General Questions
Transport Infrastructure (South-east Scotland)
The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of transport infrastructure improvements that will benefit the south-east of Scotland. The Forth replacement crossing and the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway improvements programme are progressing well. We are fully committed to delivering the Borders railway project, which will reconnect communities in Midlothian and the Scottish Borders to the national rail network for the first time in more than 40 years. We have recently completed significant road improvements on the A68 Dalkeith bypass and the A7 at Auchenrivock. Our motorway and trunk road programme contains further planned improvements for the A68 and the A702. In the longer term, the strategic transport projects review has identified a number of transport improvements that will benefit the south-east of Scotland.
When work began on the Haddington to Dunbar expressway nine years ago, it was claimed by the then deputy transport minister that it would
Can we have a question, Mr Hume?
Yes, of course.
I am happy to meet the member to discuss that, but I have just laid out some positive news for the people of the Borders and the south of Scotland. The Forth replacement crossing is a not insubstantial project and nor is the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway improvements programme, which is costing around £1 billion. The Borders railway project, which has been progressed under this Government, will connect the area to the network for the first time in 40 years at a cost of about £300 million. I also mentioned road improvements, which I know are deeply appreciated in that part of the country. However, I am happy to meet the member to discuss the issue that he raises.
Another pressure in the south of Scotland is that on the provision of rural bus services. Does the minister agree that, if pressure is to be taken off rural bus services, which are struggling to cope with high fuel prices, it is time that the Tory and Lib Dem coalition in Westminster took action to reduce those prices?
That is certainly a huge issue. When we debated it in the Parliament, we had a remarkable degree of consensus across the parties—I believe that the Liberal Democrats were part of that consensus, as were the Conservatives. Of course, we have still not had the action that we asked for, which was a meaningful reduction in fuel duty. The fuel duty rate is putting up prices not just for passengers but for all members of the public. The member is right to highlight that.
I remind members who ask a supplementary question to keep it brief. We do not expect speeches; we expect a question.
Crown Estate (Freshwater Salmon Fishing Rights)
Last week, the Scottish Government published proposals to amend the Scotland Bill to devolve responsibility for the Crown estate in Scotland. That will ensure that Scotland’s assets are managed in Scotland for the benefit of all Scotland’s people. Once management of the Crown estate is devolved, the Scottish Government will consult stakeholders and the wider public on proposals to involve local authorities and communities in decisions about our marine resources, including Scotland’s iconic salmon fishing rights that are held as part of the Crown estate.
No doubt the minister will be aware of the work of the Highlands and Islands-based Crown estate working group back in 2006. Among the recommendations that the group made was that the Crown’s feudal rights be abolished and that ownership of salmon fishing be transferred to the Scottish ministers and a scheme introduced for appropriately constituted local angling associations to acquire the beats that they currently tenant.
Get to the question, Mr Ingram.
Does the cabinet secretary agree?
The member highlights some very good points that go right to the heart of the debate about why the Crown estate should be managed in Scotland and not by Westminster. Of course, the Liberal Democrats, who supported the report that was published by Highland Council, can now stick to their word and fulfil their promise to support the devolution of the Crown estate to Scotland.
Does the Government have any plans to review salmon fishery boards in order to get more democratic control and transparency, in the interests of all species in each river catchment area?
That is another good point. Yes, we have plans to review this whole area over the course of this session of Parliament, as outlined in our manifesto. We can all agree that there have been some improvements to the composition and role of the fishery boards in recent years, but it remains the case—I think that many of them would accept this—that their structures are outmoded. We need structures that are fit for purpose in the 21st century.
Tourism (Growth)
The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the growth of tourism and attract new visitors to Scotland. In doing so, we are committed to supporting the tourism industry and we continue to work with it and our agencies to develop and promote Scotland as an all-year-round tourism destination. Just this week, I brought together key players in business tourism from across Scotland to review what opportunities there are to grow this sector. We are also determined to make the most of our key tourism assets and are committed to further developing and promoting activity, ancestral, cultural and food and drink tourism.
What is the current status of the ambition for 50 per cent growth of the tourism sector by 2015?
We are of course ambitious for Scotland to achieve even greater success in tourism. The 50 per cent target was set before the onset of the global recession, as Gavin Brown will know. The figure was based on the then estimates of world tourism growth. Despite that, however, Scotland has done pretty well in tourism of late. In spite of the recession, the heavy snowfall and the volcanic ash cloud, which brought our airports to a standstill, overall visitor spend in 2010 was down by less than 1 per cent compared to 2009. We are of course looking towards the winning years in securing a number of world-class events for Scotland, including the Ryder cup, the Commonwealth games and the year of homecoming in 2014. There is much to be positive about.
Geothermal Energy
The “2020 Route Map for Renewable Energy in Scotland”, which I published today, states that we will commission a study to examine the potential of deep geothermal in Scotland.
Is the minister aware that—as far as I can discover—the most recent comprehensive feasibility study on geothermal opportunities in the Lothians was carried out some five years ago? I have no doubt that he is aware that Scotland’s industrial heritage has resulted in a large number of flooded mine workings, including in my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselburgh—
Can you get to a question please, Mr Beattie?
Given the huge increase in energy prices, does the minister consider that there might be an opportunity to revisit the feasibility of that energy source?
I was aware that the research is now five years old. That is why we are commissioning further work to provide certainty for the industry to exploit this potential. We fully recognise that, in particular, ex-mining areas offer great opportunities for geothermal energy. We are therefore determined to take that form of renewable energy forward.
Scottish Water (Coastal Pollution)
The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Scottish Water regarding its operations and the delivery of its capital investment programme.
The minister should be aware that there is a Scottish Water waste pumping station adjacent to the shore in Pittenweem, which is designed to transport waste to the treatment works at Pathhead. Overflow pipes from that facility are designed to carry material into the sea during those periods when the pumping system is over capacity. Given the worsening problems with effluent leakage from those overflow pipes—
Can you get to a question, please, Mr Campbell?
—directly on to the beach, will the minister undertake urgent discussions with Scottish Water?
We are looking at including waste sewage in the programme for Scottish Water from 2015. The previous programme focused on internal sewage flooding, but it is increasingly important that we regard external flooding as important. Ministers are already in discussion with Scottish Water on that subject.
High-speed Rail Link
That is the subject of on-going dialogue. Officials held a meeting with the Department for Transport and the High Speed Two company as recently as last week, on Thursday 23 June. For my part, I have spoken with the Secretary of State for Transport on the issue, and we plan to hold further ministerial discussions in the near future.
Does the minister agree that a high-speed rail link would greatly benefit Scotland’s economic growth and would do so far more than the proposed tram system in Edinburgh, which is a shambles, or the hugely expensive Glasgow airport rail link, both of which were supported by all the main Opposition parties in the chamber?
The important point that the member raises is about costs and benefits. He is right to say that the high-speed rail option really only makes sense for Scotland if it comes here—that is when Scotland will get the biggest dividends—so it should do so.
Improved rail connections between Scotland and England would be very welcome, but it is equally important to improve rail connections within Scotland. On that basis, could the minister provide an update on the Scottish Government’s plans in the strategic transport projects review to increase the frequency of rail services on the Ayr to Glasgow line, which is an improvement that is vital in the interests of local rail commuters and in support of the growing Ayrshire tourism economy?
Yes, I could, although it would take some time. As the member will know, the frequency of those trains has increased and there have been improvements in the infrastructure. I will be happy to write to the member on the detail of that, if he would like.
Research and Development Investment (South of Scotland)
The Scottish funding council invested £305 million in research across universities in Scotland in the academic year 2010-11. That included support for the Scottish Borders campus of Heriot-Watt University and the Crichton campus of the University of Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland. An additional £140 million in Government and business research and development was invested in Scotland in 2008-09, the most recent year for which figures are available.
A report that I co-authored in 2008 for Scottish Enterprise indicated that just 0.2 per cent of the research and development funding that was invested through universities was invested in the south of Scotland. Will the cabinet secretary meet me to discuss the significance of that issue for the competitiveness of the south of Scotland economy?
I would be very happy to meet the member. Although the situation is patchy, there are some significant investments. For example, the chemical company DuPont Teijin Films is being supported to invest in a research and development programme in Dumfries that aims to understand polyester chemistry with a view to delivering the desired weatherability. The Agenor Technology investment in information technology is highly significant, too, as is some of the spending on the college and university sector, including that on the new aeronautical engineering centre that has been built in collaboration with the University of the West of Scotland in Ayr. However, I would be happy to meet the member to discuss the issue further.
Antisocial Behaviour
The Government’s approach to tackling antisocial behaviour, “Promoting Positive Outcomes”, was published jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in March 2009. That approach was most recently debated, and agreed, by the Parliament in December 2010.
Does the minister agree that, too often, victims are evacuated instead of perpetrators being evicted, and that home owners can feel well and truly stuck? Might it be worth while to have a joint information campaign involving Government and local authorities so that this menace in too many of our communities can be dealt with?
A joint information campaign would obviously be helpful because it seems that the range of options that are available to local authorities is not particularly well known to the local authorities or those on the other side of the matter. Applications can be made by the local authority to the sheriff court for orders, and if there is a misunderstanding by local authorities about their powers in that regard, it would be helpful if I could have a discussion with the member so that we can try to resolve that misunderstanding.
Uncollected Fiscal Fines
The Scottish Government brought forward the legislation enabling the appointment of fines enforcement officers and fully supports the Scottish Court Service’s robust approach to the enforcement of financial penalties. Payment rates are improving all the time as offenders realise that they cannot hide from their responsibility to pay their fines. In addition, we have commissioned an independent evaluation of the fines enforcement process to explore the effectiveness of the provisions and inform further developments in practice.
Recent Scottish court statistics showed that there are more than 11,000 payments in arrears, which are worth £4.6 million. What mechanisms are in place to identify frequent fine defaulters and assess whether they are appropriate for fiscal fines?
Operational responsibility for the collection of fiscal fines is a matter for the Scottish Court Service, which is an entirely separate body. As the Scottish Court Service has explained, collection rates for fines that are imposed vary, and the point refers to individuals. These are matters in which we have to strike a balance. There are those who might be described as dysfunctional and on whom it might be difficult to impose a fiscal fine. Equally, it would be perverse if they were to be put through a system that would not necessarily apply to others. As I said, there is a matter of balance. We must allow those at the front line in the court system to exercise discretion. The constable must exercise discretion in the first place, and the sheriff must exercise discretion with regard to the issuing of fiscal fines. They must consider the circumstances relating to the offence, the effect on the victim and the situation of the perpetrator.
Judges (Appointment)
The Scottish Government has no plans to legislate for the election rather than appointment of judges.
I am relieved by that reply. My concern was that, during the recent exchange of opinions with some on the Scottish bench, an inference was drawn that the First Minister had referred to the possible election of judges. I am glad to hear that that was a wrong inference.
Would you like to respond, cabinet secretary?
Yes. I am grateful for the tenor of Margo MacDonald’s reply. Earlier, the chamber united in its sympathy for the loss of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, and I think that there is a measure of respect between ourselves and the judiciary.
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