- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with NHS boards regarding the savings to them as a result of the national concessionary fare scheme being extended to community transport schemes.
Answer
No such discussions havebeen held with NHS boards.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have demand response travel schemes which currently are part of the concessionary fare scheme and whether these will automatically be available to anyone using the national concessionary travel scheme.
Answer
Demand Responsive Transport serviceswhich are registered as a local bus service will be included as eligibleservices in the Scotland–wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled People.
Information is not held centrally detailing the demand responsive transport services available in eachlocal authority.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local transport operators with regard to delivery and operation of the national concessionary travel scheme.
Answer
The Confederation ofPassenger Transport (CPT) and local authority representatives were included on theseven task groups set up to advise on the development and implementation of theScotland-wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled people.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executivewhat research (a) has been and (b) will be undertaken into the operation of the national concessionary travel scheme in rural areas.
Answer
The procedures which we areputting in place will allow reports to be produced to monitor the usage ofcards in rural as in other areas once the national travel scheme is up andrunning.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what training is provided to personnel on buses regarding the operation of the national concessionary travel scheme.
Answer
The Executive is producing guidancefor drivers on the operation of the Scotland–wide Free Bus Scheme for Older andDisabled People. The guidance will make clear the drivers must look after the well-beingof people who travel under the scheme. Individual training is a matter for the operatorsto take forward.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has done into the numbers and location of people entitled to the national concessionary fare scheme who will be unable to access transport.
Answer
Research has been carried outas part of the Partnership Agreement commitment to assess improved concessions forpeople with disabilities. It aims to identifythe latent demand for transport and considers why people do not travel and whatwould encourage them to travel more. This includes issues around access to transport.
This research looking into ImprovingTransport for Disabled People is now nearing conclusion and we aim to publish inApril 2006.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring has taken place of the existing concessionary travel scheme.
Answer
Local travel concession schemescurrently employ a range of measures for monitoring and verifying travel concessiondata. These measures include data analysis, compliance audits of bus operators andsurveys of bus services and passengers.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the voluntary sector regarding the operation and extent of the national concessionary travel scheme.
Answer
Voluntary organisations wereincluded in the consultation, which was run between 24 October to 5 December 2005, onthe orders for the Scotland-wide Free Bus Scheme for Older and Disabled people towhich over 130 responses were received.
In addition the Royal NationalInstitute for the Blind has been involved in discussions on the needs of the visuallyimpaired in using smartcards for the Scotland-wide Free Bus scheme for Older andDisabled people.
I have also met with the ScottishPensioners Forum where discussion included the concessionary travel scheme and howit will affect older people.
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 6 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive how many pregnancies there were amongst (a) 12, (b) 13, (c) 14, (d) 15 and (c) 16-year-olds in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.
Answer
The information requested isshown for each full financial year from 1998-99 to 2003-04 in the table Pregnanciesamongst females aged 12 to 16 years at conception from 1998-99 to 2003-04, acopy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib.number 38956).
- Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2006
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Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 3 March 2006
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the procedures for requesting permission to land at airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, in particular in respect of flights by the CIA or by agencies to whom the CIA has outsourced services, are affected by NATO accords or other similar agreements and whether these procedures apply equally to military and civilian flights.
Answer
This is a reserved matter. The UK Department for Transport grants permission, under the Chicago Convention through the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and the Air Navigation Order 2005, for foreign aircraft to operate commercial civil flights in the UK where they land and take on board or discharge passengers or cargo and where payment is given or promised in respect of that carriage. Prior permission is not required where payment is not given for carriage or where no passengers are taken on board or discharged.
NATO accords do not affect the routine use of national airspace or airports. Permission for foreign military flights is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. No prior clearance is required for US military aircraft or civil aircraft on US Government business to land in the UK. Aircraft carrying dangerous air cargo or VIPs (e.g. senior Government officials, senior politicians and Heads of State) must be notified to the Ministry of Defence.
