Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 754 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S3W-07505

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 17 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended design maximum is for (a) daily and (b) hourly peak traffic flows for dual (i) two-lane and (ii) three-lane motorways.

There are no recommendeddesign maxima for traffic flows for any category of road in either daily or hourlyterms. The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Volume 5, Advice Note TA 46/97“Traffic Flow Ranges for Use in the Assessment of New Rural Roads”,sets out opening year flow ranges for use only as starting points in the designand economic assessment of new rural road links. These are as follows:

Carriageway Standard	Opening Year AADT
Carriageway Standard	Minimum	Maximum
Dual 2 Lane Motorway	Up to 41,000
Dual 3 Lane Motorway	25,000	67,000

Note: AADT is Annual Average Daily Traffic in vehiclesper day.

These flows do not represent maximum throughputs whichdepend on vehicle type mix, driver behaviour, junction spacing, maintenance considerations,etc.

No hourly peak trafficflow ranges are given in the DMRB.

Question reference: S3W-07506

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what aspirations it has for future traffic levels.

The recently publishedScottish budget set out our national performance framework. Fifteen national outcomessupport our plans to deliver a wealthier and fairer, smarter, healthier, safer andstronger and greener Scotland.

Working in partnershipwith local authorities, progress on these outcomes will be measured by nationaltargets and indicators including our commitments to “reduce the number of driverjourneys delayed due to traffic congestion” and to “increase the proportion of journeysto work made by public or active travel”.

Question reference: S3W-07504

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on motorway and trunk road construction in each of the last eight years.

Question reference: S3W-07640

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) local authority, (b) NHS board and (b) government agency PFI/PPP contracts have increased in scope or complexity from the original proposals since 1999.

The information requestedis not held centrally for local authorities and NHS boards.

Of the threeGovernment PPP contracts (M6 DBFO, M77/GSO, HM Prison Kilmarnock) none haveincreased in scope or complexity to such an extent that there has been a major changefrom the original proposals.

As PPP contractsare for the long term, they contain provisions which allow for variations to bemade to the contract and this is carried out in accordance with prescribedchange procedures.

Question reference: S3W-07639

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish companies that have entered into PFI/PPP contracts with (a) local authorities, (b) NHS boards and (c) government agencies have subsequently been acquired by companies based outside Scotland since 1999.

Question reference: S3W-07637

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what standard indicators it uses to monitor and evaluate PFI/PPP contracts.

It is theresponsibility of individual public sector procuring bodies to monitor andevaluate their own PPP contracts and this is carried out through the paymentmechanism which is contained within the contract documentation. The payment mechanismconsists of performance and availability indicators and are tailored for eachindividual contract. Standardised PPP contract documentation is available forthe main sectors such as schools and health on the Scottish GovernmentFinancial Partnerships Unit’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/ppp under thepublications menu.

In addition,there is a pre-financial close Key Stage Review which focuses on projectmanagement and monitoring during the construction and operational phases, andnew operational guidance in the form of 2 Briefing Notes. These are also availableon the website.

Question reference: S3W-07029

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 11 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what the average European (EU-15) population growth has been in (a) 1950-60, (b) 1960-70, (c) 1970-80, (d) 1980-90, (e) 1990-2000, (f) 2000-07, (g) 1950-2007, (h) 1960-2007, (i) 1970-2007, (j) 1980-2007 and (k) 1990-2007, broken down by member state, and what the average population growth has been in Scotland in the same periods.

The percentage changesin population for EU-15 countries and Scotland are providedin the following table. Figures for EU member states are from the Eurostat website(http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/)and are as at 1 January. Figures for Scotland are from theGeneral Register Office for Scotland (www.gro-scotland.gov.uk)and are as at 30 June.

Percentage Changein Populations of EU-15 Countries and Scotland Over VariousPeriods

Country	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k
Country	1950-60	1960-70	1970-80	1980-90	1990-2000	2000-07	1950-2007	1960-2007	1970-2007	1980-2007	1990-2007
EU-15	6.5	8.0	4.3	2.5	3.3	3.8	N/A	23.8	14.7	10.0	7.3
Austria	1.5	6.0	1.2	1.3	4.7	3.7	19.8	18.0	11.3	10.0	8.6
Belgium	5.7	5.8	2.0	0.9	2.9	3.4	22.5	15.9	9.6	7.4	6.4
Denmark	7.4	7.5	4.4	0.3	3.8	2.2	28.1	19.3	11.0	6.3	6.1
Finland	10.7	4.6	3.4	4.3	4.0	2.0	32.3	19.6	14.4	10.6	6.1
France	9.2	11.1	6.3	5.3	4.0	4.6	47.8	35.4	21.8	14.5	8.8
Germany	6.1	7.9	-0.1	1.2	3.9	0.2	20.4	13.5	5.2	5.3	4.0
Greece	9.7	5.8	9.2	5.6	7.7	2.5	47.7	34.6	27.2	16.6	10.4
Ireland	-4.5	3.8	15.3	3.4	7.7	14.2	45.3	52.2	46.6	27.2	23.0
Italy	N/A	7.3	5.0	0.5	0.4	3.9	N/A	18.2	10.1	4.9	4.3
Luxembourg	6.2	8.1	7.4	4.4	14.3	9.8	61.6	52.1	40.7	31.0	25.5
Netherlands	13.9	13.5	8.7	5.7	6.5	3.1	63.1	43.3	26.2	16.1	9.8
Portugal	4.6	-1.5	11.7	2.9	2.0	4.0	25.6	20.1	21.9	9.1	6.0
Spain	8.3	10.8	10.9	4.3	3.2	11.0	58.8	46.7	32.4	19.4	14.5
Sweden	6.9	7.1	3.7	2.7	3.9	2.8	30.4	22.0	13.9	9.8	6.9
UK	3.1	6.4	1.3	1.5	2.8	3.5	20.2	16.6	9.6	8.1	6.5
Scotland	1.2	0.7	-0.4	-2.2	-0.4	1.5	0.5	-0.8	-1.4	-1.1	1.1

Note: The 2007 figurefor Scotland is taken from the 2006-based national populationprojections. The mid-year population estimate for 2007 will be published in April2008.

Question reference: S3W-07030

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 11 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what the population has been in each European (EU-15) member state in (a) 1950, (b) 1960, (c) 1970, (d) 1980, (e) 1990, (f) 2000 and (g) 2007 and what the Scottish population was in the same periods.

The populations ofeach of the EU-15 member states and of Scotland are provided in the table below. Figures for EU member states are from theEurostat website (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/)and are as at 1 January. Figures for Scotland are from theGeneral Register Office for Scotland (www.gro-scotland.gov.uk)and are as at 30 June.

Populations ofEU-15 Countries and Scotland (000)

Country	a	b	c	d	e	f	g
Country	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2007
EU-15	N/A	314,862	339,975	354,568	363,493	375,550	389,952
Austria	6,926	7,030	7,455	7,546	7,645	8,002	8,299
Belgium	8,639	9,129	9,660	9,855	9,948	10,239	10,585
Denmark	4,251	4,565	4,907	5,122	5,135	5,330	5,447
Finland	3,988	4,413	4,614	4,771	4,974	5,171	5,277
France	41,647	45,465	50,528	53,731	56,577	58,850	61,538
Germany	68,376	72,543	78,269	78,180	79,113	82,163	82,315
Greece	7,566	8,300	8,781	9,584	10,121	10,904	11,172
Ireland	2,969	2,836	2,943	3,393	3,507	3,778	4,315
Italy	N/A	50,026	53,685	56,388	56,694	56,924	59,131
Luxembourg	295	313	339	363	379	434	476
Netherlands	10,027	11,417	12,958	14,091	14,893	15,864	16,358
Portugal	8,437	8,826	8,698	9,714	9,996	10,195	10,599
Spain	28,009	30,327	33,588	37,242	38,826	40,050	44,475
Sweden	6,986	7,471	8,004	8,303	8,527	8,861	9,113
UK	50,616	52,200	55,546	56,285	57,157	58,785	60,853
Scotland	5,115	5,178	5,214	5,194	5,081	5,063	5,138

Note: The 2007 figurefor Scotland is taken from the 2006-based national populationprojections. The mid-year population estimate for 2007 will be published in April2008.

Question reference: S3W-07028

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 11 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on what the average European (EU-15) population growth is forecast to be from 2007 to 2017.

Question reference: S3W-07128

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Current Status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 11 December 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5931 by Stewart Stevenson on 12 November 2007, whether the answer indicates that there is no specific designated alternative route for the upgraded A80/M80 route in the event of emergency or closure.