- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nora Radcliffe on 31 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what plans it has to increase the number of fair trade products supplied by the Parliament’s catering services.
Answer
A number of fair tradeproducts are currently supplied and the SPCB is considering extending the rangeof confectionary items available for sale. The SPCB is always on the look outto increase the fair trade range whenever possible but needs to take account oflimitations such as the catering budget, pricing policy and consumer demand. Wewill undertake to actively promote Fair Trade amongst our customers.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nora Radcliffe on 31 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many fair trade products are supplied by the Parliament’s catering services.
Answer
The following fair tradeproducts are currently available at the Parliament:
All tea and coffee servedthroughout the campus
Orange juice served forhospitality
A choice of red and whitewine in the Members’ Restaurant and Bar
Confectionery items ingarden level and public restaurant (chocolate bars, cereal bars, individualcartons of soft drinks).
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nora Radcliffe on 31 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what emphasis the Parliament’s procurement strategy places on purchasing fair trade products.
Answer
The Parliament’s commitmentis to purchase responsibly, taking account of social, ethical, economic andenvironmental considerations. Our procurement procedures have been recently developedto ensure that these issues are considered at every stage of the procurementprocess. Whenever possible, options for social labels such as Fair Trade willbe included in our specifications to encourage suppliers to offer fair tradeitems. Following contract award we work with our contractors to continuallyimprove performance including responsible purchasing aspects.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 29 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what input it had to the appointment of Sir Ken Collins, Chair of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency board, to the EU High Level Group on Competitiveness, Energy and Environment and, if it had input, to what extent the Parliament was consulted on this issue.
Answer
On 25 January 2006 Sir KenCollins was invited by Gunter Verheugen, Vice-President of the EuropeanCommission, to become a member of the High Level Group on Competitiveness,Energy and the Environment.
Sir Ken was invited to takeup this position in a personal capacity and not as a representative of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The Scottish Executive had no input tothis appointment but Sir Ken did inform the First Minister of his acceptance of the position as a matter of courtesy.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nora Radcliffe on 28 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what guidelines are set for the sourcing of Scottish products in respect of catering within the Parliament.
Answer
The SPCB is required tocomply with European procurement law that requires us to be fair, transparentand non-discriminatory in our treatment of suppliers. Within these parameterswe have set requirements for the contractor to supply fresh, seasonal producewhich creates an opportunity for local supply and within this framework anumber of Scottish products are supplied. We continue to encourage ourcontractor to identify further opportunities for the use of local produce.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Awaiting answer
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 21 and (c) 22 to 25 have been registered as unemployed in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area and showing year-on-year percentage changes.
Answer
Awaiting answer
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Wi-Fi networks are operational and what the extent is of existing Wi-Fi coverage.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to develop wireless internet coverage across Scotland and, if so, whether it will give details in respect of the level of coverage and timescale.
Answer
We currently have no such plans.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 23 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what proportion of energy consumption is accounted for by electronic devices on standby.
Answer
Information provided by the Departmentfor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’, Market Transformation Programme estimatesthat in 2004 electricity consumption of equipment on stand-by in households andcommercial premises such as offices, retail and hotels, was at least eight TWh acrossthe UK. This figure suggests that around 7% of the UK domestic electricitydemand is for devices on stand by.
- Asked by: Richard Lochhead, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2006
-
Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 23 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place to ensure that all areas receive adequate ambulance cover.
Answer
The Scottish Executive HealthDepartment continually monitors and reviews the performance of the Scottish AmbulanceService. We take a particular interest in the emergency ambulance service and howthe service is performing across Scotland against its response times targets.
