- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 27 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the amount of money ring fenced and earmarked for the opening of the Larkhall rail line and the source of that funding.
Answer
As well as seeking funding under the Public Private Partnership arrangements, for which the project may be eligible for up to £2.26 million per annum level playing field support, the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority was awarded £5 million from the Scottish Executive's 1998-99 Transport Challenge Fund towards the cost of the Larkhall to Milngavie rail route project.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail (a) the powers it has to access funding from the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA) and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), (b) the mechanism for direction and control of expenditure by the SSRA and the SRA and (c) the requests or representations made for funding from the SSRA.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no direct access to funds under the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority's Railway Passenger Partnership Scheme (RPP). The scheme is administered by the SSRA for the whole of the United Kingdom with the objective of providing an additional source of investment for schemes that would not otherwise take place on a commercial basis.
To date there have been six awards for RPP in total of which, in Scotland, one award of £800,000 has been made for Edinburgh Crossrail. Two further Scottish schemes have pre-qualified for investment under the scheme.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the savings arising from the reduction in franchise payments to ScotRail will be reinvested in the rail industry or in public transport.
Answer
When they were let, the 25 passenger rail franchises in Great Britain were designed to reduce steadily the Government's support for passenger rail services. This reduction is treated by the Treasury as a general saving to the Exchequer.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 25 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission a study into reduction of the journey time on the Inverness to Edinburgh railway line.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has no plans to conduct a feasibility study. Railtrack is committed to a programme of structural works which will increase line speeds between Inverness and Perth. In conjunction with the introduction of faster trains by ScotRail, these improvements will provide an initial journey time reduction of five minutes between Inverness and Edinburgh by 2004. In addition, GNER and Virgin Trains have made bids to replace the current inter-city franchise serving Inverness. Each has proposed introducing faster diesel trains on routes north of Edinburgh.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 20 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the estimated costs of the Sustainable Scotland Group and the Electricity Information Group and the relationship and interaction between both bodies.
Answer
The Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland, which I announced to the Parliament in the debate on 3 February, met for the first time on 18 January. It considered first thoughts on its programme of work and agreed that an immediate start should be made on indicators of sustainable development. A consultancy is to be let at a cost in the region of £20,000. As yet no other work for which a cost can be identified has been set in train. The costs of running the group itself are not identifiable separately from the overall effort on sustainable development.The Energy and the Environment Group, which I chair, considers a range of issues, such as climate change and renewable energy. Close links between the two groups are ensured by an element of common membership. No specific costs are expected to be incurred.We are not clear what is meant by the Electricity Information Group.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 19 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail what funding was provided in 1999-2000 and will be provided in 2000-01, and any additional funding that has been, or is to be, made available for: (a) child road safety education and information; (b) local authority spending on schemes for child safety and safe routes to school; (c) safety at congestion stress points and other improvements on trunk roads networks; (d) congestion warning systems to reduce accidents on congested sections of motorways; (e) integrated transport projects applying new technology to public transport ticketing and improved traffic management in towns; (f) local authority improvements in telephone information for passengers on local transport services and (g) making existing diesel buses and taxis in cities and towns "cleaner" in their fuel consumption.
Answer
The answer can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 January 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 14 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what effects its proposals on trunk road management and maintenance will have on local authorities and whether it has made any estimate of the number of direct labour organisation jobs which may be lost as a result of these proposals.
Answer
The Scottish Executive cannot prejudge whether jobs may be lost in advance of the outcome of the tender competition and what views existing and future employers subsequently take on any transfer of staff should the existing operators be unsuccessful in the competition.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 13 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive to detail any costing available relating to the creation of a rail link between Bathgate and Airdrie.
Answer
I understand that a recent study undertaken by the Railway Development Society on behalf of West Lothian Council estimated the cost of reinstating the Airdrie to Bathgate line at £19 million.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 13 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government regarding the possible imposition of a tax on aviation fuel and any effects such a tax might have on the accessibility of the Highlands and Islands and Scotland as a whole.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has made no representations to the UK Government on the possible imposition of a tax on aviation fuel. There are no proposals to introduce aviation fuel tax at UK or EU level.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2000
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Current Status:
Answered by Sarah Boyack on 13 April 2000
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for park and ride termini at railway stations on any of the lines between Glasgow and Edinburgh and to provide details of costings.
Answer
Park and ride interchanges are local transport matters and as such are for the Local Authorities in conjunction with Railtrack to develop. The Scottish Executive has committed £90 million under the Public Transport Fund to assist with projects such as these. £350,000 was awarded to Falkirk Council from the Fund for the Council's Railway Station Access Project, which includes the provision of car parking at Falkirk High and Polmont railway stations. This is an issue included in the guidance provided by the Scottish Executive to guide the production of Local Transport Strategies.
