- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the introduction of the dynamic loop will have on the frequency of rail services between Stranraer and Glasgow, via Ayr and Paisley.
Answer
The construction of the dynamic loop provides an opportunity to review the timetables and services in the south west of Scotland. There are no plans currently to increase the frequency of trains to Stranraer, but this will be kept under review.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how construction of the dynamic loop on the Kilmarnock to Glasgow rail line will be financed.
Answer
The project will be funded using Network Rail''s regulated asset base finance mechanism.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 27 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the introduction of the dynamic loop will have on rail journey times between Stranraer and Glasgow.
Answer
The construction of the dynamic loop provides an opportunity to review the timetables and services in the south west of Scotland. Opportunities to improve journey times across South West will be examined as part of the review.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 22 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12321 by Stewart Stevenson on 2 May 2008, whether the current Freight Facilities Grant scheme would have adequate resources to provide the funding required to meet a renewed application to site a railhead at Barrhill.
Answer
The budget to support the freight industry, including freight facilities grants, is £14.9million in each of the next three years. Any application for freight grant support for a railhead at Barrhill in the future will be assessed on its own merits against the scheme rules.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 22 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-12321 by Stewart Stevenson on 2 May 2008, on what date JST Services withdrew its application for Freight Facilities Grant.
Answer
2 November 2007.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 22 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rail journey times have been between Stranraer and Glasgow via (a) Kilmarnock and (b) Paisley in each of the last five years.
Answer
The information is not held centrally, in the form requested.
Over the last five years, the timetabled journey time has been around two hours 17 minutes average for trains running via Paisley and two hours 33 minutes average for trains running via Kilmarnock.
Average punctuality against this timetable (that is, the number of trains arriving within ten minutes of the scheduled time) has tracked as follows:
2003-04: 92.1%
2004-05: 91.2%
2005-06: 90.5%
2006-07: 91.0%
2007-08: 92.8%.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 21 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11976 by Jim Mather on 1 May 2008, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the European Regional Development Fund Programme funding allocated to VisitScotland will be spent effectively.
Answer
The Scottish Government in partnership with Esep Ltd who are responsible for administering application rounds and post approval monitoring, will fully comply with European Commission Regulation Article 60(b) No 1083/2006. This covers the need for verifying that the co-financed products and services are delivered and that the expenditure declared by the beneficiaries for operations has actually been incurred and complies with Community and National Rules. This will involve a number of controls including verification of supporting documents before claims for re-imbursement are made and, are also likely to involve on the spot monitoring of project progress and financial checks. This control environment will apply to all project sponsors including VisitScotland.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 21 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11976 by Jim Mather on 1 May 2008, when details will be available on how the European Regional Development Fund Programme funding allocated to VisitScotland will be spent.
Answer
Discussions are still on-going to finalise technical details relating to the Homecoming Scotland 2009 application submitted to the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland programme. VisitScotland expect to finalise these details in the next few months.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 21 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11976 by Jim Mather on 1 May 2008, when it will be in a position to indicate which local rural communities will benefit from the European Regional Development Fund Programme funding allocated to VisitScotland.
Answer
The Homecoming Scotland 2009 application submitted by VisitScotland to the Lowland and Uplands Scotland European Structural Funds Programme covers all of the designated rural areas under Priority 4 with the exception of Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway, as these are to be treated separately. It is expected that all rural areas identified within the application will benefit from the delivery of the national homecoming project overall.
- Asked by: Cathy Jamieson, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Mather on 21 May 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11338 by Jim Mather on 23 April 2008, how many meetings of the UK Government Coal Forum have been attended by Scottish ministers since May 2007.
Answer
Scottish ministers have not attended any meetings of the UK Coal Forum since it was established. However, Scottish Government officials regularly attend the meetings and update ministers on any matters of interest.
I met recently with key stakeholders in the Coal Industry Society and the Scottish Resources Group, and plan to hold a consultation session with the coal industry.
