- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has carried out with the people of Plains in relation to a new station at Plains on the Airdrie to Bathgate rail line.
Answer
In addition toconsultation with individual home owners and other landowners adjacent to theproposed line, Network Rail, the project promoters, held public meetings in Plainsin September 2005 and again in January 2006, prior to submission of the PrivateBill to Parliament. Additionally, over 30 public meetings have been held in otherlocations along the route. Network Rail will continue to engage with localcommunities throughout the lifecycle of the project.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with North Lanarkshire Council regarding stations at Blackridge and Plains on the new Airdrie to Bathgate rail line.
Answer
Officials metwith North Lanarkshire Council on 20 September 2007 to discuss this issue. Discussions focussed on theoutput from the feasibility study on the provision of a station at Plains. Theissue of station provision is also covered at the regular meetings betweenNorth Lanarkshire Council, Network Rail and Transport Scotland officials.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 1 October 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has carried out into the economic viability of a station at Plains on the new Airdrie to Bathgate rail line.
Answer
Work was carriedout on the economic viability of all proposed additional stations on theAirdrie to Bathgate Rail Link during the Initial Technical Feasibility Study in2004 and this work was taken forward into the 2006 Design DevelopmentAppraisal. Both these reports are available on the Airdrie to Bathgate website.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Linda Fabiani on 21 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to introduce the new grant to enable Scottish artists to reclaim the cost of tax paid on work they have sold, as outlined in the 2007 SNP manifesto; how many artists will benefit from this grant, and how much this new grant will cost each year.
Answer
The schemereferred to continues to be developed. An announcement will be made in duecourse about the detailed arrangements involved in its implementation.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve and increase the use of park-and-ride facilities.
Answer
Transport Scotland, is working with rail industry partners to identify anddeliver station car park expansion opportunities across the country. Schemes atfive stations have already been funded for completion by the end of 2007, and moreare to follow. Significant funding has also been given previously to localauthorities to enable them to deliver bus park-and-ride schemes in their areas.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 18 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide free access to council swimming pools for young people.
Answer
The provision of freeaccess to council swimming pools for young people is being considered as part of the local government settlement under the 2007 Spending Review.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 13 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a national landlord accreditation scheme, based on the Edinburgh Landlord Accreditation Scheme, to promote higher standards in private accommodation and, if so, whether it will provide financial incentives for landlords to opt into such a scheme.
Answer
I announced on 26 August 2007 that the Scottish Government will provide start-up fundingfor a National Private Landlord Accreditation Scheme to promote high standards inthe private rented sector.
The Scottish Governmentis currently seeking applications from organisations interested in running the scheme.Applicants will be required to set out in their applications what type of incentivesthey would expect to be able to offer landlords and letting agents who join thescheme.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its decision to abolish the graduate endowment scheme, how it will fund university access funds and whether it will ensure that the level of funding is maintained in line with student numbers and inflation.
Answer
Access funds in highereducation are now known as Discretionary Funds, and are funds intended to providenon-repayable assistance for students in financial difficulties in order for themto access and/or continue in higher education and are paid in addition to any otherforms of student support. They are distributed to institutions to disburse at theirdiscretion.
The abolition of thegraduate endowment will have no impact on Discretionary Funds as they are not directlyrelated. This means that the Discretionary Funds will continue as normal in futureyears. The level of funding available each year is continually monitored, with thetotal budget available in academic year 2007-08 being £14.7 million, an increasewhich was in line with inflation.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a rebate on visa fees for international students to attract them to study in Scotland.
Answer
This is currentlya reserved matter for the UK Government.
- Asked by: Karen Whitefield, MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 12 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce a mandatory national tenant deposit scheme for private landlords and tenants, on similar lines to the scheme introduced in April 2007 in England and Wales.
Answer
Provisions in theHousing (Scotland) Act 2006 give ministers the power to introduce a mandatorytenancy deposit scheme in Scotland. A working group of stakeholdersrepresenting the interests of private landlords and tenants has agreed thatfurther work should be carried out to develop an evidence base on the scale of the problem of unfairly withheld deposits in order to consider whether amandatory scheme is needed in Scotland.
The ScottishGovernment is therefore planning to carry out detailed surveys of both tenantsand landlords to gather this evidence. An audit of current good practice isalso being undertaken to consider whether further improvements to existingpractice, such as training for landlords and advice available to tenants, couldbe encouraged without the need for a mandatory scheme. In addition, it will beimportant to consider the impact of recent initiatives to improve standards inthe private rented sector, such as the mandatory landlord registration schemeand the forthcoming national voluntary landlord accreditation scheme. Overtime, these schemes should help to tackle any landlords or letting agents whoare found to have unfairly withheld their tenants’ deposits.
