- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invite the Auditor General for Scotland to investigate the implications of the Skye Bridge contract for future public finance initiatives and whether the public funding allocated under the contract represented good use of public money.
Answer
The Executive has no plans to in this regard.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of work carried out in connection with the tendering of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, showing the cost of civil servants' time and other costs, such as costs of consultants and advisers.
Answer
The breakdown of direct costs incurred by the Executive (to end January 2005) in connection with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services is set out in the table below. It does not include the cost of senior officials in Transport Group, specialist officials or ministers as their time cannot be separately accounted for. Neither does it include a proportion of the overheads which the Executive accrues generally. The figures have been calculated in cash terms.
| Staffing (Note1) | £ 800,000 (approx) |
| Travel and Subsistence Expenses for Officials (Note 2) | £12,000 (approx) |
| Consultation Exercises (Note 3) | £40,000 (approx) (incl. VAT) |
| External Advice (Note 4) | £286,000 (approx) (incl. VAT) |
| Total | £1,138 million |
Notes:
1. A dedicated team of officials has been in place to deal with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services since November 1999. Individual staff costs (including pension and NI contributions) are complex to calculate. This figure is derived from the structure of the team from November 1999 to the present and average full staff costs for each relevant grade for each financial year.
2. Travel and Subsistence incurred by the dedicated team of officials. It does not include a proportion for ministers.
3. This includes design, printing and postage. It does not include staff time which is accounted for separately.
4. The Executive has commissioned external advice, totally approximately £286,000, where the expertise was not available internally:
-research to provide additional evidence to the Commission on the uniqueness of the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet. This supported the Executive’s proposals to retain the fleet in public ownership and to bind the successful bidder to those vessels.
-technical advice on the service specifications for the Clyde and Hebrides services and the Gourock to Dunoon route.
-technical advice on the proposed restructuring of Caledonian MacBrayne
-research into the application of the EU rules in other member states. This research is due to be completed shortly.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote shinty; in particular, whether it has any plans to support the establishment of shinty as an internationally-recognised sport with its own federation and, if not, how the sport can achieve such recognition.
Answer
As the governing body for the sport, the Camanachd Association is responsible for promoting shinty. One of the targets in the Association’s Development Plan is to promote shinty and its cultural history to as broad an audience as is possible. It is for the association to seek to identify other areas where shinty is played and then explore with interested parties there the possible formation of an international governing body for the sport.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports Lochaber's bid to become the outdoor capital of the United Kingdom.
Answer
As part of its “Active” marketing brand, VisitScotland aims to promote Scotland as the outdoor capital of Europe, and I welcome industry initiatives which help to highlight the range and quality of outdoor activities that Scotland has to offer. The Lochaber initiative is an excellent example of how public and private organisations can work together to develop this valuable market.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Peter Peacock on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of children who have the opportunity, through school-organised trips, to participate in outdoor activity and whether it considers that National Park boards should play a role in facilitating such activity.
Answer
I want more young people to experience the far reaching benefits and opportunities which outdoor activities can bring, and school organised excursions provide an important means of encouraging that. I have asked Learning and Teaching Scotland to take forward the development of outdoor education.
It would be for the National Park Boards themselves to consider, in association with local authorities and other relevant interests, what role the boards might have in facilitating school organised excursions and I would welcome their active interest and actions to support expanding outdoor education.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a ministerial statement regarding the buy out of the PFI of Inverness Airport Terminal; whether it will provide an estimate of the costs of buying out the PFI, and whether it recognises potential benefits from the buy out for the economy of the Highlands and Inverness in particular.
Answer
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has recently undertaken a full review of the PFI contract at Inverness Airport Terminal and the impact of a buy-out on the airport and the wider economy. With the support of the Executive, HIAL is now seeking to secure the buy-out of the contract. HIAL will be aiming to secure best value for the taxpayer in these sensitive negotiations and an announcement will be made at their conclusion.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11627 by Nicol Stephen on 19 November 2004, whether it is yet in a position to publish copies of the franchise agreement between it and First Group plc.
Answer
The parties to the franchise agreement are the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive and First ScotRail. As stated in S2W-11627 answered on the 19
November 2004, the SRA are under a statutory obligation to publish the franchise agreement.
Once the statutory process is complete and the ScotRail franchise agreement is placed in the SRA’s public register, copies of this will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Reference Centre.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct, or invite, the City of Edinburgh Council to seek approval from the Electoral Commission of the proposed wording of the question in the forthcoming referendum on toll proposals and of the proposal to send to each household a leaflet setting out the council's plans; whether the Executive is satisfied that the council's proposals are fair; whether the Executive has any powers in relation to the referendum, including the holding or funding of the referendum, that would enable it to require the council to amend its plans; whether the Executive has had any correspondence with the council, its officials or those acting on its behalf regarding the wording of the question on the referendum ballot paper or the proposal to fund the cost and issue a leaflet to each household regarding the transport plans.
Answer
The wording of the question in the forthcoming non statutory referendum on the Council’s Local Transport Strategy is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council. The Executive has not provided funding for the referendum, nor the associated information campaign.
Due to the nature of Scottish ministers’ quasi judicial role in confirming a charging order, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time on any particular aspect of the proposed scheme.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will respond to the business case for the Borders Railway; whether the response will be made in a ministerial statement to the Parliament, and whether it envisages that there will be an opportunity to question the Minister for Transport on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive continues to consider the Waverley Railway’s outline business case and the implications of the current delay in the parliamentary process. An announcement will be made soon.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what further sections of the A9 it plans to upgrade and whether other sections will be upgraded to dual carriageway status or to "two plus one" on a similar basis to those sections recently completed.
Answer
We are continuing to developour proposals to extend the dual carriageway at Crubenmore by around 2km at a costof £5.4 million, and to provide 4km of additional overtaking opportunities betweenKincraig and Dalraddy, by widening the carriageway to Wide Single 2+1 standard,at a cost of £4.3 million. I expect to publish draft orders for these schemes thisyear. A number of other improvements are planned and work has begun on a route improvementstudy between Perth and Blair Atholl, which will report in the autumn.
