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: S1W-10410

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 2 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the A8000 south of the Forth Road Bridge, when such work would commence and how any such work would be financed.

Question reference: S1W-10394

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 2 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the new bridge at Kincardine-on-Forth to be completed and how the building of the bridge will be funded.

Question reference: S1W-10373

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive on what studies its prediction that road traffic is likely to grow by 50% over the next 50 years is based.

Question reference: S1W-10374

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive in relation to which current transport projects it is minded to lever in private investment.

There is no set list of projects where the Executive is minded to lever in private investment. Past projects such as the completion of the A74(M)/M74 DBFO project demonstrate how capital infrastructure projects can be brought forward more quickly by use of private finance. Accordingly, we will continue to seek opportunities to work in partnership with the private sector, and to lever in private investment for transport infrastructure and services where this is appropriate and offers value for money.

Question reference: S1W-10375

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects construction of the new bridge at Kincardine-on-Forth to begin.

Question reference: S1W-10376

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects studies to be completed with regard to the building of a new bridge at Kincardine-on-Forth.

Question reference: S1W-10388

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Minister for Transport and the Environment's statement on transport expenditure on 28 September 2000, how it will measure whether improvements in bus services, journey times and reliability are being delivered.

The Transport (Scotland) Bill provides a toolkit of options for local authorities to improve bus services, journey times and reliability. It will be for individual authorities at a local level to measure the effectiveness of the provisions they choose to put in place. The Bill requires local authorities to submit annual reports to the Scottish Executive on the effectiveness of Quality Partnership and Quality Contract schemes. This will enable the Executive to assess the impact of the Bill's provisions at a national level, and to disseminate best practice guidance.

Question reference: S1W-10371

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 1 November 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Minister for Transport and the Environment's statement on transport expenditure on 28 September 2000, whether it will list the 33 major public transport projects referred to (Official Report, col.804), specifying in each case the projected cost and completion date.

The table below lists those 33 projects which are currently being supported from the Public Transport Fund, and includes the amount awarded to each authority from the fund and the estimated completion date.

Authority	Project	PTF Award (£ million)	Estimated CompletionDate
Aberdeen	A96/A956 Bus Priority and Park & Ride	£4.000	March 2002
Aberdeen	Bus Priority and Park and Ride	£3.300	October 2002
Aberdeenshire	Ellon Park & Ride	£0.600	November 2000
Aberdeenshire	Peterhead and Mintlaw Park and Ride	£0.745	Autumn 2001
Argyll & Bute	Port Askaig Harbour Redevelopment	£3.750	April 2003
Clackmannanshire	Alloa Town Centre Transport Interchange	£0.300	March 2001
Dumfries & Galloway	Stranraer Public Transport Interchange	£2.350	Summer 2003
Dumfries & Galloway	Dumfries Transport Initiative	£0.900	Spring 2002
Dundee *	Bus Priority and Real Time Information	£0.475	July 2000
Dundee	North East Arterial Corridor	£1.325	March 2003
East Ayrshire	Kilmarnock and Cumnock Bus Stations	£0.590	March 2001
East Lothian	Railway Stations Improvements	£0.312	June 2001
East Lothian (on behalf of South East Scotland Transport Partnership)	South East Scotland Travelticket	£0.300	January 2002
East Renfrewshire	Disabled Access to Railway Stations	£0.467	April 2001
Edinburgh	Crossrail	£8.000	September 2001
Edinburgh	A90 Phase 2 Bus Priority	£0.800	March 2001
Eilean Siar	Eriskay Causeway	£4.100	Spring 2001
Falkirk	Bus Station and Bus Priority	£0.345	March 2002
Falkirk	Railway Station Access Programme	£0.350	December 2001
Fife	Inverkeithing Interchange and Airport link	£1.020	October 2001
Glasgow	Quality Bus Corridors	£6.600	March 2003
Glasgow / West Dunbartonshire	Bailleston to Faifley Bus Priority	£6.050	May 2002
Highland	Corran Ferry Replacement Vessel	£0.265	March 2001
Midlothian	Sheriffhall Roundabout Cycle Bridge	£0.802	Autumn 2001
North Lanarkshire	Gartcosh Interchange	£1.260	December 2001
Orkney Islands *	North Isles Airfields	£0.323	October 2000
Perth and Kinross	Perth Bus and Cycle Priority	£0.423	March 2001
Renfrewshire	Integrated Transport Improvements	£0.650	March 2002
South Ayrshire	Ayr Bus Priority	£1.850	March 2002
SPTA	Partick Interchange	£3.500	August 2002
SPTA	Improved Rolling Stock	£1.400	March 2002
Stirling	Stirling Bus Priority	£0.447	March 2002
West Lothian *	Forthtrip Express	£0.270	November 1999

* Project Completed

Question reference: S1W-09792

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2000
Current Status: Answered by Jack McConnell on 30 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of those small departments, non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which it is responsible and what allocation of revenue and capital support each of these bodies received in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

The relevant information is set out below:

NDPB/Agency	1997-98 outturn £ million (cash)		1998-99 outturn £ million (cash)		1999-2000 provisional outturn £ million (cash)
	Cur.	Cap	Cur.	Cap	Cur.	Cap
Scottish Agricultural Science Agency	4.9	0.8	4.8	0.6	4.5	1.0
Fisheries Research Services Agency	13.2	11.0	13.5	1.8	14.0	1.5
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency	11.3	0.3	11.7	0.6	12.6	0.3
Royal Botanic Garden	4.8	0.3	4.9	0.3	4.8	0.6
Crofters Commission	2.1	N/A	2.2	N/A	2.1	N/A
Deer Commission	0.8	N/A	0.8	0.1	0.8	-
SABRIs	25.1	2.2	25.3	1.3	25.8	2.1
CalMac	10.5	9.7	14.4	9.1	17.3¹	11.1¹
HIAL	5.1	1.9	5.5	0.7	9.8¹	2.9¹
Scottish Prison Service	154.2	22.1	163.4	23.7	189.8	28.9
Scottish Court Service	40.2	15.6	37.4	11.0	44.5	11.5
National Galleries for Scotland	7.3	1.0	7.9	0.4	8.8	1.8
National Library of Scotland	9.7	2.1	9.7	2.1	9.7	.1
National Museum of Scotland	11.4	12.6	14.0	8.2	14.2	2.2
Scottish Arts Council	27.1	N/A	27.2	N/A	30.2	N/A
Scottish Screen (previously Scottish Film Council)	2.0	N/A	1.8	N/A	2.2	N/A
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland	2.9	0.1	2.6	0.2	2.8	0.3
Sports Scotland	8.2	1.7	8.5	1.6	11.4	4.0
Royal Fine Art Commission of Scotland	0.2	N/A	0.3	N/A	0.2	N/A

NDPB/Agency	1997-98 outturn £ million		1998-99 outturn £ million		1999-2000 provisional outturn £ milion
Scottish Children's Reporter Administration	10.8	0.4	11.7	0.3	12.0	1.4
Historic Scotland	14.4	17.4	13.4	18.6	13.3	18.6
Learning and Teaching Scotland (previously SCET and SCCC)	2.9	N/A	2.8	N/A	2.9	N/A
Community Learning Scotland (previously SCEC)	0.6	N/A	0.6	N/A	0.9	N/A
Scottish Museums Council	0.8	N/A	0.9	N/A	1.1	N/A
Scottish Public Pensions Agency	4.6	0.3	5.1	0.4	4.8	0.4
Scottish Homes	50.4	267.5	47.2	285.7	52.8	222.7
National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting for Scotland	4.6	0.0	3.2	0.0	3.2	0.0
Scottish Hospital Endowment Research Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mental Welfare Commission	1.4	0.0	1.3	0.0	1.5	N/A
Student Awards Agency for Scotland	307.9	-19.2⁴	295.3	-4.3⁴	215.2	182.5
Scottish Higher Education Funding Council	495.2	56.5	507.1	24.8	590.1	11.5
Scottish Further Education Funding Council	286.5	4.6	281.5	10.0	313.1	16.3
Scottish Qualifications Authority	1.5	0.0	1.3	0.0	1.4	0.0
Scottish Further Education Unit	0.7	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.7	0.0
Scottish Enterprise	316.8	90.8	302.9	88.8	262.0	111.2
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	41.2	21.7	35.5	28.0	38.2	27.2
Scottish Tourist Board	19.3	0.0	20.5	0.0	19.4	0.0
Parole Board for Scotland	0.3	N/A	0.4	N/A	0.4	N/A
Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services Board	0.2	N/A	0.1	N/A	0.1	N/A
Scottish Legal Aid Board	142.5²	0.4	136.3	0.3	124.7	1.0
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission	N/A	N/A	0.2	N/A	0.5	N/A
East of Scotland Water³	56.0	-	54.7	-	80.5	-
West of Scotland Water³	62.6	-	71.4	-	95.4	-
North of Scotland Water³	48.7	-	46.5	-	46.0	-
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency	23.4	N/A	20.3	N/A	18.7	N/A
Scottish Natural Heritage	38.8	N/A	35.4	N/A	38.0	N/A
Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers Council	1.1	N/A	1.1	N/A	0.6	N/A
Water Industry Commissioner	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.4	N/A

Notes:

1. Provisional outturn since Appropriation Accounts not yet signed off.

2.Includes expenditure on the Scottish Legal Aid Fund.

3. Water Authority External Financing Limit.

4. The figures for student awards reflect receipts for the sale of the student loan portfolio.

- Indicates that the cell includes expenditure that would round to 0.0

Body	1997-98 outturn £ million		1998-99 outturn £ million		1999-2000 provisional outturn £ million
	Cur.	Cap	Cur.	Cap	Cur.	Cap
GROS	7,309	776	7,156	581	7,905	342
NAS	4,513	1,022	3,552	341	3,969	801

Question reference: S1W-10372

Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2000
Current Status: Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 October 2000

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Minister for Transport and the Environment's statement on transport expenditure on 28 September 2000, whether it will list the 13 motorway and trunk road schemes referred to (Official Report, col. 804).

The 13 motorway and trunk road schemes are listed below:

Scheme	Month Opened
M8/M9 Interchange	October 1997
A9 Logie Easter to Garrick Bridge	October 1997
A1 Spott Road to Innerwick	January 1998
M90 / A92 Halbeath Interchange	March 1998
A96 Blackburn to Kintore	September 1998
A830 Polnish Bridge to Loch Nan Uamh	October 1998
A720 Edinburgh City Bypass Phase 1	February 1999
M6 (M74) DBFO	May 1999
A828 Creagan Bridge	June 1999
A75 The Glen	September 1999
A1 Spott Road to Oswald Dean	December 1999
A82 Base Camp Bridge	April 2000
A86 Aberarder	September 2000