- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 11 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what total value of rolling stock (a) was delivered in each year since 1999 and (b) is due to be delivered in each year to 2012, broken down by manufacturer.
Answer
(a) The total value of the rollingstock is subject to the terms of contracts between the Franchisee and the RollingStock companies, and the values attributed to these in the Franchise agreement,are commercially confidential.
(b) A procurement plan is inprogress to deliver fleets of new rolling stock for a range of major projects andpassenger growth initiatives from 2009 onwards.
At this time the total valueof rolling stock provision in each year has not been fully determined, nor eventualsuppliers/manufacturers selected, but Transport Scotland will ensure that sufficientvehicles are in place to meet the predicted capacity requirements.
The procurement process willbe carried out with the co-operation of the franchise operator, First ScotRail,in consultation with Transport Scotland, commencing 2007.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 11 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any other instances where a European state owns, or commissions the building of, vessels subject to the 1992 Maritime Cabotage Regulations and state aid rules, as in the case of the CalMac network.
Answer
The research commissioned bythe Scottish Executive on ferry services in other European Union countries (seeResearch and Advice on Risk Management in Relation to the Subsidy of FerryServices – Deliverable 1: Factual Summary of EU Member States, published bythe Scottish Executive in 2005 – Bib. number 37557) suggested that there were threeother countries within the European Union, namely, Finland, Malta and Sweden, wherevessels delivering internal ferry services are owned by national or local governmentor publicly owned companies.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 8 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the effectiveness of fuel additives in reducing emissions from vehicles and what evaluation it has made of such research.
Answer
The Scottish Executive hasnot undertaken any research into the effectiveness of fuel additives inreducing vehicle emissions.
We continue to work with theDepartment for Transport on the UK-wide Powering Future Vehicles strategy,which aims to promote new vehicle technologies and fuels - technology whichcould lead to significant reductions in vehicle emissions.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 4 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effect on the number of (a) injuries and (b) fatalities to heavy goods vehicle drivers of the compulsory introduction of speed limiting devices.
Answer
The policy relating to the fittingof speed limiting devices on HGVs is reserved to the Department for Transport (DfT).Neither the Executive nor DfT have carried out any such assessment. However, asvehicles will be limited to maximum speeds of 56 mph and 62 mph respectively theexpectation is the number of serious accidents involving these vehicles, particularlyon motorways and dual carriageways, should reduce.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 4 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pedestrians have been (a) injured, (b) seriously injured or (c) killed in collisions with cyclists in each region in each of the last 12 months.
Answer
The following tables give informationabout the numbers of pedestrians who were injured, having been struck by a pedalcycle, in road accidents which were reported by the police in their Stats 19 injuryroad accident statistics returns. The figures do not include any pedestrians whowere injured in accidents which were not reported by the public to the Police. Figuresare given for each month in 2005: provisional figures for 2006 will be publishedin June 2007.
(a) Pedestrians who were injured(but not killed) in collisions with pedal cyclists in 2005
| | Northern | Grampian | Tayside | Fife | Lothian and Borders | Central | Strathclyde | Dumfries and Galloway |
| January | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| August | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
(b) Pedestrians who were seriouslyinjured (but not killed) in collisions with pedal cyclists in 2005
| | Northern | Grampian | Tayside | Fife | Lothian and Borders | Central | Strathclyde | Dumfries and Galloway |
| January | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
(c) There were no pedestrianswho were killed in collisions with pedal cyclists in 2005.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 4 December 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which train service was the most overcrowded in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Scottish Executive does not possess records for this period.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Rhona Brankin on 30 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the presence of parasites of the Argulus species will be included as a matter to be notified to its Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), as a notifiable disease or parasite, under the terms of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill; what steps are being taken to ascertain how this parasite is spreading, and whether the Executive will publish all the information held by SEERAD and other public agencies in relation to Argulus.
Answer
The bill contains provision (section4) for ministers to modify the definition of “parasite” and thereby include Argulus,if there was a need to do so.We do not believe there is sucha case at present, but together with the Fisheries Research Services (FRS) we willconsider further surveillance to update our understanding of the distribution of the parasite, information about which can be found on the FRS website
www.marlab.ac.uk.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 23 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the restoration of Castle Tioram would provide benefits to Scotland¿s tourism industry; whether it is satisfied with Historic Scotland¿s position in respect of such a restoration, and what value it places on the significance of cross-party support from MSPs for its restoration.
Answer
There is no currentapplication for the restoration of Castle Tioram. Any application for scheduledmonument consent to restore the castle will be considered on its own meritsunder the established procedures. Since the final decision could be forScottish ministers it would not be proper for me to offer comment on the meritsof a prospective application.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether hydro schemes proposed by communities or community organisations will be eligible for assistance under any replacement for the Community Environmental Renewal Scheme.
Answer
The consideration of any continuationor replacement for the Community Environmental Renewal Scheme depends on decisions on the AggregatesLevy still to be announced by the Chancellor, and on subsequent decisions by Scottishministers on distribution of any funds. Given these circumstances it is not possibleto say at present whether hydro schemes proposed by communities or community organisationswould be eligible for assistance.
The Scottish Executive is currentlyundertaking a review of funding for local environmental regeneration projects. Theoutcomes of this review will inform decisions on the future of the Community EnvironmentalRenewal Scheme after March 2007.
Community hydro schemes are alreadyeligible for funding under the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative(SCHRI). The scheme, which supports a range of community organisations, providessupport for technical assistance as well as capital grants.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 17 November 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in respect of a replacement for the Community Environmental Renewal Scheme.
Answer
In reply to question S2W-28102on 13 September 2006, I stated that the Community EnvironmentalRenewal Scheme was designed to assist communities in the vicinity of past or presentquarries subject to the Aggregates Levy, and that the position on funding afterMarch 2007 will follow from decisions on the levy still to be announced by the Chancellorof the Exchequer and on subsequent decisions by Scottish ministers on distributionof any funds. 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.That remains the position howeverthe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury have carriedout a policy review of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund during 2006, to examinethe extent to which the Fund has met its objectives so far, whether it should continueand if so, what activities the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund should fund from2007 onwards.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/aggregates/index.htm
