Questions and answers

Question reference: S4W-01748

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether private home owners might be liable for the entire cost of work taken forward as part of a housing renewal area, including the demolition of homes.

Question reference: S4W-01746

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what areas are seeking housing renewal area status.

Question reference: S4W-01749

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances can a registered social landlord (RSL) take forward a scheme of demolishing mixed tenure housing because the RSL considers it to be uneconomic to repair the homes that it owns.

The Scottish Government would expect an RSL to consult extensively with residents on proposals that affect their homes and that a high level of support is demonstrated. We would also expect the RSL to work closely with the local authority and ensure that any proposals being brought forward are subject to a detailed options appraisal and value for money assessment. Ultimately, however, an RSL cannot demolish a scheme of mixed tenure housing without the agreement of the other owners or unless it can secure full ownership of all the properties involved and gain the necessary statutory consents from the local authority.

Question reference: S4W-02078

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-01565

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what primary energy consumption was as a percentage of overall UK consumption for (a) oil, (b) natural gas, (c) coal, (d) nuclear energy, (e) hydro-electricity and (f) other renewable energy sources in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-01564

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the primary energy consumption was for (a) oil, (b) natural gas, (c) coal, (d) nuclear energy, (e) hydro-electricity and (f) other renewable energy sources in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S4W-01558

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2011
Current Status: Answered by Alex Neil on 3 August 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36681 by John Swinney on 26 October 2010, whether it will provide an update on what savings (a) are projected or (b) have been achieved for each local authority and public body as a result of the new public sector electricity contracts announced in its news release of 30 April 2009, Public sector power goes greener.

The Scottish Government’s national electricity contracts now cover over 99% public sector demand, some 25,000 buildings. Most public bodies migrated to these contracts on an incremental basis between October 2009 and April 2010, the first full financial year of operation for the contracts is, therefore, 2010-11. In that year, the actual delivered benefits are £10.6 million. Given that both the cost of electricity on the wholesale market and distribution charges have continued to increase significantly over the past year these benefits take the form of cost avoidance.

While it is for individual public bodies to calculate the benefits they have derived and will continue to derive from the contracts, we estimate that the £10.6 million annual benefits for the year April 2010 to March 2011 accrued to the participating sectors as follows:

Central Government: 6%

Local Authority, Fire and Police: 58%

NHS Scotland: 19%

Higher and Further Education: 16%

Third Sector: 1%.

Importantly, the contracts also allow increased budgetary certainty for public bodies, as the flexible procurement model adopted involves multiple purchases on the wholesale market, which “smooths out” the volatility inherent in large, one-off transactions in commodity markets. Significant process savings have also been achieved for through going to the market once, rather than many times, for the same commodity.

Question reference: S4W-01417

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to monitor the number of passengers using the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link in comparison with the estimated figure for the service.

Question reference: S4W-01415

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of passengers travelling directly from (a) Helensburgh Central, (b) Glasgow Queen Street, (c) High Street and (d) Bellgrove to Edinburgh via the Airdrie to Bathgate rail link has been since the service started and how this compares with the estimated figure for the service.

Question reference: S4W-01057

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 July 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the current political situation in Malawi and the potential impact on aid and development programmes in Malawi run by organisations supported by the Scottish Government.

I met with Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, on 10 June 2011, and reiterated Scotland’s commitment to the people of Malawi. There was solid agreement at the meeting that interventions channelled through Scottish NGOs should continue to be directed for the benefit of people in Malawi. The Scottish Government funding goes directly to Scottish based charities working with local partner organisations in Malawi. Over £5 million has already been allocated to the Malawi Development Programme over the next 2 years, to which the Scottish Government remains committed. Scottish Government officials remain in close contact with both the FCO and DfID about the current political situation in Malawi.

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