Chamber and committees

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-03392

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the national planning framework to remove support for a new coal-fired power plant at Hunterston.

Question reference: S4W-03807

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-03390 by Fergus Ewing on 2 November 2011, where it believes the 52 megawatts of capacity will be deployed; whether the 50p per annum projected cost to consumers is based on spreading the Renewables Obligation cost over a UK or Scottish consumer base, and, if the former, what the cost to Scottish consumers alone would be for 52 megawatts of distributed generation.

The location of marine renewables projects around Scotland will be a matter for developers, subject to their obtaining both a site lease and the necessary marine license from the Scottish Government. The estimated additional cost incurred by this forecast capacity is based on the costs being spread across the UK – deliberately and advisedly so, since this is how the Renewables Obligation operates and will continue to do so.

Question reference: S4W-03391

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is to consumers in Scotland of transmission losses from Scottish electricity generators to the rest of UK.

The costs of transmission losses are not allocated to the consumer. They are dealt with through the Balancing Mechanism used by the National Grid as a means of balancing power flows on to and off of the electricity Transmission System in Great Britain. The costs of transmission losses are met by electricity generators and distribution companies drawing the electricity off the transmission network.

Elexon is the body that administers the Balancing Mechanism. More information can be found on its website:

http://www.elexon.co.uk/ELEXON%20Documents/Transmission_Losses.pdf

Question reference: S4W-03394

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 10 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the planned improvements to the A737 at the Head Street and Barrmill Road junctions in Beith and the Den realignment outside Dalry to be completed.

The Head Street scheme has completed the statutory process; the Den realignment scheme is currently in preparation and construction of both schemes is dependent on the availability of funding and the competing priorities of other schemes on the network.

At Barrmill Road the A737 Road Safety Route Action Plan is on-going. It will propose measures aimed at reducing the number of injury accidents. Some of the early identified outcomes from the bend assessment section of this Road Safety Route Action Plan will be implemented during December 2011.

Question reference: S4W-03393

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 10 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been drawn down by successful applicants for Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support, and how many jobs it supports.

Question reference: S4W-03802

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it made to the European Commission regarding its consultation on a new fund to replace the air route development fund cancelled in 2007 and what response it received.

Question reference: S4W-03395

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that increasing the west coast haddock total allowable catch quota beyond EU-suggested limits would reduce discards and not remove sustainable stocks and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government believes that the TAC (Total Allowable Catch) for all fish stocks should be set in line with scientific advice. Despite both ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) and STECF (Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries) recommending a 410% increase in TAC for West of Scotland haddock, the European Commission is proposing only a 25% increase. Increasing the TAC by 410% would maintain the level of fishing mortality within the MSY (maximum sustainable yield) framework, which the Commission advocates. The SSB (Spawning Stock Biomass - weight of mature fish in the stock) is now above precautionary limits and is increasing steadily. The stock is showing strong signs of recovery and the Scottish Government believes that limiting the TAC to a 25% increase would result in a significant increase in discards, therefore we would prefer to be closer to 410% as justified by scientific advice. While we accept that a large increase in haddock TAC could risk increasing the mortality of West of Scotland cod, we are keen to work with the European Commission to develop appropriate selectivity measures to try and avoid this.

Question reference: S4W-03385

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the need for an investigation by the Competition Commission into the gas and power market.

As part of its Retail Market Review, Ofgem has made a number of proposals to make the market work better for consumers, including simplification of tariffs and enhancing liquidity in the wholesale market by requiring the big six energy companies to auction up to 20 per cent of their power generation. These proposals have the potential to enhance consumer choice and encourage competition in the market.

Ofgem has estimated that referral to the Competition Commission could take up to three years, delaying much needed investment in new generating capacity. We would urge Ofgem to bring forward their proposals as soon as possible, and better still for the energy companies to take rapid voluntary action.

Question reference: S4W-03387

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the 2020 renewables target will be delivered by (a) tidal, (b) wave and (c) offshore wind energy, expressed in megawatts of projected demand; how it calculates these figures; when generation will start, and what the growth rate will be.

Question reference: S4W-03390

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 November 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of multiple Renewables Obligations Certificates for marine energy generation will be to electricity consumers, based on its estimate of the growth in this sector.

Analysis carried out in connection with the current consultations on the Renewables Obligation (RO) for wave and tidal stream technologies – based on a deployed capacity of 52 MW during the period to 2017 – estimates a peak cost to consumers through their electricity bills of around 50p per year.

The extent to which the costs of the RO are actually passed through to electricity consumers is a matter for electricity suppliers.