£000)
December 2001 to July 2002	Measurement of ASP in King Scallops processed in Scotland	This study was designed to establish the acceptable and proportionate levels of end product testing for whole, roe-on and roe-off scallops in the tiered system.	154
January 2000 to September 2003	Phytoplankton study	Project initiated to investigate the relationship between phyoplankton and levels of ASP PSP and DSP.	450

Question reference: S1W-30608

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by Mary Mulligan on 30 October 2002

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invite the Food Standards Agency Scotland to submit the data on samples taken from (a) scallops and (b) mussels since amnesic shellfish poisoning testing was introduced, showing the levels of algal toxins, in order to challenge scientifically the trigger level of 4.6 micrograms per gram set in the European Commission Decision 2002/226 EC, in the light of the suggestion by the European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General to the Rural Development Committee at its meeting on 8 October 2002.

Question reference: S1W-30508

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 29 October 2002

To ask the Presiding Officer whether there is any conflict of interest between the Parliament and Bovis Lend Lease(Scotland) Ltd in relation to the Holyrood Project.

Question reference: S1W-30521

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2002
Current Status: Answered by David Steel on 29 October 2002

To ask the Presiding Officer whether any estimate has been made of the costs to the Holyrood project in the event that the "degree of uncertainty" referred to by the Holyrood Project Director at the Finance Committee on 8 October 2002 (Official Report, c 2244) results in the new Parliament building not being completed and ready for occupation by December 2003 and, if so, whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give a detailed breakdown of this estimate.