Chamber and committees

The final cost for the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine project will not be known until the final account has been agreed. The current estimate for the cost to the Scottish Government, for the construction of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway project, is in line with previous estimates of circa £85 million.

The railway line speed is limited between Alloa and Kincardine due to the alignment of the railway, which was constructed within the limits of the existing dismantled railway to reduce land take, and mineworkings.

At Alloa, Clackmannan and Kincardine the line speed is restricted by curvature to 40 mph.

At Kilbachie the line speed was reduced to 30 mph as part of the mitigation due to mining impacts.

As the section of line between Alloa and Kincardine is only used by freight it is not practicable to give short sections of higher speed between these locations hence a constant 30 mph line speed has been adopted.

As there is currently no test available, the risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from Scottish blood products remains. In the absence of a test, a range of precautionary measures to minimise the risk of vCJD transmission have been put in place since 1997. Decisions on blood safety are taken by health ministers acting on advice from the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO). The committee is currently considering a range of options in order to protect the blood supply and further reduce the risk of variant CJD. Research to develop an appropriate test continues.

The decision on what drugs to prescribe for opiate addiction is taken by clinicians in consultation with their patient.

 

The national data standards referred to in the answer to question S3W-21973 are being developed specifically in relation to children and families under the Getting It Right for Every Child programme. As the Drugs Strategy says, through developing these data standards we will determine what information is collected, how it can be shared and how it is recorded so that it can be brought together as required for those who need to see it. We will actively consider how these standards will relate to the SMR25 forms and the National Drugs Treatment Waiting Times Framework.

Ministers will make a statement on policy for historic battlefields later in the summer. It is not possible to speculate on the application of as yet unpublished policy to specific cases.

I will shortly publish the government''s response to the Scottish Advisory Committee (SACDM) Project Group Report on psychostimulants. This will set out a package of action to address psychostimulant use, including the rise in use of cocaine and GHB. The Home Office launched a consultation on 21 May, for 12 weeks, on options to control GBL, including full control as a Class C drug. We will submit a response to the consultation and will actively encourage our stakeholders to do likewise. Finally, a working group of UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is considering the harmfulness of anabolic steroids among the general population and will make recommendations on how to reduce harm and use. We will carefully consider their findings when they report later this year.

In respect of freight train operations on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line the issues discussed were:

1. The contractual arrangements between DB Schenker and Clydeport;

2. Track access charges;

3. The public timetable change of 19 May 2008, and

4. The industry process for developing passenger and freight timetables.

DB Schenker agreed to write to Transport Scotland and suggest how these parties could work together to enable freight trains to operate alongside passenger trains on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway line before December 2008. DB Schenker did write subsequently, and further discussions between Transport Scotland, DB Schenker and other parts of the rail industry took place to give effect to this.

Transport Scotland first became aware that agreement had been reached through the normal rail industry timetable setting process to accommodate 24 hour, six days a week pathing of coal trains along the Alloa route in July 2008.

Provision of rolling stock for the operation of freight trains is a matter for freight train operating companies.