- 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, further to the answer to question S2W-11627 by Nicol Stephen on 19 November 2004, whether it is yet in a position to publish copies of the franchise agreement between it and First Group plc.
Answer
The parties to the franchise agreement are the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive and First ScotRail. As stated in S2W-11627 answered on the 19
November 2004, the SRA are under a statutory obligation to publish the franchise agreement.
Once the statutory process is complete and the ScotRail franchise agreement is placed in the SRA’s public register, copies of this will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Reference Centre.
- 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 respond to the business case for the Borders Railway; whether the response will be made in a ministerial statement to the Parliament, and whether it envisages that there will be an opportunity to question the Minister for Transport on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive continues to consider the Waverley Railway’s outline business case and the implications of the current delay in the parliamentary process. An announcement will be made soon.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote shinty; in particular, whether it has any plans to support the establishment of shinty as an internationally-recognised sport with its own federation and, if not, how the sport can achieve such recognition.
Answer
As the governing body for the sport, the Camanachd Association is responsible for promoting shinty. One of the targets in the Association’s Development Plan is to promote shinty and its cultural history to as broad an audience as is possible. It is for the association to seek to identify other areas where shinty is played and then explore with interested parties there the possible formation of an international governing body for the sport.
- 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 Peter Peacock on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of children who have the opportunity, through school-organised trips, to participate in outdoor activity and whether it considers that National Park boards should play a role in facilitating such activity.
Answer
I want more young people to experience the far reaching benefits and opportunities which outdoor activities can bring, and school organised excursions provide an important means of encouraging that. I have asked Learning and Teaching Scotland to take forward the development of outdoor education.
It would be for the National Park Boards themselves to consider, in association with local authorities and other relevant interests, what role the boards might have in facilitating school organised excursions and I would welcome their active interest and actions to support expanding outdoor education.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 21 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports Lochaber's bid to become the outdoor capital of the United Kingdom.
Answer
As part of its “Active” marketing brand, VisitScotland aims to promote Scotland as the outdoor capital of Europe, and I welcome industry initiatives which help to highlight the range and quality of outdoor activities that Scotland has to offer. The Lochaber initiative is an excellent example of how public and private organisations can work together to develop this valuable market.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what further sections of the A9 it plans to upgrade and whether other sections will be upgraded to dual carriageway status or to "two plus one" on a similar basis to those sections recently completed.
Answer
We are continuing to developour proposals to extend the dual carriageway at Crubenmore by around 2km at a costof £5.4 million, and to provide 4km of additional overtaking opportunities betweenKincraig and Dalraddy, by widening the carriageway to Wide Single 2+1 standard,at a cost of £4.3 million. I expect to publish draft orders for these schemes thisyear. A number of other improvements are planned and work has begun on a route improvementstudy between Perth and Blair Atholl, which will report in the autumn.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a ministerial statement in respect of how many redundancies it expects there to be as a result of the restructuring of Area Tourist Boards and, if not, which positions will be made redundant and whether there will be compulsory redundancies.
Answer
VisitScotland recently issueda proposed organisational structure for the new tourism network to all Area TouristBoards (ATB) and VisitScotland staff, which included an initial analysis of thecurrent number of posts in the ATBs and VisitScotland (1,062), and a proposed numberof posts for the new network (1,025). The difference, of around 35 to 40 posts,includes some posts which are already vacant. Most of the other reductions are expectedto be achieved by means of voluntary severance.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support will be provided for the Mountain Bike World Cup in Fort William in 2007, and from which sources, and whether there will be one person or group who will be taking charge of co-ordinating the public sector role in maximising the benefits of this event for Scotland and the local economy of Lochaber.
Answer
A number of partners have beenidentified as investors in the 2007 World Mountain Bike Championships to be stagedin Fort William. EventScotland (£207,000), VisitScotland (£50,000) sportscotland(£50,000), Highland Council (£50,000) and UK Sport (£250,000) have agreed, in principleand subject to completion of contracts, to invest in the event. EventScotland iscurrently taking a leading role in co-ordinating negotiations in relation to thestaging of the event and maximising the benefits to the area and Scotland as awhole.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any part of the funding spent on quality assurance schemes within VisitScotland would be more effectively deployed in marketing, in particular through increasing funding for Events Scotland.
Answer
High-quality in every aspectof Scottish tourism is vital to ensure that the expectations of our visitors arefulfilled during their visits to Scotland. That is why the Executive has given VisitScotland anadditional £3 million over two years to work with the tourism and related sectorsto widen and enhance the impact of its current voluntary Quality Assurance schemes.
In 2004-05 EventScotland hasa budget of £3 million and this will rise to £5 million in 2005-06 as it strivesto secure a viable portfolio of events to attract visitors to Scotland. VisitScotlandwill use the many opportunities that arise from hosting major events to promoteall that Scotland has to offer as a great place to visit throughout theyear.
- 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 Patricia Ferguson on 20 January 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a ministerial statement regarding the future viability, without further public funding, of eTourism Limited.
Answer
Visitscotland.com continues toact as a highly-effective shop window for Scottish tourism. The joint venture continuesto generate significant business for the tourism industry in Scotland, with over£23 million worth of business generated since its inception.
Due to the nature of the jointventure, it was always anticipated that it would take a number of years for visitscotland.comto become profitable. However, as a shareholder in the company, VisitScotland hasreported that it is currently performing well against business plan targets andis projected to achieve profitability in the next three to four years.
