- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 14 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what sections of track on the railway line from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts need to be upgraded and electrified; what distance such sections cover; what the cost of such upgrading and electrification is estimated to be, and what action it plans to take in respect of this matter.
Answer
The 22 mile section of track between Midcalder Junction and Holytown on the Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central (via Shotts) line is not electrified. The Scottish Executive has currently no plans to progress further electrification of the rail network in Scotland.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 11 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek costings and timings for both Glasgow and Prestwick Airports in the specification for the public service obligation in respect of air services to and from the Highlands and Islands and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
No. The link to a major service centre from Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra will take into account the views of the communities concerned and will be detailed in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 11 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what the average or median time is for a police officer to process an arrest from arrival with an accused at the police station to the officer's returning to duties in each year since 1997; if no such information is recorded, whether it will now do so, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
Information at this level of detail is not held centrally. I would expect forces to be taking steps, including the introduction of appropriate technology, to ensure that processing times are kept to a minimum in order to maximise officer time on front-line duties. Force practices are scrutinised by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and best practice shared. HMIC works jointly with Audit Scotland in scrutinising forces' approach to Best Value and, in 2003, will be carrying out a thematic inspection of crime management.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a survey of shipping and, in particular, associated employment, traffic flows, investment, cluster effect and strategy and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Scottish Executive recognises the importance of shipping for the Scottish economy and welcomes the development of the shipping sector in Scotland. The Executive also maintains regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of issues including shipping policy, which is a reserved matter. The Executive has no plans to undertake a survey of shipping.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what directions and guidance it has issued regarding any necessary repairs to the east coast main line; to whom any such directions and guidance were issued; what the optimum date is for carrying out and completing such repairs; what assessment it has made of any consequential increase in trucks on roads, and on what roads any such increase is anticipated.
Answer
The maintenance, replacement and repair of track and signalling equipment, whether routine or unscheduled, is an operational matter for Railtrack. The Scottish Executive has no direct locus or powers to intervene, but we are in regular contact with Railtrack on these and other issues.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the additional funds for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd under its spending plans for 2003-06 will be used to attract further flights by low cost carriers to Inverness Airport.
Answer
The additional funding to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, which was recently announced in the Spending Review settlement, will allow the company to operate 10 airports in the Highlands and Islands, and keep airport charges at a level that will encourage the further development of air services including those operated by no frills carriers.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive who is funding current studies on upgrading and improving Edinburgh Waverley Station; in particular, what funding it has made available to the studies and what the reasons are for its position on this matter, and what the cost is of the studies.
Answer
The Scottish Executive announced on 20 May 2002 that we would make up to £1 million available to fund development work at Waverley Station. This is to fund technical investigation work that has to be undertaken to assess site conditions. This work will help inform the final design of the station and determine the necessary funding required to develop it. Initial costs of this preliminary work have been estimated at £758,000 for financial year 2002-03. Further detailed costings are being prepared.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28938 by Iain Gray on 16 September 2002, whether sub-postmasters or their representatives can bid for the loan guarantees strand of funding from the Phoenix Fund; what funding has been made available for assisting sub-postmasters in each of the last three years; whether any other funding will be ring-fenced for this purpose, and, if so, how much.
Answer
The loan guarantee element of the Phoenix Fund is not available to individual businesses or social organisations. This strand is accessible only to UK based non-profit Community Development Finance Initiatives. Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters and direct assistance would be for the Department of Trade and Industry to consider.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the additional funds for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd under its spending plans for 2003-06 are dependent on any other criteria being met and, if so, whether it will detail such criteria.
Answer
As with all publicly funded bodies, the additional funding for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd will be dependent on the company meeting its corporate targets.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Iain Gray on 10 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to introduce a scheme similar to the Business Insight Initiative funded by the Department of Trade and Industry and sponsored by Yorkshire Forward to provide small- and medium-si'ed businesses with free enhanced satellite broadband connection for 12 months, and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.
Answer
There is already a comparable one-year pilot managed by our Enterprise Networks which is currently operating across the Highlands and Islands and in three Scottish Enterprise LEC areas. The Yorkshire initiative and the Scottish scheme share the objective of assessing the business benefits of satellite broadband.
