- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from private developers in relation to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route or to development controls over areas of green belt adjacent to the projected route of the project.
Answer
A number of privatedevelopers have approached the project team to enquire about the scheme design asit has progressed. Development control is, however, a matter for Aberdeen City andAberdeenshire Councils.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive in what year the information on each project considered in its June review of major capital projects was last updated.
Answer
Transport Scotland monitors both Scottish Motorway and Trunk Road Programmeand the Major Rail Projects Programme on a quarterly basis. The information on eachproject within the rail programme was last updated in May 2007 with the roads programmesimilarly updated in June 2007.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any decision has been made to review the proposed new rail-ferry interchange at Gourock, in light of concerns expressed at the level of subsidy required for each person using the passenger ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon.
Answer
The Gourock transportinterchange project is being taken through a design development phase, which includesdetailed business case evaluation to ensure the interchange and the wider commercialre-development provide value for money.
There are no plans to initiate a further review of thescheme.
In respect of thesubsidy provided on the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service I refer to the member tothe answers to questions S3W-2274 and S3W-2278 on 7 August 2007. All answers towritten parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the searchfacility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive on what legal basis the Air Discount Scheme is regarded as being not discriminatory against shipping operators.
Answer
The Air Discount Scheme(ADS) was approved by the European Commission as Aid of a Social Character. It isnot a subsidy to airlines, but instead provides for discounted fares to individualscheme members.
As a measure to facilitatesocial inclusion, the purpose of the ADS is to make air travel more affordable forresidents of the most peripheral parts of the Highlands and Islands.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the authors of the SUTRANET study, State Intervention in Scottish Shipping Markets, published in June 2007, that “subsidy paid to state-owned (shipping) operators has been constantly increasing and now appears to be out of control” and what steps are being considered to bring subsidy levels into line with levels in 2002.
Answer
The Scottish Executivehas put in place, or aims to put in place, tendered contracts for the operationof all lifeline ferry services subsidised by the Executive. The contracts will resultin robust contractual arrangements for the provision of these vitally importantservices. The levels of subsidy paid are strictly controlled by the terms of thesecontracts. These contracts will control the costs.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive what concessions are given to freight operators using (a) CalMac and (b) Northlink ferries; how much these concessions have cost the taxpayer in each of the last five years, and why there are different tariff arrangements for the carriage of freight and livestock between the northern isles and the mainland and the Western Isles and the mainland.
Answer
CalMac Ferries Ltdoperates a traders’ rebate scheme under which rebates are granted to commercialvehicle operators for frequent use of CalMac’s ferry routes. Rebates from 2.5% to15% relate to the annual number of journeys made by a commercial customer and arecalculated on a route by route basis. CalMac introduced the current arrangementsin 2003, to rationalise former ad hoc arrangements and provide a consistent approachacross its route network.
CalMac estimates the value of traders’ rebates providedon its routes as follows:
2002-03 not separately identifiable
2003-04 £687,000
2004-05 £676,000
2005-06 £710,000
2006-07 £741,000.
NorthLink Ferries Ltd, which has operated the NorthernIsles ferry contract since 6 July 2006, does not provide any discountsto freight operators. All operators pay the company’s published tariff rates, asset in the contract service specification, irrespective of volume or frequency ofusage. NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Ltd, which ceased to trade on 6 July2006, had previously operated a hauliers’ discount scheme which gave banded rebatesbased on the volume of traffic shipped per month. Since freight was not includedin the service specification for the former public service contract with that company,we have no information on the costs of these discounts.
Differences in freightand livestock tariffs charged by CalMac Ferries Ltd and NorthLink Ferries Ltd reflecthistorical differences in the operation of the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles ferry services.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive how much Loganair received through the Air Discount Scheme in its first year of operation.
Answer
Loganair receivedreimbursement of £3,570,719 for discounted tickets sold under the Air Discount Schemein the period May 2006 to April 2007.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the context of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth’s statement on the objectives of the Audit Scotland review when he said “My priority is to protect the Scottish taxpayer and ensure that any major transport project is value for money, delivering real benefit to the travelling public and the Scottish economy. I want to be absolutely sure about the calculation of the costs involved in these projects, and the assessment of risk involved, before they progress any further”, he is now absolutely sure about the calculation of the costs and assessment of risk involved in the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.
Answer
I refer the memberto the answer to question S3W-1811 on 24 July 2007. Allanswers 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.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it agrees with the authors of the SUTRANET study, State Intervention in Scottish Shipping Markets, published in June 2007, that “because they own shipping lines, Ministers have little alternative but to allow state-owned ferry lines to operate on a virtual blank cheque basis”.
Answer
No, the Scottish Executivedoes not agree with the assertion.
- Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 August 2007
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 3 September 2007
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the context of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth’s statement on the objectives of the Audit Scotland review when he said “My priority is to protect the Scottish taxpayer and ensure that any major transport project is value for money, delivering real benefit to the travelling public and the Scottish economy. I want to be absolutely sure about the calculation of the costs involved in these projects, and the assessment of risk involved, before they progress any further”, he is now absolutely sure about the calculation of the costs and assessment of risk involved in the M74 completion project.
Answer
The M74 project iscurrently being tendered. We expect to award the contract later this year but willonly do so if the bid demonstrates value for money benchmarked against an independentcost comparator.
