Chamber and committees

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

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.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-1493 on 24 July 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.

Details of the deliveryof our current committed programme of major and important trunk road and rail infrastructureimprovements can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk. Futuretransport investment priorities will be considered by the multi-modal StrategicTransport Projects Review (STPR) which is undertaking an objective, evidence-based,review of the existing performance and future requirements of the nationally strategictransport networks. This willinclude better utilisation of the rail and road networks.

In addition, the HighLevel Output Specification (HLOS) for 2009-14 sets out future requirements for moreefficient working of the rail network. With growing demand for rail travel, it isanticipated that there will be a continuing requirement for improvements to railservices, including increased capacity and performance. A range of priority areasare identified within the HLOS and efficiency savings will be used to support theirdelivery.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, andcan be contacted if required.

The costs for the Scottish Broadcasting Commission will be met from existing budgets. Total costshave not yet been decided, but will depend upon a work plan for the conduct of thecommission, which remains to be settled.

I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-3220 on 6 September 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.

We have secured thepowers through the Compulsory Purchase Order, which was made on 24 March 2005, to acquire all of the land for the M74 Completion scheme.Acquisition of that land is almost complete. Compensation has been paid in the majorityof cases.

Land required forthe Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be identified inthe draft Compulsory Purchase Order which is due to be published within the nexttwo months. Individual compensation payments are not known but will be assessedby the Valuation Office Agency in due course. An allowance for the purchase of landand associated compensation has been included in the overall project estimate.

We are promotingactive travel through school travel co-ordinators, school and workplace travelplans and through funding local authorities, Cycling Scotland and Sustrans forinfrastructure, services and cycling training.

We will publish a 10-year plan to transform Scottishroad safety and have already announced the setting up of an expert group onroad safety to advise on what more could be done and provide options to providegreater protection for, particularly young, drivers.

Future transportinvestment priorities will be considered by the multi-modal strategic transportprojects review which is undertaking an objective, evidence based, review of the existing performance and future requirements of the nationally strategictransport networks. This willinclude consideration for improvements to make journeys greener, safer andeasier for Scottish commuters.

The Scottish Government believes that Scotland''s economic success must be a partnership between the private, public and third sectors, with the private sector the principal driver of growth. The debate about the size of the public sector in Scotland to date has been influenced by figures which exclude a proportion of Scottish economic activity relating to the Scottish sector of the UK Continental Shelf and the government believes that this issue must be seen within the context of an actual public sector size that is estimated to be comparable to the UK average when the whole of the Scottish economy is included.

The government is taking action to ensure that the public sector delivers more effectively with resources directed more towards frontline services in health, education and community safety, all of which contribute to Scotland''s potential for greater economic success and we are also taking forward measures to improve the competitive environment for Scottish business through lower business taxes, lighter and more effective regulation and a greater focus for national enterprise activity.

The government believes that this balanced approach will ensure that the public sector compliments the private and third sectors and that public spending does more to help generate private sector growth. Within this context our action to simplify and de-clutter the public sector landscape will play an important role in raising Scotland''s overall economic growth rate.

Details of the deliveryof our current committed programme of major and important trunk road and rail infrastructureimprovements can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk. Futuretransport investment priorities will be considered by the multi-modal StrategicTransport Projects Review (STPR) which is undertaking an objective, evidence-based,review of the existing performance and future requirements of the nationally strategictransport networks.

Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, andcan be contacted if required.