- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13700 by Stewart Stevenson on 11 June 2008, in what month in the summer it expects Transport Scotland to deliver its initial findings from the strategic transport projects review to ministers and whether these findings will be made public.
Answer
Transport Scotland expects to deliver its initial findings from the strategic transport projects review to ministers in August 2008. Ministers will need to give careful consideration to these findings before being in a position to make any public announcement.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 2 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost-benefit ratios were of the transport projects approved since May 2007.
Answer
The following table identifies the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) for those transport projects committed to by the Scottish Government in the June 2007 statement to the Parliament:
| Project | BCR |
| Rail Projects |
| Airdrie to Bathgate | 1.92 |
| Scottish Borders | 1.32 |
| Glasgow Airport Rail Link | 1.28 |
| Waverley Station Phase 1 | 2.06 |
| Stirling Alloa Kincardine | 1.10 |
| Motorway and Trunk Roads Projects |
| M74 Completion | 7.66 |
| M80 Stepps to Haggs | 8.68 |
| M8 Baillieston to Newhouse | 9.95 |
| M8 Associated Network Improvements | 19.22 |
| Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route | 4.79 |
On the basis of “Contracts Let”, the following schemes have also been approved since May 2007:
| Project | BCR | Notes |
| Rail Projects |
| Laurencekirk Station | 1.60 | |
| Motorway and Trunk Roads Projects |
| A9 Helmsdale to Ord of Caithness Improvements Phase 2 | 1.64 | |
| A77 Haggstone Climbing Lane and Glen App | 0.85 and 1.61 | Individual scheme assessment BCRs |
| M8 Harthill Footbridge Replacement | N/A | Replacement of existing footbridge to current standards. No BCR available. |
| A76 Glenairlie Improvement | 1.05 | |
| A7 Auchinrivock | 1.19 | |
| A737 Roadhead Roundabout | N/A | Minor road safety junction improvement. No BCR available. |
In September 2007 the Scottish Government announced the Edinburgh to Glasgow improvements project, which includes a number of investment packages with BCRs ranging from 0.9 to 3.8.
In September 2007 the Scottish Government also committed a financial contribution to the Edinburgh trams project, with a BCR of 1.68 (excluding the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link), and awarded the contract for the replacement vessel for the Islay ferry services. This vessel has been commissioned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and will be funded by loans from the Scottish Government to CMAL. The appraisal, completed in 2003, showed the option being pursued to have a BCR of 0.48.
In December 2007 the decision to construct a Forth replacement crossing was announced to the Parliament. The BCR of the preferred option is 4.57.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be a sufficiently high cost-benefit ratio to enable a transport project to receive central government funding.
Answer
An appraisal using Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) is required when government funding, support or approval is sought for justified proposals to change the transport system. There is no minimum benefit to cost ratio threshold set within STAG. STAG ensures that the contribution of transport improvements to the economy is fully assessed alongside contributions and impacts on the environment, accessibility and social inclusion, safety, and integration. Approval for funding is based on the assessment of the proposal across all five STAG criteria.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13919 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008, how many staff were employed in (a) colleges and (b) universities in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2004-05, broken down into academic and non-academic staff numbers.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S3W-13919 on 16 June 2008, the number of staff at Scottish higher education institutions and colleges during the past three academic years broken down by employment function is shown in the following table.
Number of Staff at Scottish Institutions
| Academic Year | HEIs | Colleges |
| Academic Staff | Non-Academic Staff | Teaching Staff | Non-Teaching Staff |
| 2006-07 | 16,360 | 21,935 | 12,695 | 8,891 |
| 2005-06 | 16,020 | 21,845 | 12,781 | 8,723 |
| 2004-05 | 15,310 | 21,690 | 13,170 | 8,445 |
Sources: HESA, excluding “atypical” staff; Scottish Funding Council.
Data for 2007-08 will become available in January 2009.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-13919 by Fiona Hyslop on 16 June 2008, when statistics on staff employed by colleges and universities will be available for 2007-08.
Answer
Staffing numbers for colleges and universities for the academic year 2007-08 will become available in January 2009.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 25 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many instances of signal failure that have prevented trains crossing the Forth Rail Bridge (a) between 1 May 2007 and 3 April 2008 and (b) from 3 April 2008.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. It is a matter for Network Rail.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change how discretionary funds are distributed.
Answer
We have no plans to change how discretionary funds are distributed. The funds for higher education have now been allocated for academic year 2008-09. These funds are continually monitored and the guidance is updated on an annual basis. This allows us to regularly introduce any changes or improvements to the way the funds are allocated or the guidance underlying them.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance and allocations for discretionary funds in the 2008-09 academic year were sent to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland on 6 June 2008 for distribution to all institutions.
Answer
The information sent to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland on 6 June comprises a guidance document which provides general advice to administrators of the discretionary funds. As these funds are discretionary, it is up to each individual institution to decide how best to manage and distribute the funds available to them. The Higher Education and Learner Support Division provides general guidance on administration and disbursement of the funds and also notification of any changes to the funds through an annual update of this document. We also advise each institution of the allocation of discretionary funds that they will receive for the forthcoming academic year.
A copy of the Guidance document and the allocations for academic year 2008-09 can be accessed via the SAAS website at http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/other_funding.htm#discretionary.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how and when it will distribute its planned £12.748 million of efficiency savings over the next three years from the SAAS Eligibility budget line.
Answer
The planned efficiency savings of £2.156 million in 2008-09, £4.265 million in 2009-10 and £6.327 million in 2010-11 have already been factored and redistributed into the relevant budgets as part of last year’s spending review. These efficiencies have contributed to new investments set out in the Scottish budget for student support including: additional support for part-time students; abolishing the graduate endowment fee; and £30 million to aid the transition from loans to grants in 2010-11.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent providing new-lend student loans and how much was received from student loan repayment in each of the last three years.
Answer
The amount advanced in new student loans through the Student Loans Company and the amounts received in repayment have been published on 12 June 2008 at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/PubStudentLoansHE.
The relevant figures are reproduced in the following table.
| Financial Year | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08* |
| Amount lent (£ million) | 199.8 | 197.6 | 212.8 |
| Amount repaid (£ million) | 49.8 | 51.5 | 59.0 |
Source: Student Loans Company.
Note: *2007-08 are provisional figures
I have explained in the answer to S3W-13951 on 18 June 2008, how much it costs the Scottish Government to lend each pound of student loan. 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.
