- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 3 December 2013
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent changes to FlyBe management and services, what steps it has taken to ensure the security of the network of air services operated from Inverness to, from and within the Highlands and Islands by FlyBe and its franchise partner and whether it will make a statement on the matter.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had at (a) ministerial and (b) official level with the Department for Transport regarding the Regional Connectivity Fund.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out a review of policing arrangements in April 2014, following the creation of Police Scotland.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its current position on fire control rooms represents a change to that announced in the Draft Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2009 in which it stated that the “Scottish Ministers [had] decided not to take any central action to reduce the number of Fire Control Rooms”, and the statement by the Minister for Community Safety on 10 September 2009 (Official Report, c.19437) with regard to the framework, and, if so, what the reasons for this are.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the railway line between Inverness and (a) Perth and (b) Aberdeen is (i) single and (ii) double track.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the (a) management and (b) maintenance costs of the Firelink communication system is met by (i) it and (ii) the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding the development of catamarans.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what budget has been set aside for the Freight Facilities Grant in each year since 2010, and how much of it was spent.
Answer
The information is given in the follwing table.
Year | Freight Facilities Grant budget (£) | Freight Facilities Grant expenditure (£) |
2010-11 | 8,100,000 | 3,531,377.70 |
2011-12 | 3,000,000 | 1,067,843.40 |
2012-13 (1) | 750,000 | -7,334.71 |
2013-14 | 2,000,000 | 0 |
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the Freight Facilities Grant has been spent on (a) rail and (b) sea projects in each year since 2010.
Answer
The information is provided in the following table.
Year | Freight Facilities Grant – percentage of expenditure on rail projects | Freight Facilities Grant – percentage of expenditure on sea projects |
2010-11 | 3.2% | 96.8% |
2011-12 | 2.3% | 97.7% |
2012-13 (1) | 0% | 0% |
2013-14 (2) | 0% | 0% |
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.
- Asked by: David Stewart, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 29 November 2013
To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the completion of Dalcross railway station.
Answer
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.