Chamber and committees

The Executive is committed to the maintenance of affordable air and sea links to Scotland’s islands and remote communities. Tendering will protect the lifeline ferry services in the Clyde and Hebrides by ensuring that they are in line with EC rules and thereby allowing subsidy to continue. The guidance provided by the European Commission in relation to the tendering of Public Service Contracts (PSCs) for ferry services requires that the tender is awarded (except in exceptional and duly justified circumstances) to the bid requiring the lowest financial compensation. However, whilst lowest financial compensation is a key criteria, the services provided must also be of sufficient quality to meet the requirements of the PSC.

The tender and contractual requirements will ensure that bidders, and the eventual operator, must meet the requirements of a very detailed service specification for the ferry services.

There have been a number of service enhancements in recent years and the Executive intends to build on the success of the current provision. Bidders for the services will be encouraged to consider the scope for innovation and improvement in services. Further, it is not intended that the services and timetables will be set in stone during the contract period. During this time there will be the opportunity for changes to be approved, provided that the operator has agreed these with the local communities concerned through the consultative mechanism and that the financial consequences are acceptable to the Scottish Executive.

As set out in the reply to parliamentary question S1W-27085 answered on 27 June 2002 and in the 2002 consultation paper Proposals for Tendering Clyde & Hebrides Lifeline Ferry Services it is intended that a publicly owned company (VesCo) will be established which will own the CalMac fleet and CalMac’s piers and harbours. This approach will ensure efficient use of the existing fleet, offer service reliability and guarantee the long-term availability of vessels and harbour facilities.

VesCo will also have a role in strategic planning. This will include vessel procurement to meet service delivery needs and the capital investment programme for its piers and harbours.

You may wish to note that the European Commission published, in December 2003 and January 2004, revised guidance on the interpretation of the Maritime Cabotage Regulation. The guidance now provides that public service contracts may be placed for six years.

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/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Water is undertaking a number of measures to promote water efficiency. For household customers these include the production of leaflets relating to water efficiency in the home and garden, education packs for schools and localised water efficiency campaigns. In relation to business customers, these include water audits and efficiency workshops for key account holders, information leaflets and support for other initiatives to reduce water consumption.

The cost of operating, maintaining and renewing the railway infrastructure is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Details of Network Rail’s previous and planned expenditure can be found in their Business Plans which are published annually and in the Office of the Rail Regulator’s Interim Review of Track Access Charges Final Conclusions published in December 2003.

Freight Facilities Grant awards in Scotland since 1998-99:

1998-99

Award	Amount of Award	Date Awarded
Safeway Stores plc – Mossend, Inverness, Nairn, Elgin and Buckie	£680,000	Nov 1998
Annual Total	£680,000

 

1999-2000

HJ Banks & Co Ltd.– Ayrshire	£873,000	Jul 1999
LAW Mining Ltd – Ayrshire	£2,548,000	Sep 1999
TDG Nexus – Grangemouth (1)	£9,700,000	Sep 1999
Associated British Ports – Ayr	£4,410,000	Feb 2000
ST Services Ltd – Leith	£74,000	Mar 2000
Forth Ports plc – Leith	£81,000	Mar 2000
Safeway Stores plc – Mossend, Thurso, Wick, Kirkwall and Ullapool	£897,000	Mar 2000
Annual Total	£18,583,000

 

2000-01

Potter Group – Clackmannan (2)	£373,000	Aug 2000
Iggesund Paperboard – Lochaline, Highlands	£693,000	Dec 2000
BP Oil UK Ltd – Grangemouth, Dyce, Fort William, Kilmarnock, Lairg	£10,044,000	Dec 2000
WH Malcolm Ltd – Grangemouth (3)	£878,000	Dec 2000
Annual Total	£11,988,000

 

2001-02

Scottish Coal Company Ltd – Ayrshire	£9,750,000	Nov 2001
Thurso Building Supplies – Caithness	£289,000	Dec 2001
Forth Ports plc– Rosyth, Zeebrugge(4)	£10,969,000	Dec 2001
Annual Total	£21,008,000

 

2002-03

Peter D Stirling Ltd– Mossend, Lanarkshire	£1,878,300	Aug 2002
ASDA – Grangemouth	£74,600	Nov 2002
Iggesund Paperboard – Portavadie, Argyll and Bute (5)	£223,000	Mar 2003
CLYDEBoyd Ltd – Corpach (6)	£3,300,000	Mar 2003
Salt Union Ltd– Grangemouth	£467,000	Mar 2003
Annual Total	£5,942,900

 

2003-04

Kier Minerals Ltd – Ayrshire	£3,894,000	Aug 2003
English, Welsh & Scottish Railways Ltd– Mossend	£654,000	Nov 2003
WH Malcolm Ltd – Grangemouth	£882,000	Nov 2003
Norfrost Ltd - Thurso	£642,000	Mar 2004
Annual Total	£6,072,000

Notes:

1. Includes a contribution of £6.467 million from Department for Transport (DfT) for environmental benefits secured in England.

2. This award was made and financed by DFT.

3. Includes a contribution of £0.632 million from DfT for environmental benefits secured in England.

4. This award was made by DfT but financed by the Scottish Executive.

5. This award was made and financed by DfT.

6. This award was made and financed by DfT.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-10079 answered on 15 September 2004. All the 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/webapp/search_wa.

The franchise payments received by ScotRail since 1998-99 are detailed in the following table.

	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004 Extension
ScotRail Franchise Payments (£ Million)	280.18	270.00	248.57	214.26	230.08	251.67	122.1 (forecast)

 

This information was collated from the Strategic Rail Authority Annual Report

2003-04.

The forecast subsidy for the duration of the new franchise is:

	2004-05 (part year)	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12 (part year)
ScotRail subsidy (£ Million)	100.30	191.40	263.90	269.50	284.70	289.20	292.70	156.50

 

The cost of the franchise is impacted on by the level of fixed Track Access Charges (TACs), which are set by the Office of Rail Regulation. The outcome of the regulator’s recent review of TACs has meant that the projected funding in the early years of the franchise has been reduced. From 2006-07 and beyond the TACs will rise again.

Cancer in ScotlandSustaining Change, published in May 2004, sets out the strategic direction for improvements in cancer services over the next three years and beyond.

Statistics released in August 2004 show that over the last 25 years, five-year survival rates for cancer patients has increased from 25% to 41% for males and from 36 to 50% for females.

The proposed Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill will ensure that all public plans, programmes and strategies likely to have significant environmental effects are subject to strategic environmental assessment.

It is proposed that public authorities responsible for plans subject to the bill should be required to consult Historic Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and the public on the environmental consequences of the alternative approaches under consideration. Further, they would then be required to demonstrate how they have taken account of every opinion expressed.

Yes. We want to ensure that Scottishaudiences have the opportunity to enjoy the highest quality and widest range ofcultural experiences we can provide. Opera provision is a key part of the culturallandscape – and one which we want to retain.

Scottish Opera has worked hardin recent months, with our and the Scottish Arts Council’s help, to draw up plansto set the company on a stable footing for the future and to identify a clear visionfor opera provision in Scotland.

Today we are in a position toprovide information on Scottish Opera’s announcement of the way forward.

Following a period of transitionover the next two years, Scottish Opera aims to have completed the process of re-establishingitself in the cultural life of the country. Scottish Opera’s plans for the futureinvolve:

Main scale and medium scale productionsin the cities of Scotland

Smaller scale productions inremoter parts of the country

Primary schools education programmes

Secondary school syllabus work

Work with youth and the over50s

All of this will lead to thedevelopment of a cohesive cultural strategy for the company as a whole.

We have always maintained thatScottish Opera should be capable of living within its budget. We are reaffirmingthat view today. Scottish Opera takes a very significant share of the Scottish ArtsCouncil’s resources, and it is vital going forward that it be managed in a way whichdoes not lead to one financial crisis after another. At the end of last financialyear, the company had overspent its grant by over £4 million. It is the responsibilityof everyone to use public money effectively. Such overspending cannot continue.The Board of Scottish Opera has accepted that a fundamental restructuring of itsoperation is required to ensure the company lives within its known means and thatno further options exist for future intervention by the Executive.

Scottish ministers have beenclear from the start of this process – we want a first class national opera companythat is structured in a way to make sure that its future is sustainable. Becauseof this commitment, we recognise that a degree of short-term additional investmentwill be necessary to help the company deliver the changes it has decided on. Thatis why we have agreed to invest additional resources over the next two years tosupport the plan drawn up by Scottish Opera to ensure it is placed on a stable financialfooting for the future.

We shall be making availableup to £7 million to support the business plan during the transition period. Thiswill allow Scottish Opera to run down its accumulated deficit and take the necessarysteps to restructure, so that we do not end up in this situation again in a fewyears time. This includes provision to cover the possible losses which the EdinburghFestival Theatre and the Theatre Royal in Glasgow may incur due to the fact that no main scale opera willbe performed by Scottish Opera between June 2005 and March 2006.

There will sadly be job lossesto get the company into shape, but the funding we are providing should enable thecompany to keep redundancies to a minimum.

It no longer makes sense forScottish Opera to run a commercial theatre in Glasgow whilst also running an operaproduction company. Scottish Opera is expected to conclude a deal to lease the TheatreRoyal to another operator, freeing it to focus on what it does best. Scottish Operawill also review the future of its technical services department.

We also support the view thatthe future business plan can best be implemented by Scottish Opera and ScottishBallet restructuring into two separate companies with the management and artisticteam of the Opera fully committed to its vision and business plan.

The precise financial detailsneed to be worked through by Scottish Opera and the Scottish Arts Council and willremain commercially confidential for the time being. We need to ensure that we getmaximum value for money from taxpayers’ funds.

Scottish ministers are committedto ensuring that we continue to enjoy a vibrant cultural scene here in Scotland,and that our creative talents are used to promote Scotland to the outside world.That is why we have agreed to support today Scottish Opera’s plans to ensure a successfuland sustainable future for Scottish Opera.

Although the restructuring processwill undoubtedly be painful, I am confident that with the full delivery of ScottishOpera’s plan, opera provision for Scotland can now have a secure place on the Scottish culturalscene in the future.