- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated whole life costs are for each of the proposed options for a new Forth crossing, given the proposed 120-year minimum lifespan of the new crossing.
Answer
The costs and benefitsof providing, operating and maintaining the Forth Replacement Crossing are estimatedover 60 years, in line with Treasury guidance on economic appraisal and evaluation.
The operating andmaintenance costs over 60 years are estimated at £594 million for a tunnel and £647million for a bridge.
Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area andcan be contacted if required.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated costs would be, at 2006 prices, to convert each of the proposed options for a new Forth crossing from road traffic use to (a) light and (b) heavy rail use at some point during the crossing’s proposed minimum 120-year lifespan.
Answer
The costs associatedwith including light rail at the design stage for each of the proposed options wereprovided at the Public Information Exhibitions.
To provide sufficientwidth for light rail on a new bridge would mean strengthening the deck, increasingcosts by around 20%. Tunnels would require an additional tunnel for light rail onlywhich would increase costs by around 50%.
No work has been conductedon adding light rail to a crossing at a later stage.
Heavy rail has beendismissed as an option for any replacement crossing as the existing rail infrastructurecan be improved to meet foreseeable demand.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated levels of road and rail traffic crossing the Firth of Forth will be (a) 30, (b) 60, (c) 90 and (d) 120 years hence, given the proposed 120-year minimum lifespan of the new crossing.
Answer
There are no projectionsof traffic over 30, 60, 90 or 120 years as these fall far beyond the limits overwhich any reasonable estimate of traffic levels can reliably be made.
Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area andcan be contacted if required.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 14 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to implement the principles of the Strategic Funding Review.
Answer
The work of theStrategic Funding Review concluded in February 2007, with the agreement of theConvention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Council for VoluntaryOrganisations. The final two papers from the review, on support services andfull cost recovery, were published at that time.
The ScottishGovernment supports the general principles of the review, noting thatimplementation falls largely to those who fund and those who receive funding towork more closely together. Effective cooperation, particularly with councilsand public sector bodies, should enable third sector organisations tocontribute fully to a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economicgrowth.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Adam Ingram on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pre-school providers have closed in the last six months, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) type of provider.
Answer
The information requestedfor the past six months is not collected centrally.
The annual pre-schooland child care statistics provide information on the number of pre-school educationproviders by sector and local authority based on an annual census in January. The Pre-school and Childcare Statistics 2007are due to be published on 27 September 2007.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish research on the impact of the Pass Plus pilot scheme, carried out in the Grampian Police area for six months from February 2007.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentis evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot scheme in increasing the uptake ofPass Plus in the Grampian Police area and will make this information available indue course. No externally commissioned research is being carried out at this stage.
The whole issue ofdriver training and testing is currently the subject of a detailed review by theDriving Standards Agency and it is expected that this will include considerationof Pass Plus.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to extend the Pass Plus subsidy piloted in the Grampian Police area to (a) the Fife region and (b) all areas of Scotland.
Answer
The pilot schemeis being monitored to evaluate its effectiveness in increasing the uptake ofPass Plus. A decision on future support for Pass Plus will depend on the resultsof the pilot scheme and the outcome of the current review by the DrivingStandards Agency on the future of driver training and testing in the UK.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to publish research into whether the pilot scheme to offer subsidised Pass Plus places in the Grampian Police area was successful at targeting the drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 most at risk of being involved in a road traffic accident.
Answer
Research hasshown that around one in five new drivers is involved in an accident within oneyear of passing their driving test. The Pass Plus pilot scheme encouraged alldrivers between 17 and 25 years of age, resident in the pilot areas and who hadpassed their driving test within the last 12 months, to apply for a grant towardsthe cost of Pass Plus. The aim was to increase uptake of Pass Plus among thetarget group and we are currently evaluating the effectiveness of the pilotscheme in increasing uptake of Pass Plus. Information on the uptake of PassPlus will be made available in due course.
It should benoted, however, that because the scheme is entirely voluntary there will alwaysbe drivers within this group who choose not to benefit from the additionaltraining available through the Pass Plus scheme.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to target road safety initiatives towards those drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 most at risk of being involved in a road traffic accident.
Answer
The Scottish Governmentplans to develop a 10 year road safety strategy for Scotland. A panel of experts has been set up to advise on appropriate initiatives,including measures to improve the safety of young drivers.
Through Road SafetyScotland, the Scottish Government is targeting publicity on speeding, drink anddrug driving and seat belt use at drivers aged between 17 and 25 years.
“Crash Magnets”, aneducational resource for upper secondary pupils, aims to influence attitudes to driving behaviour beforeyoung people get behind the wheel. A website to support and enhance the resource,www.CrashMagnets.com, was launched earlierthis year.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been conducted on the profile of those drivers between the ages of 17 and 25 most at risk of being involved in a road traffic accident.
Answer
Research examiningcharacteristics and attitudes of young drivers was published by the Scottish Governmentin October 2005 in the report on the
Creative Development and Evaluationof the SCRC Young Driver Campaign 2005. This is a web only publication whichcan be accessed at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/10/25130500.Drivers in the 17to 25 age group have been included in more general road safety research on prevalenceand attitudes related to speeding, drink driving and drug driving. These include:
The Speeding Driver:Who, How and Why (Published August 2003 - web only)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/08/17977(Full report).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/08/17981(Summary Research Findings).Rural Road Safety – A literature Review (Published August 2005)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/07/19153450(Full report).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/07/19110507(Summary Research Findings).Drinking and Driving:Prevalence, Decision-Making and Attitudes (Published December 2001)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/blue/ddpda-00.asp(Full report).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/drf128-00.asp(Summary Research Findings).Illicit Drugs andDriving (Published July 2006 - web only)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/10105913(Full report).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/07/10105943(Summary Research Findings).Recreational Drugsand Driving (Published February2001)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/blue/prevalence-00.htm(Full report of prevalence survey).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/blue/druguse-00.htm(Full report of qualitative study).http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/drf102-00.asp(Summary Research Findings of prevalence survey and qualitative study).
