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: S2W-19277

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 30 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how many representations it received in favour of the proposal for an islands regional transport partnership, announced in its news release 105820 on 21 July 2005.

Question reference: S2W-19276

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 30 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the boundaries of the regional transport partnerships under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 will accord with those referred to in its news release 105820 on 21 July 2005.

Question reference: S2W-19347

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 29 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent it regards the Track Access Grant and Freight Facilities Grant schemes as successful; what monitoring is carried out of compliance with the conditions of grant; whether it considers that such monitoring has been sufficient; whether an audit of each of the schemes has been undertaken and, if so, whether the audit included a check of the transference of freight from road to rail, and whether it considers that any audit arrangements have been adequate.

These freight grant schemes are successful, having removed at least 60 million lorry miles from Scotland’s roads since 1999. The Freight Facilities Grant scheme has had a significant and positive impact on the freight infrastructure of Scotland as a catalyst to the building of over £70 million of new rail and water freight facilities across the country.

A fully effective monitoring and audit system for freight grants is in place. Each Freight Facilities Grant project is monitored annually to track the actual level of freight transferred from road to rail and water and the corresponding environmental benefits which have been generated. Track Access Grants are paid in arrears based on actual freight carried by rail; these claims are audited by independent accountants annually. All Scottish Executive freight grant schemes are audited both internally and by Audit Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-19348

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 29 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether Track Access Grant is payable in arrears.

Question reference: S2W-19346

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 29 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been allocated (a) in total and (b) broken down by scheme to the Track Access Grant and Freight Facilities Grant schemes (i) in each year since inception and (ii) for the next two years.

Budget allocated to the Freight Facilities Grant and Track Access Grant schemes by the Scottish Executive:

Financial Year	Freight Facilities Grant Scheme (£)	Track Access Grant Scheme (£)
1999-2000	6,100,000	Nil (*)
2000-01	7,100,000	750,000
2001-02	9,803,000	1,000,000
2002-03	12,121,000	1,000,000
2003-04	14,438,000	1,000,000
2004-05	14,638,000	1,000,000
2005-06	15,400,000	1,000,000
2006-07	12,900,000	1,000,000
2007-08	12,900,000	1,000,000

Note: *Powers to award Track Access Grants were transferred to Scottish Ministers during financial year 2000-01 from DfT.

Question reference: S2W-18814

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 26 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the letter of 14 July 2005 from the Minister for Transport and Telecommunications in respect of the tendering costs of the first bid for lifeline ferry services currently provided by Caledonian MacBrayne, whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre each piece of the external advice commissioned at a cost of £286,000 and, in particular, the research into the application of the EU rules in other member states.

Much of the work undertaken by consultants commissioned by the Executive has contributed to the development of Scottish Executive policy on this subject and has been reflected in documents that have already been published. These documents include the following:

The consultation paper and draft service for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services that were published in June 2002;

The consultation paper and draft service specification for the Gourock to Dunoon route that were published in March 2003;

The consultation paper and draft service specification for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services that were published in December 2004;

The Research into the application of the EU rules in other member states that was published on 12 September 2005, and

The Report Clyde and Hebrides Lifeline Ferry Services Scottish Executive’s Consideration of the Requirement to Tender that was published on 12 September 2005.

In addition, I shall lodge in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre within the next few weeks, a summary paper (Bib. number 37522) on the research on the uniqueness of the CalMac fleet that was commissioned in 2001 but which has not been published. I shall write to the member to let him know when the documents has been published.

Question reference: S2W-18725

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the delay to the M74 extension will have on its transport budget in the current financial year and each of the next two years and whether it will provide a table comparing the provision for this scheme in this financial year and the next two years (a) before and (b) after the decision to delay its commencement.

We expect that the allowance previously made for the acquisition of land for the M74 in the current financial year will not now be fully utilised and therefore £54.5 million will be set aside to meet deferred payment in future years. Future provision for construction will depend on the outcome of the Court of Session hearing scheduled for June/July 2006. Provision for this scheme is in the table below.

	Estimates at 26 Oct 2004 (£ Million)	Current Estimates (£ Million)
2005-06	125.447	77.839
2006-07	54.126	Dependent on outcome of Court of Session Hearing
2007-08	84.798

Question reference: S2W-18727

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive when it estimates that the (a) M74 extension, (b) A68 Dalkeith Bypass, (c) A8000 upgrade and (d) new crossing of the Forth at Kincardine will commence and be completed and what the current estimated total cost is of each project.

I cannot add to the information given on the M74 in my previous reply to parliamentary question S2W-18488 answered on 9 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The other information you ask for is given in the following table.

Scheme	Date for Commencement	Date for Completion	Current Estimated Total Cost (£ Million)
A68 Dalkeith Bypass	Summer 2006	Summer 2008	38.7
Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine	Summer 2006	Summer 2008	110.0

Scheme

Date for Commencement

Date for Completion

Current Estimated Total Cost

(£ Million)

A68 Dalkeith Bypass

Summer 2006

Summer 2008

38.7

Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine

Summer 2006

Summer 2008

110.0

The A8000 upgrade is a local road and therefore a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council.

Question reference: S2W-18472

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 20 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it updates its trunk road programme on a (a) regular and (b) monthly basis and whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre details of each of the programmes it has prepared since inception.

Question reference: S2W-18605

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 August 2005
Current Status: Answered by Ross Finnie on 15 September 2005

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional protection is needed in respect of the marine environment; what impact such protection would have on the fishing industry, and who would be asked to assess that impact.

On 12 September 2005 the Scottish Executive published Seas the Opportunity – A Strategy for the Long Term Sustainability of Scotland’s Coasts and Seas. Copies of the strategy document have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 37466) and it is available on the Scottish Executive’s website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2005/08/26102453/25444.

Our marine and coastal environments remain at potential risk from water borne pollution, sea-bed disturbance, habitat loss, disturbance to sea life and declining stocks of some fish species. While action is already in hand to address these risks, often through sector specific strategies, we need to do more to assess and deal with cumulative and cross-sectoral impacts to provide for improved protection of the environment in a way which means longer term socio-economic need. The new strategy will determine what specific new measure might be needed to achieve that.

The impacts of any new measures that arise from the strategy will be considered initially by the new stakeholder group which will comprise representatives from a range of sectors, including fisheries. In addition, the interests of the fishing sector are being addressed through specific strategies for both inshore and sea fisheries, both of which are set within the wider context of the new marine and coastal strategy.

The fishing sector, among others, is also being consulted fully on the work I have commissioned from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to identify potential candidate sites for Scotland’s first coastal and marine national park. The stakeholder group for the marine and coastal strategy will make an input to SNH’s assessment which I expect to receive by March 2006.