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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: S4W-10839

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 November 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many Network Rail staff are based in Scotland.

Question reference: S4O-01428

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve recycling rates.

Question reference: S4W-10615

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 October 2012
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Keith Brown on 29 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of the combined Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and A90 Balmedie to Tipperty project.

The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is vital for jobs, the economy and improving the transport infrastructure of Aberdeen and the north east. Over the next three decades, the project is expected to bring in an additional £6 billion to the north east economy and create around 14,000 new jobs.

The unwanted delays caused by the protracted public local inquiry and legal challenges have resulted in a substantial increase in the overall cost of the project.

In 2008 the AWPR scheme was costed at £347 million at 2003 prices.

The revised cost of the AWPR following scope changes, the inclusion of standard risk costs and rebasing to 2012 prices totals £653 million.

Cost increases due to inflation total £230 million.

The estimated total cost of the combined AWPR and Balmedie to Tipperty project is £745 million at 2012 prices (excluding VAT) and is made up of a total scheme cost estimate of £653 million for the AWPR and £92 million for Balmedie to Tipperty.

The Scottish Government is meeting 81% of the costs of the Northern and Southern Leg elements of the AWPR with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils contributing 9.5% each. The cost of the Fastlink section of the AWPR and the Balmedie to Tipperty project will be met entirely by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have a strong record of delivering transport projects on time and on budget. This has included the successful delivery of the M80 Stepps to Haggs, the M74 Completion, the Clackmannanshire Bridge and the A96 Fochabers and Mosstodloch Bypass. Transport Scotland are committed to maintaining this record in delivering the AWPR and Balmedie to Tipperty project.

The AWPR and Balmedie to Tipperty project form a core part of our commitment to improving transport in the north east along with a new Inveramsay Bridge on the A96, improvements to the Haudagain roundabout and proposals to dual the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness by 2030, which along with the action currently being taken to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness will ensure that all Scotland’s cities are connected with a high-quality transport system that will generate economic growth.

Question reference: S4W-09824

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) total value is and (b) cash balances are of local authority common good funds.

Question reference: S4O-01423

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what obligations Scottish Water has to deal with persistent flooding from its sewerage network.

Question reference: S4O-01372

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it carries out of literacy initiatives such as the Reading Bus in Aberdeen.

Question reference: S4W-09766

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 5 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many people live in supported accommodation.

The information requested is not held centrally. We have been consulting with stakeholders on the information needed to assess the impact of possible changes in housing benefit for those in supported accommodation. Following these discussions we are now planning to gather comprehensive information from councils and service providers on the current provision of supported accommodation and the characteristics and needs of those being supported.

Question reference: S4W-09777

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what level of reserves is held by each (a) local authority and (b) NHS board.

The following tables show the level of revenue and capital reserves held by each local authority as at 31 March 2011. NHS boards do not hold reserves.

Revenue Reserves	General Fund	Housing Revenue Account	Renewal and Repairs	Insurance Fund	Other Statutory Funds	Total Revenue Reserves
Local Authority £000	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)	(f)
Aberdeen City	35,466	6,877	5	1,429	255	44,032
Aberdeenshire	29,163	5,033	980	1,119	0	36,295
Angus	18,229	1,957	3,620	459	0	24,265
Argyll and Bute	32,973	No HRA	497	0	0	33,470
Clackmannanshire	9,129	3,575	0	791	0	13,495
Dumfries and Galloway	51,721	No HRA	1,668	2,791	0	56,180
Dundee City	6,758	0	3,904	386	0	11,048
East Ayrshire	28,498	1,397	9,800	0	0	39,695
East Dunbartonshire	9,909	1,081	282	0	0	11,272
East Lothian	17,849	4,743	0	1,006	0	23,598
East Renfrewshire	12,588	724	6,824	1,122	0	21,258
Edinburgh, City of	89,634	0	15,404	0	0	105,038
Eilean Siar	14,644	No HRA	0	0	0	14,644
Falkirk	30,324	6,392	1,905	3,683	0	42,304
Fife	45,537	2,633	0	1,542	0	49,712
Glasgow City	53,911	No HRA	48,106	19,511	0	121,528
Highland	30,834	7,524	1,486	1,678	0	41,522
Inverclyde	29,198	No HRA	671	4,848	0	34,717
Midlothian	12,288	11,680	1,644	0	0	25,612
Moray	17,529	1,255	2,507	1,352	0	22,643
North Ayrshire	24,595	7,811	8,348	3,339	0	44,093
North Lanarkshire	20,377	3,541	383	9,930	0	34,231
Orkney Islands	22,569	560	8,691	0	189,013	220,833
Perth and Kinross	31,293	803	543	933	0	33,572
Renfrewshire	36,626	10,700	2,845	0	0	50,171
Scottish Borders	11,475	No HRA	175	1,507	0	13,157
Shetland Islands	3,000	0	95,651	222	61,621	160,494
South Ayrshire	15,302	13,960	4,280	425	0	33,967
South Lanarkshire	8,476	4,955	20,698	8,541	0	42,670
Stirling	13,541	28	601	930	0	15,100
West Dunbartonshire	14,967	2,668	202	0	0	17,837
West Lothian	16,109	926	65	8,648	0	25,748
Total	794,512	100,823	241,785	76,192	250,889	1,464,201

Capital reserves	Capital Fund	Capital Receipts	Capital Grants Unapplied	Total Capital Reserves
Local Authority £000	(f)	(g)	(h)	(f)
Aberdeen City	11,927	0	252	12,179
Aberdeenshire	5,956	696	1,235	7,887
Angus	1,753	594	596	2,943
Argyll and Bute	2,972	0	0	2,972
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	3,836	700	0	4,536
Dundee City	4,901	0	0	4,901
East Ayrshire	16,299	0	294	16,593
East Dunbartonshire	8,240	71	0	8,311
East Lothian	5,399	0	0	5,399
East Renfrewshire	17,347	0	0	17,347
Edinburgh, City of	16,390	0	1,541	17,931
Eilean Siar	1,306	691	371	2,368
Falkirk	0	5,342	5,067	10,409
Fife	0	386	93	479
Glasgow City	19,568	0	1,271	20,839
Highland	30,026	1,229	0	31,255
Inverclyde	1,722	0	0	1,722
Midlothian	9,955	0	0	9,955
Moray	604	1,060	81	1,745
North Ayrshire	8,619	0	0	8,619
North Lanarkshire	865	0	1,453	2,318
Orkney Islands	3,508	1,530	0	5,038
Perth and Kinross	8,257	2,680	171	11,108
Renfrewshire	40,023	7,819	0	47,842
Scottish Borders	6,070	0	0	6,070
Shetland Islands	108,404	13	171	108,588
South Ayrshire	33	133	195	361
South Lanarkshire	19,872	32,470	0	52,342
Stirling	0	1,053	296	1,349
West Dunbartonshire	4,156	1,661	0	5,817
West Lothian	60,557	0	0	60,557
Total	418,565	58,128	13,087	489,780

Note: these figures were extracted from individual local authority annual accounts for 2010-11 which is the most recent year available.

Question reference: S4W-09767

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in Aberdeen City have benefited from a reduction in rates under the small business bonus scheme.

Question reference: S4W-09768

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 September 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 October 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what the total saving to businesses in Aberdeen City has been under the small business bonus scheme.