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-05378

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 23 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has asked back-bench MSPs to lodge oral parliamentary questions in order to enable it to make an announcement or for any other purpose and whether it will provide a list of such questions, including the dates on which they were lodged and answered.

No equivalent of the process by which the Scottish Executive may inspire the tabling of a written parliamentary question (referred to in questions S1W-4815 and 5379) exists in relation to oral parliamentary questions. The random selection process for oral questions and the limits on when oral questions could be answered mean that such a process would not be suited to bringing matters to the attention of the Parliament.

Members from all political parties have followed up discussions/contacts with Ministers by tabling questions for oral answer or by asking supplementary questions. Such instances cannot be identified from records held by the Executive.

Question reference: S1W-04816

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 21 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has taken or plans to introduce measures to encourage the oil and gas industry to exploit the commercial potential of renewable energy.

Question reference: S1W-04818

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 21 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has targets for offshore renewable power generation and, if so, how these targets compare with targets adopted by other countries in the European Union.

Question reference: S1W-04815

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 14 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has asked back-bench MSPs to lodge parliamentary questions in order to enable it to make an announcement; whether it will provide a list of such questions, including the date on which they were lodged, and whether any of its officials have written authorisations to lodge parliamentary questions in the names of back-bench MSPs.

There are occasions when, for the convenience of members, the Executive brings a matter to the attention of the Parliament by means of a Written Parliamentary Question. This is an appropriate mechanism for matters which are not so significant as to require a ministerial statement.

The lodging of a parliamentary question is a matter for the member concerned, and no officials have authorisation to lodge questions on behalf of members.

Although not identified separately in our records, it has been possible to identify the following 116 questions (out of the 4,800 lodged to 28 February) as being inspired by the Executive.0162, 0164, 0182, 0268, 0284, 0285, 0286, 0347, 0366, 0367, 0460, 0696, 0697, 0719, 0804, 0846, 0847, 0848, 0936, 1011, 1012, 1013, 1230, 1304, 1351, 1420, 1443, 1464, 1502, 1558, 1583, 1648, 1649, 1678, 1679, 1719, 1919, 1992, 2104, 2114, 2115, 2149, 2150, 2230, 2231, 2391, 2445, 2446, 2473, 2530, 2559, 2560, 2591, 2592, 2593, 2612, 2649, 2651, 2652, 2680, 2681, 2682, 2714, 2752, 2768, 2795, 2805, 2860, 2931, 2945, 2985, 2986, 3022, 3023, 3126, 3294, 3304, 3352, 3353, 3354, 3388, 3411, 3412, 3413, 3448, 3655, 3656, 3663, 3769, 3789, 3854, 3855, 3866, 3867, 3868, 3955, 3997, 4008, 4083, 4084, 4110, 4161, 4162, 4163, 4224, 4266, 4293, 4313, 4363, 4413, 4433, 4443, 4558, 4640, 4700 and 4701.

Question reference: S1W-04814

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by John Home Robertson on 14 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make available any written legal advice from the Scottish Law Officers received by The Scottish Office relating to the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999, prior to or since it completed the legislative process.

Question reference: S1W-04817

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Donald Dewar on 14 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3365 by Sarah Boyack on 23 February 2000, whether it is its policy to refrain from answering written parliamentary questions until it has made a related oral ministerial statement.

Question reference: S1W-04130

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of water industry infrastructure it estimates will be privately owned by the end of the current session of the Parliament.

It is very difficult to place a value on the extensive network of above and below ground assets held by the water authorities. In his advice on charges, the Water Industry Commissioner gives an estimate that the replacement value of the water authorities assets could be up to £16 billion. Our projection of PFI capital investment by the end of 2002 is around £0.6 billion, by which time all currently planned projects will have been completed.

Question reference: S1W-04131

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what the level of capital expenditure in the water industry will be over the next two years and what the gap is between this figure and the figure allowed under the industry's external finance limits.

Figures for the Scottish water authorities' proposed capital investment programme and indicative EFLs for the next two years are given in the following table.£ million

Scottish water authorities	2000-01	2001-02
Capital Expenditure	451.0	469.0
External Finance Limits	201.9*	218.0

* In-year adjustment to EFLs for the current year to accommodate fluctuations in Water Authorities' capital expenditure programmes had the net effect of bringing forward £15 million from 2000-01 into 1999-2000.

Question reference: S1W-04129

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 10 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive how much planned investment in the water industry, based on currently available investment projections and expressed in both percentage and monetary terms, will be financed through (a) the Private Finance Initiative and (b) traditional procurement.

For the period of the strategic review, 2000-01 and 2001-02, water authorities plan to invest around £930 million in water and sewerage infrastructure. In addition to this the water authorities will procure some major sewerage services through partnership schemes with the private sector. It is very difficult to make an assessment of the capital costs of PFI schemes - that is a matter for the PFI contractors themselves - but our best estimate would be around £375 million, around 28% of the total investment required for the same period.

Question reference: S1W-01505

Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 September 1999
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 9 March 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to examine the implications of Private Finance Initiative projects commissioned by the water authorities for charges for water and sewerage customers.

PFI projects in the water and sewerage sector are essential schemes needed to meet the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment (Scotland) Regulations 1994. This investment is therefore unavoidable and it is for the authorities to achieve a value for money solution. The water authorities in these cases consider PFI the most appropriate means of implementing these schemes, through a process of competitive tendering. These costs are a factor the Water Industry Commissioner will take into account in providing advice on future charges.