Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11224 on 7 April 2008. 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.

Under the terms of our concordat with local government, local authorities will provide free school meals to all P1 to P3 pupils from August 2010, if the evaluation of the current trial is positive and the necessary legislation is passed by the Parliament.

Transport Scotland is currently reviewing the funding options available for the Forth replacement crossing.

A decision on this matter will be made later in 2008.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

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.

All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s Official Report website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/index.htm.

We will be providing local government with record levels of funding over the period covered by the spending review 2008-11. The vast majority of the funding will be provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government''s key strategic objectives and the full terms of the concordat, which includes the provision of free school meals for P1 to P3 from 2010.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing an alternative funding mechanism to the traditional costly standard form of PFI, in the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT). We have already stated that PPP could continue as one of several delivery options open to public sector bodies whilst the SFT is being developed. Where PPP is to be used, the preferred option is for procuring bodies to follow the non-profit distributing (NPD) model. This provides for capped equity returns thus ending the very high gains seen in the standard PFI model via the secondary market. The NPD model was piloted successfully in the Scottish schools projects and is now being developed in the health and transport sectors.

The standard form of PFI developed across the UK has not been used in Scotland for any projects which have commenced from May 2007 onwards. Whilst the Scottish Futures Trust is being developed we are now using as a preference, the non-profit distributing (NPD) model of PPP. Since May 2007, only one NPD project has commenced, the Tayside mental health development in Perth.

In taking the Scottish Futures Trust forward we will take the appropriate professional advice. We have every intention of introducing a body that is legally competent.

Responsibility for the operation of the Forth Road Bridge, including the management of traffic on the crossing, is a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) in the first instance.

I understand that FETA is convening a working group to discuss the issue of crossings by high-sided vehicles and other unusual loads during high winds. That group will include representatives from the City of Edinburgh and Fife Councils, Lothian and Borders and Fife Constabularies, and Transport Scotland.

Average journey time information for the Forth Road Bridge is not available. However, the Scottish Government and FETA collect data on traffic flows.

There are a variety of factors that can impact on traffic flows on the Forth Road Bridge, including school half-term, and other seasonal factors.

While it would be premature to come to conclusions about changes in traffic flows due to the abolition of bridge tolls, initial analysis shows that overall average weekday traffic flows across the bridge have increased by around 1% from pre toll levels. Indications are that northbound only traffic flows increased by almost 3%, with southbound traffic flows showing a slight decrease over the same period.