- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 29 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a public private partnership is being considered as a method of finance for the construction and maintenance of the A8000 and what guidelines are being given to the Forth Estuary Transport Authority regarding such financing.
Answer
Responsibility for funding the A8000 upgrade project lies with the Forth Estuary Transport Authority. At their meeting on 21 June 2002, the authority decided to take the project forward as a Design and Build scheme, under traditional procurement arrangements.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many Lothian and Borders Police officers in the City of Edinburgh area have had less than (a) one year's service and (b) two years' service in each year since 1999, broken down by division.
Answer
Information at this level of detail is not held centrally. It would be for Lothian and Borders Police to provide.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Mike Watson on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it took to promote Scotland in the light of the world-wide coverage of the Hogmanay festivities and what TV advertising regarding Scotland as a holiday destination was promoted by it, VisitScotland, the British Tourist Authority or any organisation on its behalf.
Answer
The promotion of Scotland as a tourist destination is an operational matter for VisitScotland. They have vigorously promoted Scotland as a winter destination and will continue to do so.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 22 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be made available to local authorities for the local bus travel concessionary fares scheme from April 2003 for extension of the scheme to men aged between 60 and 64, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The Executive will make available an additional £10 million to local authorities from April 2003 to extend eligibility for concessionary local bus travel to men aged 60 to 64. These resources are part of the unhypothecated general block grant allocation paid to all local authorities and are not identified separately. It is for councils to establish the actual level of expenditure on individual services.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 21 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what specifications are being put in the tender documents for the passenger rail franchise regarding the infrastructure and renovation works at Waverley Station.
Answer
None. The Scottish passenger rail franchise is for the provision of services only and this will be reflected in the franchise documentation.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 21 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any of the costs of the Waverley Station upgrade will be met through the forthcoming passenger rail franchise.
Answer
The direct costs of the Waverley project will not be met through the Scottish passenger rail franchise, as the franchise is for services only. Indirectly it is possible that the enhanced infrastructure could lead to some cost to the franchisee in the form of increased Track Access Charges.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in each division in Lothian and Borders Police are (a) due to retire and (b) expected to leave the force on medical grounds and how many officers are expected to be recruited in each month from April 2003 to April 2004.
Answer
Information at this level of detail is not held centrally. It would be for Lothian and Borders Police to provide.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Malcolm Chisholm on 20 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what additional work the closure of the accident and emergency services at the old Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh will create for the Scottish Ambulance Service and what additional resources will be provided to deal with any such additional work.
Answer
The Lothian University Hospitals Trust and the Scottish Ambulance Service have been working closely together to ensure (i) that there is a smooth transition for both emergency and non-emergency ambulance services and (ii) that the impact of the re-location of services to Little France is matched by increased resources should that be necessary to maintain the quality of patient care. The Scottish Ambulance Service does not know what additional work will be created for it by this re-location of services. Its planning assumptions are that there will be an increase to the time spent by ambulances in dealing with some accident and emergencies and that there will be an increase in the demand on the service from some patients who may have previously "self-presented" at the old Royal Infirmary. The service will increase its accident and emergency resources in Edinburgh from 1 May 2003 - the date of the transfer of the accident and emergency services to the new location. The performance of the service in the Lothians and elsewhere in Scotland shall continue to be monitored by the service and the Executive.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum number of police officers required per division is in (a) Edinburgh and (b) the Lothian and Borders Police area on a night shift (i) from Sunday to Thursday and (ii) on Friday or Saturday, as defined in the force's risk assessment policy, and on how many occasions these requirements were not met in 2002.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. It would be for Lothian and Borders Police to provide.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 13 January 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received about (a) the estimated value of goods, equipment and property that, in the event of the passenger railway franchise changing, a new franchise would be required to acquire (i) in total and (ii) broken down by category of asset and (b) what such items are.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. Bidders for the new franchise will receive information on the book value of assets in an Invitation to Tender and supporting documentation (including an accountant's long form report), which are currently being prepared by the Strategic Rail Authority.