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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S2W-00434

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be given to Lothian and Borders Police in respect of efforts to monitor the movements of John Cronin.

Funding for the police in Scotland is at record levels and Lothian and Borders Police has substantial resources at its disposal. This year Lothian and Borders Joint Police Board set a budget of £159.8 million, an increase of £10.7 million over the budget set by the Joint Police Board for 2002-03. It is for the chief constable to make decisions on how the resources made available to him are used to meet local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S2W-00390

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will explain and expand on the meaning of "re-opening", as used in the statements "re-opening the Kincardine - Alloa - Stirling rail link" and "re-opening the Airdrie to Bathgate railway" in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.

The private bill promoting the re-opening of the Stirling to Alloa to Kincardine railway line was introduced to Parliament in March this year. Subject to its successful passage, the project could be authorised for construction by summer 2004, with a view to running services by winter 2005-06.For the proposed re-opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate line, the Scottish Executive has made available £500,000 to West Lothian Council in order to fund a detailed engineering study into the scheme. We expect to receive the study's findings by spring 2004.

Question reference: S2W-00391

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will explain and expand on the meaning of "constructing", as used in the statement "constructing the Larkhall to Milngavie line" in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-00407

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Tom McCabe on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider any proposals to make statutory provision for the funding of approved day centres.

It is for local authorities to decide on how they provide day care services for individuals, in consultation with the users of those services and their carers. While day care centres may be one form of appropriate provision, service users are entitled to choice and services tailored to their needs. Achieving this can result in a move away from the provision of fixed services in day care centres and it would therefore be a retrograde step to consider statutory provision for funding of a form of day care which may not be every user's choice.

Question reference: S2W-00344

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Euan Robson on 9 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what concerns it has following the conclusions of the two reports on the "Miss X" case regarding the professional and personal practice and culture of the social work department of Scottish Borders Council and issues regarding the accountability of those involved.

Question reference: S2W-00181

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 5 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the transport section of A Partnership for a Better Scotland, whether re-instatement of the Borders railway line remains subject to the test of a "business case".

Question reference: S2W-00255

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 June 2003

The provision of funds for the UK rail network is a reserved matter. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has administered funding on a UK basis since it was established in 2001. The SRA publish their strategic plan annually, a copy of the 2002 and 2003 documents are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 18609, 26628 and 26626). The strategic plan sets out the projects that the SRA is seeking to support in Scotland.

Question reference: S2W-00254

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 4 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was received from the Strategic Rail Authority for (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02 and (d) 2002-03 and what percentage this represents of the authority's total budget in each year.

Question reference: S2W-00157

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Jim Wallace on 3 June 2003

Figures across the whole of the time period requested are not available on a consistent basis. This is because the method of funding FE colleges changed when responsibility for the methodology transferred to the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) from 2000-01.Because of the fundamental role that FE colleges have in encouraging people of all ages and from different backgrounds to participate in post-school learning, a large proportion of the resources made available to FE colleges by SFEFC are associated in some way with the promotion of social inclusion. The Scottish Executive expects SFEFC to exercise its the judgement and expertise in allocating the resources placed at its disposal, and does not instruct SFEFC on the proportion of funding which must be applied to social inclusion initiatives. The figures in the following table show, from 2000-01, the sums which SFEFC made available to further education colleges to cover the additional costs of social inclusion over and above the standard funding per student place.

Year	£
2000-01	5,208,896
2001-02	9,891,576
2002-03	10,986,126

Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council.

Question reference: S2W-00169

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2003
Current Status: Answered by Nicol Stephen on 3 June 2003

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it is giving to a feasibility study into the restoration of a station at Reston.

No funding has been sought from the Scottish Executive for such a study. The opening or re-opening of railway stations is generally considered a local transport issue and as such we would expect the relevant local authority to take a project forward. It is a matter for Scottish Borders Council to determine whether the restoration of a station at Reston is one of its transport priorities and to identify appropriate funding for a feasibility study. Any proposal to re-open a station at Reston would also require the Scottish Borders Council to consult the Strategic Rail Authority.