Chamber and committees

CaledonianMaritime Assets Ltd have been charged with developing the port infrastructureit owns in an efficient, economic and effective manner.

Discussions betweenthe Scottish Government and the European Commission are generally considered tobe confidential. The ScottishGovernment is currently examining the options that are available for the Gourockto Dunoon route and we shall announce our plans for the service as soon as possible.

Further to the restructuringof the former Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd that took effect from 1 October 2006 as partof the preparations for the tendering of Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, I canconfirm that David MacBrayne Ltd has established a new subsidiary with separatebanking arrangements, Cowal Ferries Ltd, whose sole function is the operation of the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service. That subsidiary has been trading since 1 April 2007 and all subsidy requirements for the passenger only elementof that route are payable directly to that company, separate from the subsidy thatis payable to CalMac Ferries Ltd under present arrangements. Cowal Ferries Ltd willpublish its Annual Accounts from 2007-08.

Financial resultsfor the Gourock to Dunoon service will also be reflected in the David MacBrayneLtd annual accounts and carrying figures will continue to appear in Scottish Transport Statistics, as publishedannual by the Scottish Executive.

The charges forthe use of the harbour facilities owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets arepublished and are available on request from each harbour office.

I have asked Dr PaulStollard, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer.His response is as follows:

The agency are currentlyworking to the 2007 SNP manifesto commitments “It’s time to move forward”. The aimsare consistent with those in the publication entitled It’s Time for a Greener Scotland.Research work is underway to benchmark the energy standards in Scottish buildingregulations with those in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, which are currently acknowledged to be the best in Europe. Astrategy, with input from an expert panel, for low carbon buildings and energyefficiency will be published later in the year.

I have asked Dr PaulStollard, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer.His response is as follows:

The agency are currentlyworking to the 2007 SNP manifesto commitments “It’s time to move forward”. The aimsare broadly consistent with those in the publication entitled It’s Time for a GreenerScotland. An expert panel has been set up to produce a low carbon building standardsstrategy and this will be published later in the year. It is intended that thisdocument will provide a route map to low carbon buildings, with an aspiration towardszero carbon buildings.

In 2005-06 there were157,480 Scottish domiciled students at Scottish higher education institutions. Inaddition, in the same year, there were 13,955 Scottish domiciled students studyingat the Open University.

I have not set anytargets as a policy to increase this number.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-63 on 1 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The information requestedis not available centrally.

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the Stats 19 statistical report form. Statistics relating to road accidentsand casualties by local authority and police force area are published annually inRoad Accidents Scotland.

The road accidentstatistics system is designed to produce such information, but not to identify accident“blackspots”.

Details of accidentson the trunk road network are held by Transport Scotland on a special database which can be interrogated to identify a range of detailsincluding cluster sites and trends. Local authorities have detailed informationabout accidents on local roads which enables them to identify clusters of accidentsat particular locations.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-2790 on 23 August 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are availableon the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.