Chamber and committees

Technical reviews for consistency and clarity of the appraisal and its reporting on a Scotland wide basis were completed as part of the quality assurance of the STPR in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

This included reviewing the safety criterion for the Inverness bypass. More information on the appraisal can be found in Report 3 of the STPR which can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk/stpr.

The scale and phased implementation of a number of the 29 recommended schemes contained within the STPR means they may take longer to complete than the 10 years between 2012 and 2022.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment was completed in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

Specific comments on the environmental impacts of the Inverness bypass are set out on page 126 of the Environmental Report. These, and the detailed results of the appraisal which are set out in Report 3, can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk/stpr.

Economic output from the completion of the modelling of the operation of the Inverness bypass provided a benefit to cost ratio of less than 0.75 for the scheme in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

This is reported in the option summary table (Annex 3, E6) of Report 3 to the STPR which can be found on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov/uk/stpr.

Technical reviews for consistency and clarity of the appraisal and its reporting on a Scotland-wide basis were completed as part of the quality assurance of the STPR in the period July 2008 to December 2008.

Any changes to the reports were made by the review consultants and subsequently accepted by the project team in receiving the reports for publication.

The Scottish House Condition Survey is the source of official figures for fuel poverty. The latest figures available are for 2007. In 2007, about 586,000 households were in fuel poverty. Since the figures are derived from a survey there is an associated 95% confidence interval which is +/- 68,000 households - giving an estimated 95% confidence interval from 517,000 to 654,000 households.

The figures are produced annually rather than quarterly. The figures for 2008 will be available in October 2009.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0212-01.htm

Veterinary advice and the analysis by Scottish Government''s Centre of Excellence in Epidemiology is that a mass vaccination campaign against bluetongue virus 8 would be in Scotland best interests. In the light of this advice and evidence of likely take up under voluntary initiatives, it was agreed with industry stakeholders that a compulsory campaign to achieve the mass coverage required would be implemented to prevent bluetongue virus serotype 8 from becoming established in Scotland.

No decisions have yet been taken on the future use or disposal of Balrobert and Knocknagael farms, south of Inverness. The aim has always been to ensure that resources tied up in the present uneconomic and unviable bull hire scheme are freed up so as better to serve the interests of crofting. We shall settle our future expenditure plans in the light of the Scottish Government''s overall response to the Report of the Shucksmith Inquiry and future arrangements for financial assistance to crofters and crofting.

In general terms such marine pollution comes within the jurisdiction of the UK Government. Responsibility for enforcing the relevant legislation falls to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of the Department for Transport.