Chamber and committees

The £76 million of consequentials is available only in 2010-11 and not in future years. Therefore the Scottish Government has allocated these resources to help accelerate shovel-ready capital projects, in order to make the maximum positive contribution to Scotland''s economic recovery and to jobs, particularly in the construction industry.

We are committed to delivering a tightly managed and sustainable capital programme over the medium-term and the key judgement in assessing the implementation of that programme will be the capital budgets that are available to us in future years.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-24288 on 4 June 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

It is estimated that elements of the Economic Recovery Plan are supporting around 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy. This figure is based on estimates of the impact of some of the actions within the Economic Recovery Plan.

It is estimated that the accelerated capital spending programme “ which involved the acceleration of £293 million capital spending into 2009-10, and £53 million into 2008-09 “ has supported over 5,000 jobs in the Scottish economy over the period.

Support for Homecoming has helped generate additional activity in tourism related sectors such as hotels, catering and retail and is estimated to have supported around 1,000 jobs.

The acceleration of European Structural Funds is estimated to support approximately 8,000 jobs across all sectors of the economy, through ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funding for new projects. Other projects, supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), are assisting people back into employment.

An extra £31 million was allocated to boost affordable housing supply, which is estimated to have supported around 500 jobs.

The international financial crisis acted as the catalyst for the sharpest drop in output in developed economies in over half a century and the first drop in world output since the Second World War. In response, governments across the globe undertook a series of co-ordinated policy measures including, where necessary, support for financial institutions alongside a range of fiscal and monetary policies. The aggregate effects of all these responses, including action taken by the Scottish Government through the Economic Recovery Plan, has been to help support jobs across the international, UK and Scottish economies.

It is estimated that elements of the Economic Recovery Plan are supporting around 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy. This includes the capital acceleration programme, which is estimated to have supported over 5,000 jobs in the Scottish economy.

As at 31 March 2010 some £896,275 had been spent in relation to five plots of land which were acquired for the branch line element of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Act (2007).

Discussions between the District Valuer and the previous owners in relation to a further four plots of land acquired are still ongoing, with respect to concluding a sale price.

A number of other plots were acquired out with the compulsory purchase orders process via a wider acquisition of the resident business by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.

It should be noted that the figure quoted above relates solely to the land acquisition cost as compensation costs, agreed on an individual basis with each affected land owner and/or business, are considered to be confidential. We have therefore only provided a summary of the individual land acquisition costs as recorded in the Sasines Register.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-33171 on 22 April 2010, which sets out the actual costs incurred up until 31 March 2010 along with a forecast of the remaining costs to close out. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The actual wording in the submission to Ministers by officials in Transport Scotland, dated 1 May 2009, reads as follows at page 2, paragraph 10 it states inter alia:

Costs

10. The cost profile for the Branch Line project is attached at Annex A. To date around £40m has been spent on preparatory and advance works. The cost of the work on the main line is contractually committed through the CP4 Determination and is financed through the RAB.

To clarify therefore the cost incurred to date, as at 1 May 2009, of around £40m refers to the Glasgow Airport Rail Link / Paisley Corridor Improvements (GARL/PCR) project in totality and is not the cost associated with the branch line element of the GARL project.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. I will ask the Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland to respond to you with this information.

The original assessment of the wider economic benefits arising from the introduction of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) project (Roger Tym and Partners “ Assessment of Wider Economic Benefits “ June 2005, commissioned by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) reported the potential for:

650 jobs over a 10 year period (or 65 jobs per annum) within Glasgow, and

through development opportunities within Paisley town centre, of an office market, 675-700 jobs over a three to four year period.

These figures were on the basis of employment growth forecasts for the affected local authority areas in the period 2003“11 and with the introduction of GARL passenger services in 2009.

It is reasonable to expect that the completion of the Paisley Corridor Improvements project and the introduction of resultant passenger services on the Ayrshire and Inverclyde routes will have a beneficial impact on the local economy and therefore opportunities for employment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-32289 on 19 March 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.