- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the price sought by Network Rail in respect of the grant of a servitude right for a bridge over the Inverness to Aberdeen railway to enable the proposed airport access road to proceed; what powers of intervention it, or any other body, has on this matter and whether such powers will be used, and what effect the action taken on this issue will have on the European funding available for the access road.
Answer
This is a matter for Network Rail, Highland Council and the other parties involved in the development of the bridge and the proposed airport business park.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the forthcoming devolution of railway powers to Scotland, it will urge Network Rail to supply maintenance and renewal budgets for Scotland and to appoint a director for Scotland as a single point of contact for the Executive, with the three main management streams affecting infrastructure and operations and enhancements within Network Rail reporting to this post.
Answer
In future, we expect Network Rail to report separately on its expenditure and performance in Scotland. The Office of Rail Regulation has outlined its intentions in the
Structure of Costs and Charges Review Initial Consultation Document and will shortly consult on this matter.
Network Rail’s internal management arrangements are a matter for the company.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what powers in respect of railways it considers should be conferred on regional transport partnerships.
Answer
It is our intention that the new regional partnership in the west of Scotland will have a role in the development, management and monitoring of rail services in its area. Other regional transport partnerships could, in due course, request a similar role.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the forthcoming devolution of railway powers to Scotland, (a) the Office of Rail Regulation and (b) Network Rail will be accountable to the Parliament and, if so, in what ways; in particular, whether these bodies can be required to provide an annual report to be laid before the Parliament; if not, whether the Executive considers that these bodies should do so, or be invited to do so, and whether it will invite either or both these bodies to report to the Parliament and, if so, on what basis, how often and with what remit.
Answer
Network Rail is a private sector company accountable to its members and regulated by the independent Office of Rail Regulation. The Office of Rail Regulation is the independent body responsible for the economic, and in future, safety regulation of the GB rail network.
Both the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail publish their annual reports and provide copies to the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the forthcoming devolution of railway powers to Scotland, it will have powers to vary the requirements for strictly modern equivalent renewals where this could inhibit rail development projects.
Answer
No, there is no requirement for strictly modern equivalent renewals. The Scottish Executive will be responsible for specifying the outputs from the rail network in Scotland, which Network Rail, through the Office of Rail Regulation, will be tasked with delivering and for funding enhancements to the rail network in Scotland.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the forthcoming devolution of railway powers to Scotland, it will have powers to seek variations in Network Rail's licence conditions where these result in negative incentives, for example with respect to certain modern equivalent renewals.
Answer
Responsibility for Network Rail licence will remain a matter for the Office of Rail Regulation.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the forthcoming devolution of railway powers to Scotland, it will have powers to seek derogations from Railway Group Standards for certain routes, such as the West Highland line and the Far North line and, if so, whether it will exercise these powers.
Answer
No, only operators such as Network Rail or Train Operating Companies who are subject to Railway Group Standards can apply for derogations from them. The Scottish Executive will be responsible for specifying the outputs from the rail network in Scotland which Network Rail, through the Office of Rail Regulation, will be tasked with delivering.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 29 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set out its relationship with the Office of Rail Regulation, in particular in what way the office will be accountable to the Parliament.
Answer
The Office of Rail Regulation is the independent body responsible for the economic, and in future safety, regulation of the GB rail network.
The Office of Rail Regulation will have the same responsibilities in Scotland as in England and Wales and will be under a duty to comply with the reasonable requirements of the Scottish ministers as regards information and assistance. Like the Secretary of State for Transport, Scottish ministers will be required to provide guidance to the Office of Rail Regulation on desired outputs from the rail network and the public funding available for this. The Office of Rail Regulation will determine the income Network Rail will require to deliver these outputs.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 22 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will not make a ministerial statement or lodge a motion for debate on the future of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services and, in particular, the issue of tendering and whether tendering is necessary, until such time as there has been a reasonable opportunity for those MSPs who wish to hold a meeting with the European Commission officials to do so and whether the Minister for Transport will discuss the timing of any such statement or debate with MSPs from opposition parties.
Answer
During the parliamentary debate on ferry services on 8 December 2004, the Parliament expressed concerns regarding the tendering process. I agreed to discuss these concerns with the European Commission and raised this issue with the European Transport Commissioner, M Barrot, when I met him in Brussels on 9 December. Following that meeting I wrote to M Barrot asking whether there was any way, within the terms of European law to allow the Clyde and Hebrides services to continue to be delivered on a subsidised basis without the need to tender. Further discussions are taking place between the Executive and the European Commission and I will report back to Parliament on this issue as soon as possible.
I appreciate members’ concerns on this issue and propose to hold appropriate consultations with all MSPs with an interest.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 22 March 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that increases in the premiums for insurance cover for businesses which provide outdoor education are a barrier to the provision of outdoor education experiences for young people; whether it will commission research into this field, and, in particular, whether it will issue a questionnaire to businesses providing outdoor education to obtain information on the costs of such cover and further details of their outdoor education activities in order to assess the extent to which this is an issue.
Answer
We share the general concern over increases in the cost of liability insurance premiums. The level of premium costs is of course an issue for the insurance market as a whole. We keep in touch with the work of the Insurance Cover Working Group, established by the UK Government, to act as a forum for on-going dialogue with the insurance industry and other interests. We are aware that some commercial providers of outdoor activities have concerns about the impact of increased insurance premiums. However, we have no plans to commission research or conduct a survey of outdoor education businesses. Our contacts with outdoor education interests do not suggest that the cost of insurance cover impacts on the ability of local authorities to locate and access enough suitable providers of outdoor education activities.
