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There has been no suggestion that air services to and from Inverness and within the Highlands and Islands will be impacted by Flybe’s current turnaround programme. Services operated by Flybe’s franchise partner, Loganair, are not impacted by the recent changes. We have no plans to make a statement on this matter.

There have been no discussions at ministerial level with the Department for Transport (DfT) about the Regional Air Connectivity Fund. At official level, there have been discussions around the use of the fund to support air services from Inverness and Dundee.

Police Scotland operates independently of Ministers and the Scottish Government will not be carrying out a review of policing arrangements. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 clearly sets out how the single service will be kept under review by the Scottish Police Authority. The SPA has a statutory function to deliver continuous improvement of policing and to hold the Chief Constable to account.

At the end of each financial year the SPA will prepare an annual report an assessment of the Police Service’s performance. In addition, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland will report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the police service in Scotland.

The draft Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2009 related to the 8 pre-reform fire and rescue services in Scotland. Following the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in April 2013, decisions on the allocation of its resources, including the number and location of control rooms, is a matter for the SFRS Board and not the Scottish Ministers.

The route between Perth and Inverness is 118 miles with double track sections between:

Perth and Stanley Junction (7 miles);

Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie (24 miles); and

Culloden and Inverness (7 miles).

Therefore, 67.8% of the route is single track and 32.2% is double track.

The route between Aberdeen and Inverness is 108 miles with one double track section between Insch Station and Kennethmont signal box. The double tracked section is 5.3% of the route and the remaining 94.7% is single track.

With the exception of some ancillary and discretionary expenditure by the eight former Fire and Rescue Services and, since April 2013, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the costs for Scotland of the GB-wide Firelink communication system, including management and maintenance costs, have been and continue to be fully funded by the Scottish Government.

In accordance with an arrangement reached in 2006 with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government pays a proportion of overall GB-wide programme costs, including management and maintenance costs. Management costs and maintenance costs are not separately identified. It is estimated that total Scottish Government expenditure on Firelink in 2013-14 will be £4.5 million.

Work on the vessel replacement programme set out in the Scottish Government’s Ferries Plan (2013-2022) is being taken forward by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) in partnership with CalMac Ferries Ltd. We are open-minded about any vessel design that meets the specifications developed for new vessels. These specifications will require vessels able to operate year-round in some rough seas and in and out of some challenging berths.

The information is given in the follwing table.

Note:1. The figure for 2012-13 is negative because the amount of expenditure accrued to 2011-12, in respect of the spend reported by one of the applicants in that year, was greater than the eventual amount of grant claimed.

The information is provided in the following table.

Notes:

1. There was no expenditure on Freight Facilities Grant in 2012-13.

2. There has been no expenditure on Freight Facilities Grant in 2013-14.

The reopening of Dalcross railway station currently forms part of phase one of the Aberdeen to Inverness rail improvements project, which will be delivered between 2014 and 2019.

To assist in the delivery of the new station, Network Rail will work with station promoters to ensure that the community’s needs are met and that third-party funding for the station has been secured to complete phase one by 2019.