- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will advise the Forth Estuary Transport Authority to support an initiative for fast ferry crossings between Fife and Edinburgh and what financial assistance it will provide to any such initiative.
Answer
At their meeting on 21 June 2002 the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) considered a request from Fife Council to provide support funding to update a study into the viability of a cross-Forth ferry service. I understand that FETA agreed to provide £15,000 towards the costs of this study. Decisions about whether to fund any such ferry service would lie with FETA, not the Executive.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive when its transport division last met Scottish Enterprise regarding rail services and on how many occasions since May 1999 any such formal meetings have taken place.
Answer
The Scottish Executive meets with Scottish Enterprise on an as required basis to discuss railway issues.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it gathers and holds on shipping on an annual basis.
Answer
Statistical information on shipping is provided in chapter 10 of Scottish Transport Statistics No 21, Edition 2002. A copy is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 23316.) Information is also gathered through regular liaison with the shipping and ferry industries, and with the UK government.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 9 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has requested from the British Airports Authority (BAA) towards the cost of rail links to Edinburgh and Glasgow airports and what funding BAA has committed or pledged to date for such links.
Answer
BAA are co-funders of the study and key stakeholders in the discussions about rail links to both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. The consultants are currently looking in depth at funding and procurement options and will report on that before the end of the year. Discussions on funding with all partners will take place following the consultant's recommendations.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 4 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many children in Edinburgh have been subject to an unruly certificate in each year since 1997.
Answer
I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:The information available is given in the following table.Unruly Certificate Remands Where the Prisoner's Recorded Address was in Edinburgh
| Year | Number of Unruly Certificate Remands |
| 1997 | 2 |
| 1998 | 0 |
| 1999 | 0 |
| 2000 | 1 |
| 2001(prov.) | 1 |
- 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 3 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what advice, guidance or instructions it has issued regarding the interoperation of rail and bus at Edinburgh Waverley Station.
Answer
An extensive programme of preparatory and investigative work is currently under way at Waverley Station and outputs from this are required before any detailed design work can begin. The work is addressing a wide range of issues including how best to integrate bus and train services at the station.The Executive is contributing up to £1 million towards the cost of the preparatory and investigative work.
- 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 3 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been (a) spent on and (b) committed to reopening the Stirling/Alloa/Dunfermline link; by which organisations such funding has been spent or committed, and what the amount of funding is in each case.
Answer
So far Clackmannanshire Council has been awarded £6.5 million from the Public Transport Fund (PTF).Actual spend on the project, as with all PTF awards, is a matter for the promoting authority - in this case Clackmannanshire Council.The Stirling/Alloa/Kincardine Project Execution Team has established a funding group which is assembling the necessary funding package to reopen the railway.
- 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 3 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive on how many days rail links have been inoperable owing to flooding in each year since 1999, broken down by railway line.
Answer
Railtrack is responsible for the running of the railway infrastructure. The information requested is not held centrally.
- 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 Andy Kerr on 3 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it will provide, and to whom, in respect of the New St Andrew's House site and, in particular, whether it will give any financial assistance for the building's demolition or any construction costs.
Answer
The Scottish Office moved out of New St Andrew's House in 1995. The building was the responsibility of Property Holdings, the UK agency then responsible for government buildings. Property Advisers to the Civil Estate, the successor body to Property Holdings, sold the building, by then called St James House, in 1999. The Scottish Executive has no plans to offer financial assistance to the present owners of property interests in that site.
- 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 3 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what projects have been supported by the Strategic Rail Authority in Scotland and how much funding the authority has given to each such project in each of the last five years.
Answer
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was established in February 2001. The SRA published their Strategic Plan in January 2002, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 18609). The Strategic Plan sets out the projects that the SRA is seeking to support in Scotland.
