Chamber and committees

I am committed to themaintenance of affordable sea links to Scotland’s island and remote communities. Tendering protectsthe lifeline ferry services in the Clyde and Hebrides by ensuring that they are in line with EU rules andthereby allowing subsidy to continue. Iintend to build on the success of current provision by prescribing in the invitation to tender that theexisting CalMac fares, adjusted annually in line with inflation, will be set asthe maximum. The existing timetables will also be prescribed as the minimum tobe provided although there will be scope for innovation and improvement asbidders will be encouraged to suggest additional services over and above theminimum.

The Executive’s currentreview of affordable housing is examining both existing and new measures forimproving availability of affordable housing. New measures under considerationinclude options for increasing the supply of land for affordable housing, otherpossible mechanisms through the planning system and the expansion of low costhome ownership.

The Executive made provision, in the Spending Review 2002-06 for substantially increased funding for transport infrastructure and communication links to improve the flow of people and goods within Scotland. Improved transportation infrastructure is a key factor in helping to reduce industry’s distribution costs and in increasing their competitiveness.I also refer the member tothe answer given to question S2W-7035 on 29 March 2004. All answers 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/search wa.

Commodity prices are determined by supply and demand in global markets and, as such, affect all economies. As Royal Bank of Scotland’s purchasing managers’ indexes reveal, manufacturers throughout the UK have beenaffected by price inflation in raw materials, particularly metals. The Executive recognises the increasingly global and competitive nature of themarkets that Scottish manufacturing companies compete in. The Executive pursues, through the Framework for Economic Development in Scotland, the provision of a supportive microeconomic environment to ensure that Scotland’s manufacturers can capitalise on broader UK macroeconomic stability, grow and remain competitive.

This information is not heldcentrally. NHS boards were informed of their 2004-05 capital allocations on 11March with Highland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles NHS boardsreceiving increases of 11.4%, 6.1%, 4.4% and 4.5% over  their 2003-04allocations respectively. Capital fundsare now allocated to NHS boards using the Arbuthnott formula adjusted for crossboundary flows and weighted for the provision of regional specialities. Thismeans that NHS boards can determine, based on their knowledge of the needs of the local area how this money should be spent.

The calculation of the cost ofa modern hospital whether a teaching hospital, a general hospital or acommunity hospital is a complex matter critically dependent upon the range andconfiguration of services to be offered, and hence the area to be occupied. Itis not possible therefore to give even an estimated cost on the basis of theinformation provided in the question that could be applied or relied upon forcomparative or planning purposes.

Total tolls collected on theSkye Bridge in the financial year 2002-03 amounted to£3,960,852.

Benefits of the newmethodology include:

1. Annual weights are moreup-to-date and therefore more relevant, reflecting changes in the structure of the economy when they happen.

2. Rebasing revisions willoccur to a much lesser extent than under the previous fixed base methodologywhich led to large revisions every five years.

3. Annual chain-linkingreduces the inaccuracies caused by the assumption of a stable relationshipbetween gross value added and turnover.

4. Under the previousfixed-base methodology where weights were updated every five years, the choiceof year to link indices together was a subjective process and the optimum linkyear varied across indices. With chain-linking, every year is automatically alink year, so no subjective choice is required.

A more detailed report onthe new chain-linking methodology and its effects is included on the Scottish Executive GDP website at www.scotland.gov.uk/gdp.

Officials have been keepingclosely in touch with Universities Scotland on this issue, and we shallconsider making representations, should the sector advise us to do so.

The following table presents the estimates of GVA per head for calendar years 1993 to 2001 for Scotland and for the rest of the UK. As these estimates are derived from the income components of GVA, at the aggregate Scotland level, the per capita rates also represent the total Scottish income per capita for each year.

Gross Value Added (GVA) per head, Scotland and rest of UK (£ per capita)

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Scotland	9,809	10,376	10,861	11,406	11,966	12,465	12,802	13,263	13,660
Rest of UK	9,791	10,324	10,815	11,427	12,151	12,895	13,423	13,979	14,546

Source: ONS.

Notes:

1. GVA data from 1997 to 2001 havebeen published by ONS as provisional.

2. GVA is also known as GDP at basicprices.

The Rest ofUK figures have been estimated by the Scottish Executive from published figures.