- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 January 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 14 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals or households are still liable for community charge arrears, showing the total amount of such arrears, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area in the Central Scotland parliamentary region.
Answer
Information relating to the numberof individuals or households still liable for community charge is not held centrally.Information relating to the total amount of community charge outstanding for eachlocal authority area partly or wholly in the Central Scotland parliamentary regionis given below. (Such data are not held centrally for parliamentary constituencies).
Community Charge AmountsOutstanding
| Council Area | Amount Outstanding (£000) |
| East Ayrshire | 7,668 |
| East Dunbartonshire | 4,268 |
| Falkirk | 5,105 |
| North Lanarkshire | 25,314 |
| South Lanarkshire | 31,272 |
Notes:
Includes water charges.
Amount outstanding at September2007.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 9 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what alternatives are available to local authorities, NHS boards and government agencies that do not wish to use PFI/PPP contracts for infrastructure development.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-1086 on 1 November 2008. All answers to oral parliamentaryquestions issued as written answers are available on the Parliament’s website, thesearch facility for which can be found at. All answers to written parliamentaryquestions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what costs were involved in the establishment and launch of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
This is an operational matterfor Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream.
Costs associated with retaillicensing were accounted for by the Water Industry Commission as part of its determinationof water charges for 2006-10.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what ministerial or parliamentary approval was given prior to the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
Parliament approved the principleof establishment by Scottish Water of a retail undertaking in the Water Servicesetc. (Scotland) Act 2005. In accordance with that act, ministers approvedthe establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream as a retail subsidiary of ScottishWater in October 2006.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive which department is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the work of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
The Water Industry and ClimateChange Directorate of the Scottish Government is responsible for monitoring ScottishWater’s delivery of ministers’ objectives for the water industry. This includesin relation to its retail subsidiary.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much financial profit Scottish Water Business Stream is projected to make in each financial year to 2010-11.
Answer
This is an operational matterfor Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream. It will however besubject to the development of retail competition when the market generally openson 1 April 2008.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation took place with business water users before the establishment of Scottish Water Business Stream.
Answer
The planned creation by ScottishWater of a separate retail subsidiary, as part of the preparation for the introductionof retail competition in the non-household water sector, was included in the consultationon the draft Water Services etc. (Scotland) Bill in October 2003.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 4 January 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the projected running costs are for Scottish Water Business Stream in each financial year to 2010-11.
Answer
This is a matter for Scottish Water and its retail subsidiary, Business Stream.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 December 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 18 December 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a report on the first three years’ progress in implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy for the purposes of section 2(7)(a) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
I am today publishing
Scotland’s Biodiversity: It’s In Your Hands - A ProgressReport 2005-07 which outlinesprogress on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy over the last threeyears. Copies are available on the Scottish Government website.
This is the firstprogress report on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy since thestrategy was published in 2004.
It records activityon biodiversity conservation carried out by government, non-government and otherorganisations working in partnership. It addresses the Strategy objectives for Speciesand Habitats, People, Landscapes and Ecosystems, Integration and Co-ordination andKnowledge.
The report outlinesactivities which the Scottish Government and other public bodies have undertakento implement the Biodiversity Duty, which was imposed by the Nature Conservation(Scotland) Act 2004, which requires all public bodies in Scotland to “further theconservation of biodiversity” in carrying out their functions.
The publication of the progress report on implementation of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy satisfiesthe requirements of section 2(7)(a) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act to publish such a report by the end of 2007.
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 December 2007
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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.
Answer
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 |
| 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.
