- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 25 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding levels of fuel tax in the Highlands and Islands.
Answer
The level of fuel tax is a reserved matter. The Executive has regular discussions with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including fuel duty. Scottish ministers will continue to ensure that Scotland’s interests are placed firmly on the agenda in Whitehall on tax, as on other matters, through direct contact with Treasury Ministers.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of the tender process of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, showing costs of any external consultants to be used.
Answer
I refer to the response to S2W-13266 on 24 January 2005 in relation to the cost of the work carried out to the end of January 2005 in connection with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.
There is no formal estimate of the future cost to the Executive of the tender process. However, if the tendering goes ahead, I expect that a similar team of officials to that which is currently working on the tendering proposals would be in place until contract handover date. On the basis that contract handover takes place in late 2007 staff costs would be approximately £550,000 in current prices. As with the reply to S2W-13266 this figure does not include the cost of senior officials in Transport Group, specialist officials or ministers as their time cannot be separately accounted for. Neither does it include a proportion of the overheads which the Executive accrues generally.
Further external technical advice would be commissioned to finalise the service specification, to assist in the Executive’s evaluation of bids and to support the Executive in monitoring and managing the contract handover and implementation. I would anticipate that this will cost in the region of £200,000 to 300,000. These costs are, of course, estimates and would depend on a number of factors, for example, the number of bidders, the complexity of tender negotiations and issues arising during contract handover.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on concessionary travel on 22 December 2004, how much the proposed smart card scheme will cost.
Answer
Current estimates indicate that the cost of providing appropriate bus infrastructure to support the use of Smartcards for concessionary travel will be in the region of £9 million.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how much public funding was allocated in respect of the Skye Bridge and how much funding Skye Bridge Limited received in (a) tolls and (b) subsidies in each year since the bridge was opened.
Answer
The total cost of the Skye Bridge project was £39 million, of which some £15 million was publicly funded. Both these figures are quoted at 1991 prices.
Toll receipts totalled £33,370,829 in cash terms between October 1995 and September 2004. This includes compensation payments, totalling £7,564,517 in cash terms, in respect of the costs of increased frequent user discounts from 1998, the freeze on toll levels from 2000 and the imposition of VAT on tolls from February 2003. A breakdown of these totals is set out in the following table:
| Year | Toll Revenue (£) | Compensation Payments (£) |
| 1995 | 397,599 | 0 |
| 1996 | 3,178,385 | 0 |
| 1997 | 3,253,993 | 0 |
| 1998 | 3,579,642 | 637,482 |
| 1999 | 3,666,434 | 712,723 |
| 2000 | 3,755,373 | 801,483 |
| 2001 | 3,641,085 | 858,414 |
| 2002 | 4,003,881 | 1,028,589 |
| 2003 | 4,137,522 | 1,623,888 |
| 2004 | 3,756,915 | 1,901,938 |
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of work carried out in connection with the tendering of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, showing the cost of civil servants' time and other costs, such as costs of consultants and advisers.
Answer
The breakdown of direct costs incurred by the Executive (to end January 2005) in connection with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services is set out in the table below. It does not include the cost of senior officials in Transport Group, specialist officials or ministers as their time cannot be separately accounted for. Neither does it include a proportion of the overheads which the Executive accrues generally. The figures have been calculated in cash terms.
| Staffing (Note1) | £ 800,000 (approx) |
| Travel and Subsistence Expenses for Officials (Note 2) | £12,000 (approx) |
| Consultation Exercises (Note 3) | £40,000 (approx) (incl. VAT) |
| External Advice (Note 4) | £286,000 (approx) (incl. VAT) |
| Total | £1,138 million |
Notes:
1. A dedicated team of officials has been in place to deal with the EU requirements in relation to the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services since November 1999. Individual staff costs (including pension and NI contributions) are complex to calculate. This figure is derived from the structure of the team from November 1999 to the present and average full staff costs for each relevant grade for each financial year.
2. Travel and Subsistence incurred by the dedicated team of officials. It does not include a proportion for ministers.
3. This includes design, printing and postage. It does not include staff time which is accounted for separately.
4. The Executive has commissioned external advice, totally approximately £286,000, where the expertise was not available internally:
-research to provide additional evidence to the Commission on the uniqueness of the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet. This supported the Executive’s proposals to retain the fleet in public ownership and to bind the successful bidder to those vessels.
-technical advice on the service specifications for the Clyde and Hebrides services and the Gourock to Dunoon route.
-technical advice on the proposed restructuring of Caledonian MacBrayne
-research into the application of the EU rules in other member states. This research is due to be completed shortly.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the ministerial statement on concessionary travel on 22 December 2004, whether it will provide detailed estimates in respect of the cost of the concessionary travel scheme for (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.
Answer
As indicated in my statement, the maximum payment for the national free bus scheme for older and disabled people will be £159 million in 2006-07 and £163 million in 2007‑08. Actual expenditure within that cap will depend on the number of concessionary passengers and the cost of the journeys carried out. As also indicated in my statement, payment will be at the rate of 73.6% of the average adult fare.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invite the Auditor General for Scotland to investigate the implications of the Skye Bridge contract for future public finance initiatives and whether the public funding allocated under the contract represented good use of public money.
Answer
The Executive has no plans to in this regard.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 24 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek to obtain agreement from the European Union to any alternative proposals to tendering the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.
Answer
During the parliamentary debate on ferry services on 8 December 2004 the Parliament expressed concerns regarding the tendering process. I agreed to discuss these concerns with the European Commission and raised this issue with the European Transport Commissioner, M Barrot, when I met him in Brussels on 9 December 2004. Following that meeting I wrote to M Barrot asking whether there was any way, within the terms of European law relating to maritime cabotage, to allow the Clyde and Hebrides services to continue to be delivered on a subsidisedbasis without the need to tender. Further discussions are taking place between the Executive and the European Commission and I will report back to Parliament on thisissue as soon as possible.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a ministerial statement regarding the buy out of the PFI of Inverness Airport Terminal; whether it will provide an estimate of the costs of buying out the PFI, and whether it recognises potential benefits from the buy out for the economy of the Highlands and Inverness in particular.
Answer
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) has recently undertaken a full review of the PFI contract at Inverness Airport Terminal and the impact of a buy-out on the airport and the wider economy. With the support of the Executive, HIAL is now seeking to secure the buy-out of the contract. HIAL will be aiming to secure best value for the taxpayer in these sensitive negotiations and an announcement will be made at their conclusion.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2004
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct, or invite, the City of Edinburgh Council to seek approval from the Electoral Commission of the proposed wording of the question in the forthcoming referendum on toll proposals and of the proposal to send to each household a leaflet setting out the council's plans; whether the Executive is satisfied that the council's proposals are fair; whether the Executive has any powers in relation to the referendum, including the holding or funding of the referendum, that would enable it to require the council to amend its plans; whether the Executive has had any correspondence with the council, its officials or those acting on its behalf regarding the wording of the question on the referendum ballot paper or the proposal to fund the cost and issue a leaflet to each household regarding the transport plans.
Answer
The wording of the question in the forthcoming non statutory referendum on the Council’s Local Transport Strategy is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council. The Executive has not provided funding for the referendum, nor the associated information campaign.
Due to the nature of Scottish ministers’ quasi judicial role in confirming a charging order, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time on any particular aspect of the proposed scheme.
