- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 3 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4498 by Sarah Boyack on 2 March 2000, whether there are any binding statutory or legal requirements on Midlothian Council to implement any of the measures to enhance public transport outlined in its notice of intention to develop.
Answer
Implementation of the planning permission is a matter for Midlothian Council who have stated that they are committed to pursuing a package of measures including proposals designed to enhance the potential for public transport, walking and cycling along the existing route.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 3 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considered details of a formal economic analysis of any benefits of the proposals to develop the A701 when assessing the requirement for a public inquiry and, if so, whether it will provide details of who carried out the analysis and when.
Answer
No such details were submitted.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many times and on what dates (a) Ministers and (b) officials met members of Midlothian Council to discuss formally their proposals for the realignment of the A701.
Answer
The Minister for Transport and the Environment, together with officials, met members of Midlothian Council on 1 February 2000 to discuss various transport issues in Midlothian. No formal meetings took place with officials in relation to the Notice of Intention to Develop.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it advertised its decision not to call in Midlothian Council's proposals for the A701 realignment and, if so, on what date and where.
Answer
The decision was not advertised as there is no statutory requirement to do so.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considered Midlothian Council's proposals for the A701 as a Private Finance Initiative project whilst determining whether the proposals required a public inquiry.
Answer
How the proposals were to be financed was not a material consideration in making a decision on the Notice of Intention to Develop.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline any changes in the proposals for the A701 between the project as presented at the planning application stage and the notice of intention to develop considered by it and the project as approved for development.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not have details of documents presented to the public at stages prior to their submission to the Scottish Ministers.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 30 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what details it was given of Midlothian Council's plans to finance its proposals for the A701 whilst it considered the case for calling a public inquiry.
Answer
The Scottish Executive did not receive, as part of the Notice of Intention to Develop, any details of Midlothian Council's plans to finance their A701 proposals.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the A701 in Midlothian is compatible with current planning guidance and, if so, how.
Answer
The project was in accord with the statutory development plan. Before structure plans are approved, Ministers need to be satisfied that they are in line with current planning guidance.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 16 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive how many people died because of the incidence of flu this winter.
Answer
It is not possible to give a precise answer. Even during a major influenza outbreak, the underlying cause of death is rarely classified as influenza, and doctors do not often mention influenza on the certificate of cause of death. Provisional returns for the three months December 1999 to February 2000 show that influenza was mentioned in only 161 cases. It is known that deaths from a number of other causes, notably pneumonia and other respiratory conditions, increase significantly during a period of high influenza activity. However, there is no standard method of associating a proportion of these extra deaths with influenza activity.
- Asked by: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 13 March 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what is the definition of a trunk road and what attributes a road must have to be classified as a trunk road; (b) what trunk road route or routes there are to the north from Edinburgh and the Lothians; (c) why the whole of the A9 is a trunk road with exception of the Cramond Brig to the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge to Rosyth, A985 turn off; (d) why the A8000 does not qualify as a trunk road being used by east coast traffic; (e) why no trunk roads are connected to the original toll bridges, including the Forth Road, Tay and Erskine Bridges, although these bridges are used as trunk routes and (f) why the A8000 is not receiving national funding for its upgrading.
Answer
Shaping the Trunk Road Network, a consultation paper published by the then Scottish Office Transport Minister in 1994, identified the following criteria for determining a trunk road:
provide the road user with a coherent and continuous system of routes which serve destinations of importance to industry, commerce, agriculture and tourism;define nationally important routes which will be developed in line with strategic national transport demands; andensure that these roads which are of predominantly local importance are managed locally.Neither these criteria nor the network established from 1 April 1996, following the consultation, have been reviewed subsequently. This means that:the M9/A8 route provides the trunk road connection from Edinburgh and the Lothians to the north. There are other trunk road links from this route to areas such as the Western Highlands and the north-east;the trunk road section of the M90/A90 to the north-east starts at the commencement of the motorway to the north of the Forth Road Bridge;the A90 between this point and the Cramond Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, the Tay Bridge and the A8000 remain part of the local network; andthe Erskine Bridge forms an integral part of the trunk road linking the M8 to the A82 across the Clyde Estuary.As to funding any upgrading of the A8000, I refer to my answer of 10 December to Mrs Margaret Smith (S1W-2528).
